The Orange County Register is reporting that the Fullerton Union High School Vice Principal who removed a student from a contest for openly gay remarks has been at least temporarily removed from the FUHS campus and reassigned to the district offices.
According to the story:
Vice Principal Joe Abell was assigned to Fullerton Joint Union School District offices as administrators continue to assess the incident, Superintendent George Giokaris said. “Today, (Abell) is working at the district office,” Giokaris said. “I can’t say where he will be tomorrow. But today he is here.”
In early April a student was removed by the Assistant Principal, Joe Abell, from the Mr. Fullerton competition after giving his answer to a contestant question. When asked where he saw himself in 10 years, the student said he hoped to find the love of his life, to marry him and he hoped for the legalization of gay marriage. After the student was done giving his answer, Abell disqualified him from the contest.
Fullerton Union High School District superintendent Giokaris released a statement as the controversy over Abell’s actions erupted saying that “the District has concluded that [removing the student from the competition] was not handled appropriately by the Assistant Principal.” The letter went on to state “the student’s statement made during the Mr. Fullerton contest at FUHS on April 3, 2012, regarding the student’s future plans and hopes did not violate any school rules.”
Fullerton Union High School Principal Catherine Gach has issued a letter apologizing for Abell’s actions. In her letter she wrote;
“We will work with the experts at Orange County Human Relations and the district to develop and implement staff training and student programs that will give us the strategies and tools to make Fullerton Union High School a nurturing, safe haven for all our students.”