Anchorage Daily News

An assistant middle school principal who is facing three felony drug charges was fired Wednesday by the Anchorage School District.

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Mario A. Toro Jr.

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Mario A. Toro Jr., 43, the assistant principal at Gruening Middle School, was first placed on paid administrative leave Jan. 15. He will only be paid until Jan. 18, Superintendant Carol Comeau said.

"Effective today, we are terminating Mr. Toro from the Anchorage School District because of the serious nature of the charges," Comeau said. "He's violating every aspect of our policies and we feel we're well within our rights to terminate him."

Toro turned himself in and was arrested Jan. 17, two days after other district employees reported him acting erratically at a training session and appearing to have a white powder on his nose. A search of his car produced a positive field test for cocaine, and during another search of his office at Gruening, police said, they found drug paraphernalia and other residue that also field-tested positive for cocaine. He has been free on bail.

District officials had been unable to reach Toro to tell him directly of his dismissal after he missed a meeting Monday, but word was sent to him, Comeau said.

Toro did miss the meeting, said his attorney, Rex Butler, but it wasn't because he didn't want to attend.

The meeting was being held on district property and Toro, whose bail conditions prohibit him from returning to school property, could not legally attend it, Butler said.

"I think the School District has been disingenuous with Mr. Toro," Butler said. "They knew he couldn't show up and ordered him to show up, knowing that if he did he would be arrested."

Butler also offered another explanation for the discovery of paraphernalia in Toro's office. Those were items that had been confiscated from students earlier and were there when Toro took the job at Gruening this year, he said.

Toro actually resigned last Friday, Butler said, arguing that the district had refused his resignation at that time in an attempt to "pre-empt the heat" that might come from the public if he were not fired.

Since he did resign, Toro has no immediate plans to fight his firing, Butler said.

"If something adverse happens to him because of the termination versus the resignation, then there will be action," Butler said.

Comeau confirmed that Toro submitted his resignation but said the conduct he is accused of is so serious he should not be allowed to resign, a move that could help him get a new job in education. He will not lose his benefits as a result of the firing, she said.

"We feel that this is so serious that we need to send the message that this conduct is illegal and will not be tolerated," she said. "He violated our policies. We take that very seriously."

Toro has pleaded not guilty to all three counts.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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