Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
BRAD GRAYVOLD
The new principal at Bonduel Elementary School brings with him a troubled past that includes reports of alcohol abuse and domestic violence, including one incident that happened at school.
Brad Grayvold, who is scheduled Saturday to begin his job overseeing 300 students in Bonduel, was convicted of domestic violence in 2010 following an altercation outside the school where he worked in Michigan.
Grayvold, a longtime school administrator and coach in Michigan, told police at the time of his 2010 arrest that he was an alcoholic.
Bonduel School District Administrator Patrick Rau said district leaders knew when they hired Grayvold that he had previous personal problems. However, Grayvold successfully passed a pre-employment background check, Rau said, and officials felt assured that he had taken steps to overcome adversity and improve himself.
“It probably even gave me more confidence that he was the right pick,” Rau said.
Grayvold, 50, acknowledged past troubles and said in an interview with The Shawano Leader that he has learned from his mistakes and is grateful to have the support of those around him.
“I am not a perfect person, nor have I ever claimed to be,” he said. “But when I have made mistakes in either my private life or my professional life, I have always addressed them head-on, learned from them, and strived to be a better husband, father, citizen and educator.”
He declined to answer questions, as did the woman who filed two complaints against him.
The Leader is not identifying the complainant in the case consistent with the newspaper’s practice of not identifying victims of domestic violence.
According to police records in Norway, Michigan, Grayvold was arrested Aug. 6, 2010, after the woman reported a violent altercation outside the school where he worked. She said she had confronted Grayvold about having alcohol on his breath, and during an ensuing argument he shoved her, ripped a cellphone out of her hand and smashed the cellphone to the ground.
The woman later that day called police and locked herself in a bathroom. When police arrived, Grayvold urged them to leave, saying he couldn’t have domestic violence on his record and that “this was all a big misunderstanding.”
Grayvold told officers he had just gotten out of treatment, but that he had been drinking that day. In a written statement to police, he wrote in part: “I am an alcoholic.”
Records released by the Michigan Department of Education show that Grayvold was charged with felony interfering with electronic communications and with misdemeanor domestic violence. In a plea deal, the felony charge was dropped in exchange for his admitting guilt in the domestic violence.
He was sentenced to 12 months on probation and was ordered to not consume alcohol. Under terms approved by the judge, the plea deal allowed Grayvold to have the case expunged from his record after he successfully completed probation.
According to an article in the Iron Mountain Daily News newspaper, Grayvold’s attorney said in court: “He knows he made a mistake and will take this as a lesson and learn from this.”
In July 2011, the woman filed a request for an emergency protective order against Grayvold. Her handwritten request stated that Grayvold was being “argumentative and verbally accosting,” and that he had gone to the hospital that day with a .31 blood-alcohol content.
“I fear for the sanctity of my children and myself,” she wrote.
A judge denied the request, citing insufficient evidence to warrant an emergency order.
Grayvold served about six more years as principal of the elementary school in Norway, where he worked 18 years as a social studies teacher, football coach and principal as part of Norway Vulcan Public Schools.
Randall Van Gasse, who was the district’s superintendent through 2011, said he knew about the domestic violence case against Grayvold. Van Gasse said he thought Grayvold had resolved “what needed to be resolved,” so the school district kept him on.
“You don’t throw people away that quickly,” Van Gasse said.
Superintendent Lou Steigerwald, who took over the district after Van Gasse, said he has had no problems with Grayvold in recent years, and he was pleased to recommend Grayvold for the Bonduel job.
“I’m telling you, you’re going to get a great guy,” Steigerwald said. “He’s been an excellent employee.”
Grayvold was one of 42 applicants to become Bonduel’s new elementary school principal, succeeding Peggy Jones in a job overseeing about 300 students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The school board voted June 12 to hire him at a salary of $82,500 a year.
Rau described the Leader’s research into the new principal’s personal history as “a witch hunt.” Parents and others in the school district would stand by the decision to hire Grayvold despite his past personal issues, Rau said.
Although he declined to discuss details of what he knew about Grayvold’s troubled past, Rau indicated that he shared everything he knew with school board members before they made their decision.
“We felt very confident in this,” he said.