More than a week after Howard School band director Dexter Bell was suspended and escorted off campus, Hamilton County Department of Education officials say the investigation into insubordination charges against him is still ongoing and must be completed before the school superintendent can decide the next step.
“Typically when people are suspended, there’s something there,” said Dr. Ava Warren, director of human resources for Hamilton County secondary schools.
If Bell is found innocent or if allegations of insubordination can’t be proved, he could have his pay reinstated, she said. But she didn’t know when the investigation would end.
According to Bell’s personnel file, he was suspended on May 1 without pay for insubordination by failing to meet with Howard School principal Zac Brown.
In his nearly 20 years of off and on again teaching in Hamilton County schools, at least two other principals raised concerns about Bell.