School district reassigns Boynton principal
The principal of Boynton Beach High School, Guarn Sims, has been reassigned as part of an investigation, school officials said on Thursday.
The school district declined further comment, spokeswoman Julie Trieste said. Anthony Lockhart, former principal of Atlantic High in Delray Beach, will serve as principal in the interim.
Sims has served as principal at the high school for the past year. He has also been principal at Royal Palm Beach High, Lantana Middle School, Village Academy in Delray Beach and Galaxy Elementary in Boynton Beach.
Sims has been reprimanded by the school district in the past. In 2009, he received a verbal reprimand following a school police investigation of unauthorized purchases on a district-issued Visa card.
Sims paid back $466 out of $2,202 in questionable food and gift card expenses.
Sims wrote that he accepted responsibility, but did not be-
lieve his purchases were improper because they were work-related.
One of the purchases was a $494 bill for taking eighth-graders to lunch at The Old Key Lime House for achieving top standardized test scores. Another was a $792 check at the same Lantana restaurant for a staff gathering.
Other transactions included personal meals before or after meetings at various restaurants.
"The thought of being perceived as stealing from the district and children turns my stomach because that does not represent my personal and professional character," Sims wrote in a rebuttal filed with the district at the time. "I feel this experience has certainly severely damaged my integrity and reputation as an educator."
Sims said he would no longer carry the district purchasing card, and would instead make purchases out of pocket and request reimbursement when appropriate.
He could not be reached for comment on Thursday.