Former Woodland principal arraigned on domestic assault charge

The Woodland High School principal accused of assaulting his girlfriend at a principals' conference was arraigned Thursday in Camden County (Mo.) Circuit Court.

Hershel Delane Beckwith is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m., June 27, before Judge Bruce Colyer, according to a an official with the court.

Superintendent Jennings Wilkinson confirmed earlier this month that Beckwith is no longer principal. He said he could not elaborate on how the resignation came about.

Beckwith was charged in late March with domestic assault following an incident at an administrators' conference at Lake of the Ozarks.

According to the criminal complaint, on the night of March 27 Beckwith injured his girlfriend when he grabbed her by the throat, threw her on the bed and then grabbed her by the hair to drag her back into the couple's room.

Beckwith and the victim were attending the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals' spring conference March 27 to 29 at The Lodge of Four Seasons in Camden County.

Wilkinson in an April 20 Southeast Missourian article said that he could neither confirm nor deny that the school board had terminated Beckwith.

"There are privacy issues and I have to respect them," Wilkinson said. "I can just say that he is no longer employed in the district."

Pertinent address:

Marble Hill, MO