Wood BOE suspends PHS principal; vote came after second public apology
PARKERSBURG – A principal accused of plagiarizing a graduation speech was suspended tonight after giving a public apology to the Wood County Board of Education.
The board voted 4-1 to suspend Parkersburg High School Principal Kenny DeMoss for five days without pay. Board member Debbie Hendershot was the lone vote against.
The vote came after a 30-minute executive session and after DeMoss addressed the board during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting.
DeMoss read a prepared statement apologizing for his May 23 speech at the PHS graduation ceremony which copied heavily from a 2013 speech by actor Aston Kutcher.
“My intent in speaking tonight is to say I’m sorry,” DeMoss said. “I am a proud graduate of PHS, have coached for 25 years and have been an administrator for seven years in this community. I would never purposefully bring shame to myself, my family, my school, our school system, or our community. I made a mistake.”
For more information, read Wednesday’s edition of the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.