ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996               TAG: 9603180101
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER

PRINCIPAL IS CHARGED, SUSPENDED

THE PRINCIPAL of Roanoke's Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy, a school for troubled youths, is accused of striking a student.

Michael McIntosh, principal of Roanoke's Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy, has been charged with assaulting a student and suspended from his job until the case is resolved.

McIntosh was charged Thursday after an investigation by child protective workers and police of an incident several weeks ago in which he reportedly struck a student at the academy, an alternative school for troubled youths.

Superintendent Wayne Harris said Friday that this case is unrelated to a recent incident in which the principal had a conflict with a school administrator.

Harris said McIntosh had worked at home for a week while school officials investigated the administrative conflict.

The superintendent knew the police inquiry involving the student was under way, but he did not know whether McIntosh would be charged or when the investigation would be finished.

McIntosh was suspended Friday after the charge of assault and battery, a misdemeanor, was filed. He will remain off the job until the case has been settled in Roanoke Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Harris said.

McIntosh, who has been principal of the alternative school for nearly two years, has been praised for leadership during the upgrading of the program for students in grades seven to 12.

Last year, the school moved from Addison Middle School to the former Valley Court shopping center, at Interstate 581 and Hershberger Road, and was named for former Mayor Noel Taylor.

"This is unfortunate. He has provided a lot of leadership and a smooth transition to the new location," Harris said.

The school serves 170 students who have had trouble adjusting to their home schools. Some have been suspended repeatedly. Others have experienced problems with chronic truancy, disruptive behavior or conflicts with other students.

McIntosh, 35, came to Roanoke from Danville, where he was an administrator and teacher in an alternative-education school. He also has worked in similar programs in Greensboro-Guilford County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg County in North Carolina.

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