When a principal shows up on The Smoking Gun, it's never pretty. I just can't improve on their summary of the hapless pot-planting principal:
Here's a bit of advice for high school administrators everywhere: If a drug-sniffing police dog somehow misses the pot you planted in a troublemaker's locker, just let it go. Patrick Conroy, however, felt the need to tell Michigan cops about his harebrained attempt to frame a student he believed was selling drugs at L.C. Mohr High School.
Conroy, who resigned his assistant principal's post Friday when the Herald-Palladium reported on his scheme, last month laughingly told a K-9 cop about planting the pot, according to the below South Haven Police Department reports. Saying, "I know this isn't or wasn't ethical," Conroy, 52, told the cop he put the baggie of marijuana in the student's locker since "we both know he is dealing drugs, and I wanted to catch him so I put drugs in the locker."
The dog, named Herbie, did not cooperate, however, failing to detect the weed. For his part, Conroy repeatedly steered the K-9 team past the bank of lockers, to no avail. Conroy is now the subject of a criminal probe.
Conroy's local newspaper, the Herald-Palladium, has more juicy details, and has been bombarding Conroy with phone calls, to no avail:
Conroy told police he had been collecting the drugs, which he said had been confiscated from students, ever since he came to the high school as assistant principal in August 1999. He claimed he kept the drugs in his office so he could bring them to school board student expulsion hearings to show as evidence if necessary.
But school board President Ed Bocock, who has been on the board since Conroy joined the district staff, said he never saw drugs displayed at any student expulsion hearing he attended.
"I don't recall seeing that," Bocock said. "Those drugs are supposed to be given to the police."
Meanwhile, the school board may set a special meeting soon to consider additional disciplinary action against Conroy, Bocock said Thursday night.
Herald-Palladium attempts to telephone Conroy at home on Wednesday and Thursday were unsuccessful.
I'll bet. Not only did he try to frame a student, but he's been illegally hoarding drugs in his office for five years. That police dog needs to be retired; his nose should have exploded when he came anywhere near Conroy.
As Best of the Web notes, there's a hilariously-supportive letter by one Abby N. , on the website of an nearby highschool newspaper:
Many students have taken notice that Mr. Conroy is not at school. Rumors of drugs, sex, and violence have been flung through the air all week long. Many students have been questioning what’s happened. According to Mr. Hadden, he is on leave with pay, and the reason has nothing to do with sex, drugs or violence. The press release that was given to teachers stated the reason is procedural, administrative...
He admits to having drugs on campus and then using them to frame a student and he gets put on leave with pay?!?
Many students have made wild accusations; saying that Mr. Conroy was arrested and even some parents claimed the he was in jail. Mr. Conroy has not been arrested and he has not done anything illegal.
Bullspit, honey. It was illegal for him not to call officials and surrender any drugs that he confiscated from students. As the Herald-Palladium noted:
South Haven Police Chief Rod Somerlott said earlier that when drugs are confiscated from a student, by law police must be contacted immediately to pick up and dispose of the illegal substances.
Mr. Conroy has been a great help to this school over the years...
Mr. Conroy was gold in a school full of nickel and his absence has left a void in both the school and in the hearts of many students...
I can't improve on BotW's rejoinder - "He was gold, all right--Acapulco gold."
And what does that say about the rest of the school administrators and teachers, if they are "nickel" to Conroy's "gold"? Do you think they should feel good about Abby's comment?
Posted by kswygert at February 24, 2004 05:28 PM