Norwayne principal pleads guilty to DWI
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on December 10, 2010 1:46 PM
Mario Re, principal at Norwayne Middle School, has pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while impaired but had two other traffic charges against him dismissed, stemming from a May 2 traffic stop.
Re, principal at the school since 2005, was arrested by the Highway Patrol on U.S. 70 and was initially charged with DWI, reckless driving to endanger and speeding.
According to court records, his case was heard in court on Nov. 16. He received 12-month unsupervised probation for the DWI charge, while the speeding and reckless driving charges were dismissed.
At the outset, school officials took no action pending the outcome of the court case, since it was a first offense and there was no conviction.
According to the district's Policy 7240A, for drug-free workplace, consequences for a first offense are that "a severe letter of reprimand shall be written by the immediate supervisor and placed in the employee's personnel file" and the employee shall be required to attend a minimum of two counseling sessions through the Employee Assistance Program.
On Thursday, Ken Derksen, public information officer for Wayne County Public Schools, said little about the matter, except that Re, first hired by the district as an assistant principal at Norwayne in 2003, will continue his duties as an administrator.
In a written statement released by his office, Derksen said, "The district is aware of the recent court action for Norwayne Middle principal Mario Re. Because this is a personnel issue, the district cannot legally discuss specific disciplinary actions taken. The district can say that all situations such as this are taken very seriously and are handled in accordance to board policy."