(This story was updated to correct the name of the law firm used by the Santa Rosa School Board.)
Kim McChesney will not return as the assistant principal of Gulf Breeze Elementary School.
Bobbi Lewter, who has served as interim assistant principal at the school since early August, was approved as permanent assistant principal by the Santa Rosa School Board during its Tuesday night meeting.
McChesney is the mother of Matthew McChesney, who was arrested July 14 by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of electronic transmission of child pornography in Santa Rosa County.
Parents were irate that Matthew McChesney, who graduated from Gulf Breeze High School this spring, was permitted to participate in Senior Walk on May 21 at the elementary school where his mother was assistant principal, arguing she was aware that her son had already confessed to possessing child pornography.
The Senior Walk tradition allows graduates to walk the halls of their elementary schools before their commencement ceremony. The walk occurred more than two weeks after Matthew McChesney had been interviewed at the high school, where he confessed to deputies that they would find child pornography on his phone and computer.
Matthew McChesney was not arrested until several weeks after the Senior Walk.
McChesney has been on paid administrative since Aug. 4, pending the outcome of an investigation. The school board also approved retaining Weiss, Serota, Hellman, Cole and Bierman for legal and investigative services. The firm has offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton.
In early August, over 1,300 Santa Rosa County parents, guardians and community members signed a petition demanding McChesney’s immediate removal as assistant principal at the school.
The petition also called on the school district “to investigate the decisions that allowed this breach of student safety to occur.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gulf Breeze Elementary asst. principal won’t return to position, investigation continues
Reporting by Mary Lett, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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