News File Photo Tom Berriman, principal of Ella White Elementary School, addresses the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education in December.

ALPENA — An Alpena principal who has been on paid administrative leave since November will have an opportunity to convince the Alpena Public Schools Board of Education not to remove him from his current position.

Tom Berriman, Ella White Elementary School principal, has been on paid suspension while the school district investigated his conduct during a pair of alleged incidents at the school.

One of the alleged incidents involved Berriman picking up a child during a disruptive episode and carrying the child to an office. After the internal investigation by his superiors, Berriman was notified that administrators recommended his termination and would present that recommendation to the district’s Board of Education.

After a marathon meeting last month, the board made a motion to have a vote to not renew Berriman’s contract at its March 27 meeting.

On March 13, Berriman will meet with a majority of the board where he will lobby for his job before the next board meeting where his fate will be decided.

The meeting is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. at the APS administration building on Gordon Road.

On Friday, Berriman said he has no ill-will against the board members because they voted to set a date to vote whether to renew the contract or not based on the evidence they had and nothing else.

He said at Monday’s meeting, the board will be able to process other information about him and not just the incidents in question.

“The board had a tough decision and they did it in a room with about 200 people in it, many of which were supporting me,” he said. “At this meeting they will have the ability to take everything into account. They can look at me as the person I am, my job performance and all of the information. I hope the board looks at my track record.”

The district cannot make public two videos of the alleged incidents — captured on school surveillance cameras — because the district does not have consent from the parents of the student involved, the district previously said in a news release.

Board President Anna Meinhardt said the board couldn’t vote not to renew Berriman’s contract at its last meeting because policy dictates there must be 30 days that pass after the motion to vote on the nonrenewal of the contract and the actual vote to do so.

Meinhardt said the meeting Monday will allow trustees an opportunity to receive new information to weigh before the final vote on March 27.

It gives us two full weeks to reflect on it before making a decision,” she said.

Berriman has admitted that he could have handled the situations at Ella White better, but has continued to push to keep his job. He said Alpena is now his home and he has a great passion for the people and community as a whole and is willing to go the extra mile to remain employed in the school district.

“The reason I fought so hard is because I love Alpena and don’t want to go anywhere else,” Berriman said.

Berriman has served as principal of Ella White since the beginning of the 2021-22 school year. Prior to that, he was principal at Alpena High School.