Priest River principal won’t return

The principal of Priest River Lamanna High School, who went on an unexpected and unexplained medical leave almost two weeks ago, has notified school officials he won’t be coming back to work.

Ray Stookey announced May 11 he would take the rest of the school year off and has since said he won’t return, district Superintendent Michael McGuire said. The district began looking for a replacement last week. McGuire will fill in as principal for the rest of the school year.

McGuire said he can’t reveal why Stookey left.

“He left on a day that was really stressful; let’s put it that way. It was a lot of things,” McGuire said. He also said the problems were student-oriented.

A letter sent to parents said Stookey’s decision “was not based on any one thing, one person or group of people’s actions.”

The former principal, who had been at the school for six years and coached football, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The district issued a news release with this statement from Stookey: “I want Lamanna to end the year successfully. I hope we can let the anger go and let the healing begin. I’m not capable at this time of being the principal. If I were, I’d be there, and I’m sad about that.”

McGuire said he hadn’t intended to include Stookey’s statement in the release. “He said a lot of things on the phone,” McGuire said. “When I showed (the statement) to the staff, they said, ‘You know, you just don’t want to go there.’ “

The news release and letter to parents said district officials were “deeply saddened” by Stookey’s decision and that they hope to honor him for his service to the school.