VERGENNES — Vergennes Union High School co-principal Edwin Webbley will return from a medical leave to his post on a part-time basis next week and should be back on a more regular basis on the week that begins on Monday, April 30, according to Addison Northwest Supervisory Union Superintendent Tom O’Brien.
The week that begins on April 30 follows the school’s spring vacation. O’Brien said that break will give Webbley more time to recover from the chronic back and leg pain that caused him to be placed on medical leave. That leave began before Vermont State Police cited Webbley on Feb. 6 for driving under the influence of alcohol.
O’Brien said how much Webbley works next week is “depending on his stamina,” and that he allowed for Webbley’s slow transition back to VUHS because of his health, not his legal issues.
“I would do that for anybody going back,” O’Brien said, adding, “He’s got the clearance from his physicians to go back to work.”
Webbley pled innocent to the DUI charge at a Feb. 27 arraignment. The next step in his legal process will be a Monday morning status conference that Webbley has permission to miss and will be handled by his attorney, Devin McLaughlin of Middlebury.
O’Brien said Webbley was set to address the VUHS faculty at its regular Wednesday afternoon meeting this week, and planned to speak to the school’s senior class at a Thursday assembly.
Webbley also sat down with the VUHS board on Monday night behind closed doors at an executive session. O’Brien said no decision was made at the meeting, and that Webbley remains under contract at VUHS.
O’Brien and VUHS board member Kris Bristow said they could not discuss the contents of the executive session, citing confidential personnel issues.
Webbley, 57, in his fifth year at VUHS, was honored by the Vermont Principals’ Association as the 2010 Robert F. Pierce Vermont Secondary Principal of the Year, and several of the school’s teachers have earned statewide honors during his tenure.
Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at [email protected].