LIBERTY &045;&045; Attorneys have filed an 11-page response on behalf of defendants in former Amite County High School Principal Charlie Floyd’s $10 million lawsuit against the school district and several of its officials.

The response, filed April 6 in federal District Court in Jackson, denies Floyd’s complaint that school officials made false accusations against him, defamed his reputation and caused him economic and emotional harm.

Defendants in the suit include the Amite County School District, the school board, individual board members John Davis and Beachman Williams, former acting school superintendent Mary Russ and John Does 1-10.

Floyd alleges school officals violated the terms of his contract by forcing him to choose between his positions as track coach and principal after adopting a &uot;no dual roles&uot; policy in August 2002.

Floyd was suspended in October, 2002 and later dismissed amid an investigation of alleged irregularities at ACHS, including unexplained changes to student grades and unauthorized fines for student tobacco use, among other allegations.

But in a four-day appeal hearing last April, no evidence was presented that Floyd changed any grades or urged others to do so.

It was also established in the hearings that the school’s tobacco policy pre-dated Floyd’s administration.

Still, the school board voted in July to uphold Floyd’s termination. Floyd appealed that decision in Amite County Chancery Court and won his reinstatement last October.

The school district appealed the Chancery Court decision, and that matter is pending before the state Supreme Court.

An interim principal had since been appointed at ACHS, and Floyd has not yet returned to the job.

Floyd, who is black, claims his termination was motivated by &uot;racial animus&uot; among other black school officials who objected to him training white children from private schools on ACHS school grounds during his time off.

The defendants’ response denied Floyd’s claim that race was a motivating factor in his termination, claiming the defendants lacked sufficient knowledge of Floyd’s work with student-athletes from private schools to form a belief on the issue.

The response also denied allegations the defendants removed and destroyed Floyd’s personal heirlooms and accolades from his office at ACHS.

The response also claims the Mississippi School Employment Procedures Law does not apply to dismissal actions and Floyd has failed to state a claim for which relief can be granted.