Columbus Municipal School District’s board of trustees has appointed an interim principal for Columbus High School, following the apparent departure of three-year principal Lori Cargile.
Board president Jason Spears confirmed assistant principal Craig Chapman was announced as the temporary head of the high school at its meeting Thursday night. According to the meeting agenda, Chapman took on the role on March 1.
Superintendent Cherie Labat has repeatedly declined to comment on Cargile’s departure from the school. The Dispatch’s attempts to contact Cargile since last week have been unsuccessful.
Cargile had been CHS principal since April 2016.
In other business, the board also hired Joshua Pulphus as the district’s new head high school football coach. Pulphus previously worked as an assistant coach at West Point High School.
The school’s former coach, Eric Rice, departed the district for undisclosed circumstances earlier this year, right after completing his first season coaching the Falcons. The district began advertising for a new coach in February, and neither Rice nor other school officials would return calls to comment on why Rice left the district.
Rice was not on the sidelines for the Falcons’ final game of a winless 2018 season.
The board also appointed Chris Bray, director of McKellar Technology Center, as the interim assistant superintendent for school operations. The previous deputy superintendent, Craig Shannon, was terminated from his role in the district in October 2018. During a two-day termination hearing in December, Labat cited dishonesty and unprofessional behavior as the reasons she fired Shannon.
Following the hearing, the board upheld Shannon’s termination in January.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.