Layton High's principal is placed on leave

Layton High School Principal Paul C. Smith has been placed on paid administrative leave during a district investigation that began Monday.

Smith was "removed from the situation" so the district could perform an internal investigation "and look into some things that are happening at the school," Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams told the Deseret News on Tuesday.

Williams said details of the investigation could not be released, as it is ongoing and issues are still being discussed.

"Not only would it harm the investigation to say something, but it's due diligence as far as being an employee goes," he said. "I just can't say anything about it until it is complete."

Muriel Mann, one of Layton's three assistant principals, has been asked to lead the school at least until the investigation is complete, Williams said.

The school serves more than 1,700 students housed in the Layton, Kaysville, Clearfield and Syracuse areas and will continue with all scheduled activities and classes as planned.

According to a Utah State Office of Education report of Layton High School conducted in April, "the four administrators have 106 years of combined administrative experience." Smith has been principal at Layton High for more than 34 years.

In a written statement on the school's Web page, Smith touts Layton High's "rich heritage of educational excellence," saying, "Layton High School is a setting where each student can learn, improve and set new marks of excellence. Making this possible is a talented staff and a facility that is an unequaled model of technology."

Smith's secretary also stepped down from her position Monday. Williams said Leslie Barkar retired from her job at Layton High, but he didn't believe it was an early retirement.

Police are not involved in the investigation.

Williams said he could not confirm or deny whether the investigation has anything to do with finances or if it's related to the case of 62-year-old Layton High choir director Joseph Everton, who has been on leave while district officials investigate his relationship with a former student.

The mother of the former student involved in the latter investigation said that Everton and her daughter eloped to Las Vegas last month.

Layton police have decided not to file criminal charges against Everton and won't be pursuing any criminal action in that case.

Williams said it is unknown how long the investigation involving Smith will take, but details will remain classified until the district's probe has concluded.

e-mail: wleonard@desnews.com