CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — The Harrison County Board of Education will again take up the contract renewal an administrator accused of harassing a transgender student during a special meeting Monday.
The Board voted to not renew Lee Livengood’s contract at a March 19 meeting, after which the Liberty High School assistant principal sought legal counsel.
“I’d like for all of the information to be put out there,” his attorney Alex Shook had said. “There are witnesses that corroborate Mr. Livengood’s side of the story, that he didn’t engage in any bullying behavior, didn’t make any of these derogatory comments that were attributed to him, and I would like to see his contract renewed.”
However, Harrison County Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin said that the November incident and the decision to not renew Livengood’s contract are not connected.
“No specific reason was given to me as to why they didn’t want to renew,” Manchin had said. “Now anybody can include whatever they want, but there’s been no conclusion that Mr. Livengood was not renewed because of this incident.
“He was not terminated. I think that that’s the most salient point that needs to be made. He was not terminated. His contract was not renewed, and you have to distinguish between that,” he had added.
Livengood is accused of encountering a student in Liberty’s boys bathroom, where he then continued to “harass and intimidate” sophomore Michael Critchfield.
He was suspended from his position in December, but the Board voted to reinstate him in February following an investigation.
The Board will again vote on the matter Monday. The meeting begins at 3 p.m. in the Board Room of the Harrison County Schools administration building at 445 West Main Street in Clarksburg.