Fabre is out as principal at Morgan City High

The St. Mary Parish School Board voted Thursday not to renew the contract of the man who has served as Morgan City High’s principal for 14 years and was this year’s district Principal of the Year.
Principal Mickey Fabre had been removed from the post before classes were suspended in March by COVID-19 restrictions. Superintendent Teresa Bagwell had declined to talk about the matter publicly, citing personnel privacy concerns. The board’s deliberations at Thursday’s meeting were conducted in closed session.
But Fabre offered some clues during a sometimes heated defense in open session.
Fabre said he had refused orders to provide disciplinary write-ups in the case of two employees, one of whom was fired and the other transferred.
He said he refused to write up one of the employees because she had a picture of a student on her phone against district policy. The student was the employee’s child, Fabre said.
Fabre said Bagwell came to his office and ordered him to write up the employee, and he still refused.
Later, Fabre was accused of not returning a phone call from the Central Office the same day and for not attending a meeting last year when he was away on a camping trip.
“That’s called piling on, adding a long list of things to a weak or nonexistent case to make it seem more substantial,” Fabre said.
Later, a 10-page report accused him of stealing a cellphone, even though there are cameras throughout the building, and of cursing and throwing a book at a teacher during a faculty meeting.
Fabre said his defense wasn’t included in the report even though he was interviewed for 30 minutes. He also said it was improper for Bagwell to serve both as the investigating authority and as a witness in the case.
He characterized the charges as “false, unproven, undocumented and unsubstantiated claims and allegations.”
Fabre has worked for the district for 26 years and as Morgan City High principal for 14. He is president of the district’s principals association. This year’s Principal of the Year Award was his third.
Fabre was not present at a School Board meeting earlier this year at which Students, Teachers and Principals of the Year were recognized.
The vote to accept Bagwell’s recommendation not to offer Fabre a contract renewal passed 6-5.
Board members Ginger Griffin, Marilyn LaSalle, Wayne Deslatte, Dwight Barbier, Roland Verret and Michael Taylor voted to end Fabre’s contract. Joseph Foulcard, Sylvia Lockett, Kenneth Alfred, Pearl Rack and Alaina Black voted against Bagwell’s recommendation.

This story has been edited to correct Dwight Barbier's name.