Springfield middle school principal on leave amid federal bullying lawsuit

A Springfield middle school principal has been on administrative leave since September 2025 while Springfield Public Schools faces a federal lawsuit accusing staff of failing for years to address bullying, assaults and sexual harassment.

Kevin Wright, principal of Agnes Stewart Middle School, is no longer listed in the school directory, but the district confirmed he remains an employee and would not say whether the leave is tied to the lawsuit. That leaves parents with a basic question unanswered: whether district leaders pulled back a principal because of the case or for some other reason while the complaint advanced in federal court.

The lawsuit was filed April 10, 2025, in U.S. District Court for Oregon as D.M.H. v. Springfield Public Schools et al., before Judge Michael J. McShane. The complaint names Springfield Public Schools, Vice Principal Rachel Allen and Wright, and alleges violations of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment along with discrimination and retaliation under Title IX and Title VI.

Court records show the defendants filed an unopposed motion for more time to answer the complaint on June 25, 2025. The court later set their answer deadline for September 2, 2025. A scheduling order entered August 14, 2025, set discovery to close February 27, 2026, with dispositive motions due April 24, 2026.

The student at the center of the case is identified only by initials in court documents. The family says it filed at least 14 complaints during the student’s first year at school. The student is described as Hispanic and transgender, and the complaint says repeated bullying, assaults and sexual harassment were reported but not properly addressed.

Wright’s leave also stands out because the district’s own public-facing information still showed him as principal on an Agnes Stewart Middle School contact page. For families trying to understand who is responsible for student safety, that gap between the directory and the district’s silence adds to the confusion.

The case lands in a district that has already faced repeated worries about student behavior and safety at Hamlin Middle School, where Wright had previously been principal. In February 2024, Springfield Public Schools said it was implementing new approaches after an uptick in fights. By September 2025, parents were again alarmed after a video circulated showing a Hamlin student being shoved to the ground by classmates just days into the school year.

Together, the leave, the lawsuit and the unanswered questions about reporting systems point to a larger issue for Springfield: whether students and parents can trust that complaints about bullying and harassment are taken seriously before they turn into a civil-rights case.