The board planned to use Monday’s meeting to decide whether to fire Berriman, Ella White Elementary School principal who has been on paid administrative leave since Nov. 16, until an announced change of plans last week, according to Berriman.

Berriman said earlier this month that he had received notification of his potential dismissal following an incident at the school during which Berriman pulled a disruptive second-grade student to him and carried the child to an office under his arm.

David Rabbideau, APS superintendent, has declined to comment on the proposed firing, citing the need for privacy in personnel issues.

On Monday, more than 100 people filled benches in the Thunder Bay Junior High School cafetorium, many of them using three-minute public comment allotments to support Berriman and ask the board to reinstate him.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Residents fill a room at Thunder Bay Junior High School, where many turned out to support Ella White Elementary School Principal Tom Berriman during an Alpena Public Schools Board of Education meeting on Monday.

Bob Centala, whose child attends Ella White, echoed the comments of many when he described overwhelmed teachers trying to keep up with increasingly disruptive student behavior at the school.

Those teachers need help, and Berriman provided that help, Centala said.

“Put this good man back where he belongs,” Centala said, to claps and cheers from the audience. “Taking care of our kids.”

Following protocol, the board offered no response to the approximately 45 minutes of public comment, in two sessions, during its meeting.

Board Chairman Ned Heath said he could not comment on a personnel issue or say why Berriman faces possible action by the board.

News Photo by Julie Riddle An Ella White Elementary School parent speaks in support of Ella White Principal Tom Berriman, currently on administrative leave, during an Alpena Public Schools Board of Education meeting at Thunder Bay Junior High School on Monday.

Heath commended the parents who came for the meeting and said their comments show they care about their school.

“Unless they talk, like they did today, we don’t know,” Heath said. “So they need to keep doing it.”

Berriman, speaking first in the initial public comment session, thanked the board for its work and encouraged those there to support him to speak with civility, remembering the power of working together as a family.

“Go Eagles,” he concluded, giving his school’s mascot a plug as he returned to his seat, to the audience’s applause.

Many of the 17 people addressing the board said their children brought home stories of hitting, taunting, kicking, and other inappropriate behavior between students and aimed toward teachers at the school, increasing in regularity in recent years.

News Photo by Julie RIddle A resident speaks in support of Ella White Principal Tom Berriman, currently on administrative leave, during an Alpena Public Schools Board of Education meeting at Thunder Bay Junior High School on Monday.

Berriman has a rapport with troubled children that makes things better, many said.

They described children coming home asking for their principal, confused by his absence and not wanting to return to school without him there.

Several parents spoke with frustration about the lack of information provided by APS. They didn’t know he was going, or why, until they heard it on social media, well after Berriman had been removed, the parents said.

Some said their own children’s behavior had worsened, at home and at school, since Berriman’s placement on leave, some escalating to attempted self-harm.

Rogue McElveen, a third-grade teacher in the hallway where Berriman controlled the student, said his students regularly ask him to close the classroom door so they can learn amid disruptions in the hallway.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Ella White Elementary School parent Matthew Rowe speaks in support of Ella White Principal Tom Berriman during an Alpena Public Schools Board of Education meeting at Thunder Bay Junior High School on Monday as a crowd supportive of Berriman listens.

Berriman took action to stop some of that disruption to help students and teachers, “and, if there’s something wrong with that, there’s something wrong,” McElveen said.

Schools need to use common sense to corral bad student behavior, and Berriman used that common sense when he reacted to the student’s actions, doing what any parent would have done, many parents told the board.

The speakers urged the board to not only bring Berriman back, but also to create policy that protects teachers and gives them the authority to say “No” to disruption and impose consequences on students who don’t comply.

Ella White parent Matthew Rowe, describing problems on buses and exhausted teachers at the school, spoke to Berriman directly at the conclusion of his comments.

“If it was my son, I would hope you do the same,” Rowe told Berriman.

Berriman, formerly principal at Alpena High School, was moved to the administrative position at Ella White before the 2021-2022 school year. Neither Berriman nor Rabbideau answered questions from The News about that change.

Berriman has said little about his potential firing, on the advice of an attorney, but said he anticipates publishing a statement soon.

This story has been edited to reflect that Alpena Public Schools Board Chairman Ned Heath during a meeting on Monday said he could not say why Ella White Elementary School Principal Berriman faces possible action by the board. That information was incorrect in a previous version of the story.