Cheri Grant-Guerdon, the newly named principal at Rivermont Elementary School, is suspended without pay for suspected mishandling of school funds.
Before being assigned to Rivermont in May, Grant-Guerdon was the principal at Woodmore Elementary.
The Hamilton County Department of Education's internal controls detected a problem last Thursday and took immediate action to investigate and handle the situation, said Jill Levine, Hamilton County School's chief academic officer.
Levine said the district submitted a suspected fraud report to the Tennessee Comptroller, and the school system cannot say anything else due to the ongoing investigation.
She added that the district is dedicated to being fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars, and "if we expect there is an issue there is always going to be swift and immediate action."
Hamilton County Board of Education Chairman Jonathan Welch, who represents Rivermont, said he's pleased with the team that identified the problem and quickly handled the situation.
"Obviously I'm disappointed, but I'm looking forward to working with the new principal and the good things happening at this school," Welch said.
Nikki Bailey, an assistant principal at East Lake Elementary, will take over as principal at Rivermont. Bailey has been at working in Hamilton County schools since 2006, and began her teaching career at Lookout Valley Elementary, according to interim Superintendent Kirk Kelly.
In a prepared statement, Kelly also announced that Kelly Shaw is the new program director for 9-12 literacy. Since being named interim Superintendent, Kelly has been restructuring central office, and said this new position will help "provide a stronger level of support to schools in the area of literacy instruction."
Kelly also announced that Jeffrey Scott will replace the assistant principal position saved for Jesse Nayadley at East Ridge High School. Nayadley, former athletic director at Ooltewah High School, resigned from the district last week following months of turmoil after the December rape of a freshman basketball player, allegedly by his teammates.
It was also announced today that Monica Gordon will be an assistant principal at Red Bank High School, replacing Michael Smith who also recently resigned.
"We are committed to providing strong leadership in all of our schools and improving the level of support provided by the district office. We are confident that these individual will add great value in their new positions." said Kelly in a statement.
Contact staff writer Kendi A. Rainwater at 423-757-6592 or kendi.anderson@timesfreepress.com. Follow on Twitter @kendi_and.