Lewis is named interim principal > Former principal recalls incident which prompted resignation

STEUBEN — Lawrence Lewis, a retired school principal and superintendent, will be the interim principal at Ella Lewis Elementary School until the conclusion of the school year in June. Principal Charles Pease resigned last week.

Elwood Pinkham, chairman of the Steuben School Committee, said the committee would meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 7, to begin advertising for a new principal to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Pease.

Lewis, who was hired by the committee for the job of interim principal, will supervise the teaching staff and 150 pupils at the school on a limited schedule, serving a four-day workweek.

After starting his school teaching career in 1951 at Milbridge, he completed additional educational training and moved out of Washington County in 1957 to become the first guidance director in the Belfast school system. In 1963, he relocated to Milford, where he spent the next 20 years as superintendent of schools in Milford.

After a brief period of retirement, in 1985 he accepted a three-year job as principal of Blue Hill Consolidated School. Last year, he was principal of Trenton Elementary School.

Pinkham said he expects the committee to revamp the position of principal to include some teaching assignments.

Pease, who had 23 years of experience in education, including the last 18 years as a teaching principal, was in his third year of being a non-teaching principal at Ella Lewis School. He said he had been aware for the past year that the School Committee wanted to remodel his job to include some teaching assignments, but the change was never instituted.

His reluctance to move back into the classroom, and other issues, caused him voluntarily to submit his resignation to the committee last week. Although for several months he had been considering the advantage of getting out of education and going into private business with his wife, it was an incident at the school in early February that helped him to leave his profession.

He said a fourth-grade boy and his father on Feb. 3 accused him of grabbing the boy around the neck in the school and dragging him into the principal’s office.

A deputy from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case. Deputy David Denbow talked with witnesses and presented his findings to District Attorney Michael Povich of Ellsworth, who said Friday that he had studied the case and “declined prosecution.” Povich said there was a question whether the alleged assault ever happened.

“In my 23 years in education I’ve never faced anything like that,” Pease said. “When I was subjected to that investigation I got scared. It gets your attention when you realize that any youngster can come into your office, as that boy did. I was working on some papers and he simply came in and sat down. I knew I didn’t do any wrong, but hours later I found myself being investigated for assault.”

Pease said the fact that he had to use his own money to hire a defense attorney, the trauma of being accused of a crime, and the prospect that the School Committee wanted a teaching principal next fall were factors that made it easier for him to choose a new line of work.

He said he is looking forward to putting all of his efforts into forming a new business, C.S. Enterprises at North Sullivan. Wood burning, wood carving, cartooning and art for advertising will be his focus, while his wife will contribute her skills as a photographer for their new business.