Shawnee Mission to hire investigator after Star report on complaints against principal
The Shawnee Mission school district will hire an outside investigator to look into allegations against an administrator who was the subject of a Star story on Sunday that detailed accusations of racism, sexism and harassment.
Paul Colwell had been principal of Horizons High School for five years and is set to move to Shawnee Mission West as an assistant principal for the upcoming school year.
In the story, more than 15 current and former students and employees accused Colwell of sexual harassment, bullying, making racist and sexist remarks, and intimidating staff members.
District officials said in a statement that they had already conducted a “thorough” investigation into some complaints against Colwell. But, the statement said, “The article included new information not previously reported. Given the new information contained in the article, and due to the now public nature of this issue, the district will secure a third party to conduct an independent and confidential investigation.”
The school board has scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday to appoint an independent investigator, for a cost not to exceed $45,000.
Earlier this year, staff members filed complaints with the district’s human resources department and emailed grievances to the school board about Colwell, principal of the district’s alternative school. In emails obtained by The Star and in interviews, they accused him of singling out and bullying certain students, issuing disproportionate punishments, mishandling students’ sexual assault complaints, mistreating transgender students and more.
“At an alternative school, you have to be really compassionate toward these students because many of them have faced a high level of trauma,” said one employee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from the district. “But his treatment of students caused more trauma.”
After the earlier investigation, human resources officials said that some claims were not proven to be violations of district policy. But one incident — in which Colwell gave a female employee a Christmas ornament with the word “balls” written on it during a party at school — was deemed a violation of the sexual harassment policy, according to documents obtained by The Star.
Staff were concerned to learn that despite the complaints and the substantiated sexual harassment claim, Colwell would remain a district employee. Many are calling for changes to the human resources department and the district’s process for handling complaints, in addition to the firing of Colwell.
“The district is always limited by law on what can be shared related to personnel and student issues,” officials said in the release. “The district investigates concerns brought by students and staff in accordance with Board of Education policies and procedures, and takes appropriate action based on the outcome of those investigations. The district’s investigation was thorough and done in accordance with board policies.”
Since the Star report was published, more parents and students contacted The Star to share their experiences with Colwell that they felt were inappropriate or intimidating. Several parents said they have contacted the district, worried about Colwell working at their children’s school.
Colwell declined to be interviewed for Sunday’s report, and said, without naming specifics, that many accusations are inaccurate.
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 5:08 PM.
