NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – The vice principal at Richneck Elementary School has resigned amid the fallout from the shooting of a teacher at the school earlier this month, a Newport News Public Schools spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.
Dr. Ebony Parker had been the vice principal at Richneck on Jan. 6 when police said a 6-year-old student shot Newport News first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner.
Previously, Karen Lynch had been named as the school’s new interim principal, noting she had served as a principal in Newport News Public Schools for 17 years and she is now assigned to the school as an administrator on special assignment.
Briana Foster Newton, who was overseeing the school as of the 2022-2023 school year, is still employed by the school division. She had been named the school’s principal in July 2022, per the school’s social media pages.
Superintendent Dr. George Parker III said Lynch would be “leading training and preparation activities for Richneck staff moving forward.”
School Board chairwoman Lisa Surles-Law had said previously that administrative changes would be taking place at Richneck.
“On the re-entry plan, although we are not at liberty to state specifics, after reviewing the preliminary results of the internal investigation, administrative changes have been proposed at Richneck Elementary,” Surles-Law said.
Parker’s status is the subject of a special School Board meeting Wednesday.