FENNOY TO SEEK FIRING OF BOYNTON PRINCIPAL
Inappropriate relationship seen as cause for firing Sims.
Boynton Beach High School Principal Guarn Sims faces being fired after a School District investigation of a relationship he had with a school employee, The Palm Beach Post has learned.
Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Donald Fennoy has informed Sims that he plans to recommend his termination to the School Board next month, according to three people with direct knowledge of the case.
Sims, 49, was removed from his position in July, just a few weeks before the start of the school year, after allegations emerged of an inappropriate relationship with at least one school employee, two people familiar with the case said.
The investigation was completed this month, and Sims was recently alerted via a letter that Fennoy will recommend his firing, the sources said.
The School District declined to comment on the case or release details of the findings, saying that the investigation had not yet been made public. Sims did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment.
Sims’ termination must be approved by the School Board. Board members are expected to vote on the firing next month.
Sims is a longtime school administrator who previously led Royal Palm Beach High School, Village Academy, Lantana Middle and Boynton’s Galaxy Elementary.
Prior to taking over Boynton Beach High last year, he supervised
the School District’s adult education department.
This summer’s investigation was not the first time Sims had been the focus of a district probe.
In 2009, he received a verbal reprimand after audi- tors found he had put more than $2,000 in restaurant charges on his purchasing card while he was principal of Royal Palm Beach High. He repaid about $466 and later was moved to be prin- cipal of Village Academy.
Sims was appointed to lead Boynton Beach High last year amid calls from community leaders for a change in leadership at the 1,700-student school. Two years ago, the school’s state grade had fallen to a D but it rose in 2017 to a C and has remained there.
Sims is a prominent com- munity leader in Boynton, heavily involved in civic affairs and an active member of St. John Missionary Baptist Church. He has also served as chairman of the Delray Beach Housing Authority.
When he was tapped last summer for the Boynton High position, he wrote on Facebook that he was “excited to return to my true purpose as an educator and administrator.”