By AP/Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Students are walking out of class for the third straight day at Riverview Gardens High School in north St. Louis County.
About 75 students were marching to district headquarters as they continue to protest the reassignment of principle Marshall Peeples. Classes were canceled at midday Tuesday after a walkout by students.
Officials with the Riverview Gardens School District in north St. Louis County are still not saying why they reassigned Peeples to a job at district headquarters.
The district's two interim superintendents say only that Peeples was needed at the main office.
But Peeples says his reassignment was sudden, and he does not expect the school board to renew his contract: "I was in the office working with the counselors and the administrators on the MAP tests coming up, and they informed me that you have been shipped out," Peeples said Tuesday night.
Peeples is also denying allegations that he mismanaged money at the high school.
After a special meeting Tuesday, the Riverview Gardens school board gathered behind closed doors to discuss personnel matters. But the board did not say if that included Peeples' contract.
At the meeting Tuesday, student Brian Turner spoke in Peeples' defense: "Marshall Peeples was more than just an administrator. He was more like a light that shined and showed us a path to a college education."
Earlier this month, prosecutors filed charges of theft and tax evasion against Superintendent Henry Williams following a state audit of the district.