School district, former Bluffton principal to argue appeal in court next month

A former Bluffton principal will once again argue in court that he was wrongfully fired, more than three years after he was first placed on administrative leave by the Beaufort County School District.

Oral arguments in the district’s case against former H.E. McCracken Middle School principal Phillip Shaw will be held on April 20 in the S.C. Court of Appeals in Columbia, according to the court.

The appeal was filed by superintendent Jeff Moss in February 2015 after Judge Marvin Dukes III overturned the school board’s decision to formally dismiss Shaw in November 2013.

Shaw originally appealed his firing in December 2013, and received affirmation from Dukes nearly a year later when the judge ruled that the district “provided no substantial evidence” to demonstrate Shaw was unfit to lead the middle school. Though the district asked Dukes to reconsider, the judge stood by his decision in February 2015.

During the school board hearing that resulted in Shaw’s termination, school district officials had argued the principal kept odd hours and was often inaccessible while leading H.E. McCracken Middle, lacked leadership and was insubordinate.

“As an administrator in the building, the tone is set from the top,” human resources chief Alice Walton said at the time. “They have to ensure everyone in the building has a safe and healthy working environment ... (and) I don’t believe Shaw has exhibited that in his dealings with me.”

Walton and other school officials also noted several financial-policy and procedural violations occurred during Shaw’s tenure, though Dukes pointed out that the district failed to prove the former principal was involved in those allegations.

Shaw also was given “proficient” marks on an evaluation just a few months before he was put on administrative leave, his attorneys argued.

Still, the district argued in its final brief in September that the court erred by reversing the board’s firing, “in effect, (substituting) the Court’s judgment for that of the Board in a matter statutorily entrusted to the board.”

The school district is represented by Vernie Williams of the Childs & Halligan law firm in Columbia.

Shaw’s attorney, Clifford Bush III of Beaufort, responded in his final brief that the former principal displayed “strong leadership skills and immeasurable work ethics” that helped improve H.E. McCracken Middle’s scores.

“It was Mr. Shaw’s act of reporting a defiant employee to his supervisors that ultimately resulted in his termination” the brief states, referring to Shaw’s criticism of an employee who was a “well-known close friend” of the former chief of human resources and eventual interim-superintendent, Jackie Rosswurm.

On July 18, 2013, after eight months on administrative leave, Shaw was recommended for termination by new superintendent Jeff Moss, who’d started work on the first of the month.

In their two and a half weeks of work together, Moss did not reprimand Shaw or give him an opportunity to correct the alleged issues that lead to his firing, Bush stated in his September reply.

Attempts to reach Shaw through Bush were unsuccessful Wednesday.

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 8:53 AM with the headline "School district, former Bluffton principal to argue appeal in court next month."