Lawrence High School principal suspended

Lawrence school officials have suspended the high school principal with pay but would not comment further, the district's board of education president said Friday.

Geoffrey Touretz, who had been the high school principal for seven years, was suspended about two weeks ago and has not returned to the high school, said board president Murray Forman.

The board is awaiting a recommendation from school district Superintendent John T. Fitzsimons before taking any further action. The principal's departure has prompted several rumors within the district about his situation, but Forman would not say why the principal was suspended, citing it as a personnel matter. The principal's duties have been allocated to the high school's assistant principals.

Fitzsimons said Friday that he could not elaborate, also saying the issue was a personnel matter. Forman said he expected "some form of recommendation" from the superintendent regarding Touretz's status by the next board meeting, Nov. 16.

Touretz did not return calls for comment.

Lawrence Central Council PTA president Blasia Baum said parents were not told the principal had been suspended.

"We were told when the incident first happened that he was absent from school," she said. "The district has never communicated to parents or students or the community that he had been suspended," she said, adding that they learned about it a week later from media reports.

Fitzsimons said that there are 400 district employees and "at times there are going to be changes in personnel."

He said there was no reason to notify parents and "furthermore, what can I tell them? I can't tell them anything," he said, adding that he has spoken with the PTA Central Council."The PTA has met and been told over and over again:Their children are safe, the building is being administered well."

A spokeswoman for Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said, "This office is aware of the matter, but we have no further comment at this time."