The A.L. Stanback Middle School will have a new principal next month following the resignation of Gloria Jones, who is leaving Nov. 30, after parents and staff accused her of blocking the formation of a school Gay-Straight Alliance for more than two years.
Orange County School Board hired veteran principal Jan Hargrove to replace Jones.
Jones did not say why she is leaving, but members of the Orange County Board of Education publicly criticized her for how she handled the GSA. The club, which met for the first time last spring, had just four meetings before Jones announced a new policy banning non-academic clubs such as the GSA during school hours. Federal law requires public schools to provide equal access for all student clubs, including GSAs.
School staff said Jones indicated the new policy was ordered by Orange County Schools’ central office staff, but Interim Superintendent Del Burns told the INDY that was untrue.
Hargrove was principal of Akins Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina and currently is the interim principal at Grady A. Brown Elementary in Hillsborough.
