Rockville High School Principal Keeping His Job

Principal Eric Baim is staying.

The Board of Education on Tuesday voted not to take any action on a discussion it had on potential termination, 11 days after Baim was charged with running a red light and flunking a sobriety test in Berlin.

Rather than firing him, the school board will convene in a special meeting on Aug. 14 to discuss "alternative disciplinary measures" recommended by Superintendent of Schools Mary Conway. School board meetings begin at 7 p.m.

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the Board of Education had a quorum consisting of all four Democrats - Michelle Arn, Kyle Percy, Terri Goldich and Amarjit Singh Buttar - and Republicans William Nicholson, Laura Bush and Chairman Dean Houle.

At 7:05, the board, Superintendent of Schools Mary Conway, Baim, and his lawyer, Kevin Deneen, retired to an executive session. Baim and Deneen were not in the room for very long.

At 7:50, board members came back into open session and unanimously voted to  keep Baim as principal. Conway will be preparing a disciplinary recommendation to be discussed at the Aug. 14 meeting.

Conway and Houle politely said they wanted to reserve comment until after any disciplinary action is taken. Baim has already been on administrative leave, working out of the central office. His court date, originally scheduled for Friday, was moved to Aug. 3.  He left a family vacation for the meeting and returned to the vacation after the vote was taken.

Conway did say she would be working on the disciplinary options immediately.

Those in attendance numbered 34 and ranged from faculty to parents to students to members of Baim's family. Many lined up to shake his hand and offer a hug after the decision.

After the vote, the 37-year-old Baim was emotional and thanked those who offered their support during what he called a "crazy week."

He said he had to buy a personal cell phone because of all the well-wishers trying to contact him.

"It was overwhelming and I did not want to rack up a big phone bill for the board," he said. "That's how many people were calling."

Baim, who said he "obviously made a poor decision," also seemed contrite.

"It's something I obviously should't have done," he said. "But I hope I can turn this into something positive as I move forward. I want to thank everyone on the Board of Education."

Baim said he will intensify his efforts to work with programs like the RHS SSNAP - Students Seeking New Achievements Positively. He also pledged to adopt safe choices.