Shining Rock Head of School Josh Morgan resigns after eight years of allegations
Shining Rock has faced a number of problems over the last year.
File photo
The Shining Rock Classical Academy Board of Directors on March 10 unanimously accepted the resignation of Head of School Joshua Morgan, approving 90 days of severance pursuant to an attorney-drafted agreement. After a five-year tenure as Shining Rock school director, Sara Jenkins will serve as the school’s interim executive director, effective immediately.
Chair Alyson Weimar made both announcements at a March 11 special called meeting, adding that the board will move forward with the support and guidance of Leaders Building Leaders.
LBL is a charter school business development program providing services such as Board Leadership Academy, described as “A step-by-step program for charter school leaders and board members to create or strengthen their leadership model to navigate the organization towards significance!”
“The past few weeks have involved necessary but important decisions,” said Weimer in a press release after the meeting, likely also referring to the board’s unanimous late February vote to close its high school. Starting fall 2026, Shining Rock will only offer instruction to grade K-8 students.
Throughout Morgan’s Shining Rock career, parents, teachers and staff have made serious allegations against him, many of which The Smoky Mountain News’ has covered.
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Morgan was born and raised in Haywood County, completing his undergraduate education at Appalachian State University. He earned his first master’s degree in elementary and middle school administration and another in secondary school administration from Western Carolina University. He’s been employed in the public system as a teacher, an assistant principal and principal at various schools in Buncombe County, Haywood County and South Carolina.
He began his tenure at Shining Rock in August 2018 as assistant principal but became interim head of school in early 2019, after former head of school Nathan Duncan was fired on the grounds of alleged sexual harassment. He was officially awarded Duncan’s old job in July 2019. By that point, Morgan himself had faced of a host of allegations. Several parents had claimed he bullied those around him and intimidated children at the school.
Their grievances were dismissed after an internal investigation by the board’s attorney. The parents, in turn, escalated their complaints to the Waynesville Police Department, but the district attorney’s office declined to file charges.
Then, in January 2022, Morgan put the 11-year-old son of a Shining Rock board member in the back of the police car used by the school resource officer.
In the months after, she was alienated by other board members and eventually voted off. Undeterred, she continued making noise through other avenues.
Rebecca Fitzgibbon in September 2022 filed a disciplinary-related grievance with the Office of Charter Schools at the NC Department of Public Instruction, maintaining that Morgan had emotionally and physically abused Shining Rock children by, among other things, dragging, yanking, mocking and mimicking them. She asserted that Morgan’s bullying and intimidation had been witnessed by several others, who had declined to report this behavior, fearing retaliation.
OCS declined to get involved, determining Fitzgibbon had not “followed the school grievance policy” and that her complaint was outside of its jurisdiction.
The Shining Rock parent began requesting public records at the school herself, as did SMN. Both parties were given the same answer: access to the records came with a steep price tag, driving Fitzgibbon to file a lawsuit against Morgan and the school. In response, the defendants countersued for defamation, citing what they alleged were harmful and false online posts and statements.
Shining Rock additionally pursued criminal cyberstalking charges against Fitzgibbon in 2023 — she’d been sending countless emails to board members, educators and administrators. The charges were later dismissed but resulted in her banishment from school premises, exempting student pickup and drop-off.
The public records case went to trial in June 2025.
Court testimony from Sharon Breedlove, a teacher at Shining Rock from 2022 to 2024 with nearly three decades of classroom experience, asserted that Morgan was a bully to educators as well as students.
Breedlove said she’d witnessed SRO Bryan Reeves use a “come along” hold, breaking the wrist of a child. After this incident and given what she’d seen of Morgan’s rapport with students, the former SRCA teacher filed reports with the Waynesville Police Department and the Department of Social Services.
Breedlove said she quit the following day after a series of events led her to believe Morgan knew about the report and was planning to fire her. At his request, she retrieved her personal items that weekend. She said some had been “intentionally broken,” a claim denied by Morgan.
Other teachers took to the stand, speaking similarly of Morgan’s behavior.
Fitzgibbon won on both counts in June 2025. The former head of school was found legally liable for the “improper use of government authority” in refusing to provide public records documenting SRCA’s disciplinary process and training requirements, and the judge dismissed the countersuit charges.
