An Indianola High School principal is accused of grabbing a student and pulling him by his hair at a football game earlier this month. Today, authorities charged 63 year old John Monroe with assault without injury. He has been on paid administrative leave since last Wednesday.
On September 4th, Monroe was looking for students involved in a fight. When he asked one student his name, the boy refused to answer. Indianola police say Monroe grabbed the boy twice, once by his arm or shoulder and the other by his hair. Monroe told officers he meant to hold onto the student's shirt, but wound up pulling his hair.
"The law is very important and I understand that, but John would never do anything that would jeopardize a child," says Carol Mahr. She worked with Monroe in the school district for ten years.
"Some situations are very difficult to deal with and sometimes we handle it perfectly and sometimes we don't and this is one of those situations that we're just trying to learn more what happened," says Superintendent Dr. Mike Teigland. District officials are not saying how long Monroe will be on administrative leave.
The student is a sophomore at the high school. He has not missed any school as a result of the alleged assault.
On September 4th, Monroe was looking for students involved in a fight. When he asked one student his name, the boy refused to answer. Indianola police say Monroe grabbed the boy twice, once by his arm or shoulder and the other by his hair. Monroe told officers he meant to hold onto the student's shirt, but wound up pulling his hair.
"The law is very important and I understand that, but John would never do anything that would jeopardize a child," says Carol Mahr. She worked with Monroe in the school district for ten years.
"Some situations are very difficult to deal with and sometimes we handle it perfectly and sometimes we don't and this is one of those situations that we're just trying to learn more what happened," says Superintendent Dr. Mike Teigland. District officials are not saying how long Monroe will be on administrative leave.
The student is a sophomore at the high school. He has not missed any school as a result of the alleged assault.
