Thursday, January 13th, 2011

The New York Post reports that the principal of a posh Upper West Side private school was fired recently after school founders discovered he had an inappropriate relationship with a female student.  Christopher Durnford, 39, was the principal of York Prep Academy (68th between Columbus and Central Park West) when he allegedly began a relationship with a female volleyball student.  Parents and students received an announcement when they returned from winter break on January 4th that Durnford was no longer the school’s principal.  The announcement was made by co-founder Ronald Stewart, who happens to be Durnford’s father-in-law (Durnford is married to Stewart’s daughter Jayme).  Students at the school, which offers a sixth through 12th grade education at a tuition of about $35,000 per year, said that Durnford, who also served as the school’s volleyball coach, was a little too close to the female student, and sometimes exhibited inappropriate behavior like patting several female volleyball players on the butt.  One unnamed source did allege that Durnford did not cross the line with the student in question until she turned 18 and graduated last June.  The Stewart family, which replaced Durnford with middle school dean Joyce Perley, along with Durnford and the female student’s family, had no comment regarding the story.

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Tags: Affair, Christopher Durnford, Joyce Perley, Ronald Stewart, York Prep Academy