By Kathy Daley
ELDRED — November 23, 2010 — The Eldred Central School principal suspended from her job since Oct. 7 is back at the helm.
Kathryn Ryan, principal of Mackenzie Elementary School in Glen Spey, was reinstated by the Eldred Central School District as of yesterday, Monday.
In a prepared release, the district said an investigation into “inappropriate behavior” on the part of Ryan showed “no misconduct rising to the level” of termination.
Ryan came under fire in late September when a parent accused her of handling her six-year-old roughly in the playground.
The parent later brought forward 14 complaints about Ryan from other parents, and the district hired an outside investigator to look into the complaints.
In mid-October, the district’s own attorney cleared Ryan of unnecessary force in the initial parent complaint. The district then hired a former state police investigator to look into the additional accusations.
Last week, Ryan’s attorney filed a petition with the NY State Supreme Court in Sullivan County, asking the court to return her to work and end what Ryan termed “an illegal suspension.”
Ryan has served as the Mackenzie principal since 2001. A resident of Livingston Manor, she is a former elementary school teacher with what was then the Jeffersonville-Youngsville School District.