Jacksonville Principal Resigns

The Jacksonville Board of Education on Monday accepted the resignation of Jacksonville High School’s principal.

Rick Carter will not return to that post in August, interim Superintendent Tim Nabors said after the board’s meeting. Carter, who served as principal at Jacksonville High since July 2013, has accepted a job at another school system in Tennessee

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Nabors said he would fulfill many of the principal’s duties at Jacksonville High School with assistance from two assistant principals while the board searches for a long-term replacement.

After the period for public comment, board member Stephen Smith read a statement in which he attributed progress in student discipline and accountability at the high school to Carter.

That statement elicited boos from some in the audience of more than 60.

The board did not discuss Carter’s resignation during its meeting, but after reading his statement, Smith asked that two specific personnel recommendations be tabled.

No other board member seconded Smith’s motion, so it died.

A short time later, the board accepted Carter’s resignation as part of a package of personnel changes in the school system.

Nabors said after the meeting the board accepted resignations from four other employees, among them Shannon Carter, the former principal’s wife and a counselor at the high school.

Anthony Kingston, Jacksonville City Schools’ technology coordinator, also resigned.

Carter’s resignation is the most recent in a string of administrative departures preceded by the board’s removal last month of Jon Paul Campbell as superintendent — a decision met with confusion and anger from many Jacksonville residents.

The board has declined to release its findings in that grievance, which it communicated to involved parties on May 13.