Although schools are out for Spring Break in Macon County, the Principal at Macon Middle School, Dr. Kevin Bailey, has been suspended with pay pending further investigation. While the reason for his suspension is not currently confirmed, officials with the Macon County School System were able to confirm that the suspension is not related to any issues involving students.
Dr. Kevin Bailey was hired as the Principal of Macon Middle School in July 2021 after the retirement of former Principal Scot Maslin.
Prior to being hired in Macon County, Dr. Bailey spent seven years in the classroom, teaching various subjects, including eighth grade science, earth science, animal science, horticulture and agricultural mechanics. He also spent five years as assistant principal at Rutherford-Spindale Middle School in Rutherfordton, N.C. In 2017, Dr. Bailey was hired by Jackson County Public Schools as their Human Resource Director. In 2019, he was promoted to Executive Director of Human Resources.
Although no reason for his suspension have been given by officials, Dr. Bailey’s Tik Tok account, for which he has gained notable attention over the past couple of weeks has been completely deleted. Dr. Bailey had began posting videos of his morning announcements on the social media application and gained wide-spread attention for the feel-good videos which also featured appearances by the school’s School Resource Officer and other employees. All of the videos have since been deleted and Dr. Bailey’s account is no longer searchable.
According to Macon County Schools’ Personnel Policy on social media use, it appears Dr. Bailey’s suspension is likely connected to his Tok Tok. The district’s policy states:
“The board acknowledges that school employees may engage in the use of social media during their personal time. School employees who use social media for personal purposes must be mindful that they are responsible for their public conduct even when not acting in their capacities as school system employees. All school employees, including student teachers and independent contractors, shall comply with the requirements of this policy when using electronic social media for personal purposes. In addition, all school employees must comply with policy 4040/7310, Staff-Student Relations, when communicating with individual students through other electronic means, such as through voice, email, or text-messaging”
The policy further states, “School employees are prohibited from accessing social networking websites for personal use during instructional time.”
Dr. Bailey’s morning videos, which often started with the inspiring quote, “It is a great day to have a great day,” would likely be considered a violation of the district’s social media policy for employees.
According to the district’s outlined consequences for violating the policy, Dr. Bailey could be facing termination.
“School system personnel shall monitor online activities of employees who access the Internet using school technological resources. Additionally, the superintendent or designee may periodically conduct public Internet searches to determine if an employee has engaged in conduct that violates this policy. Any employee who has been found by the superintendent to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal,” reads the policy.
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