Students at Cornerstone Middle School in New Albany say they witnessed inappropriate sexual content depicting adults on their principal's personal computer while on school grounds, according to a report that aired Thursday. The principal was terminated following the discovery, and the school's superintendent called the episode unexpected and disturbing.
According to 10TV, the explicit material was allegedly encountered by students on school grounds, prompting what Cornerstone Academy described as prompt action to address the situation. As reported by Fox 28, Cornerstone Academy Superintendent Brian Carlton said the news was inconsistent with the professional standards expected of school leaders.
Fox 28's report notes that the principal was apparently employed by a third-party operator rather than directly by the school board, and that this outside operator — not Cornerstone Academy itself — made the final call to end his employment. The school says it supported that decision. Carlton said student safety and well-being remain the school's highest priorities and that Cornerstone is committed to maintaining a safe, supportive learning environment, adding that the middle school's assistant principal and the superintendent's office will support students, families and staff through the transition.
A Second Principal Ouster in the Same Year
This is not the first leadership crisis to hit the Cornerstone network in 2026. Seven months earlier, in March, Cornerstone High School Principal Tai Cornute was terminated following allegations he violated probation tied to a domestic violence case involving a child in his home, according to 10TV's earlier reporting. Cornute had pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in January 2025, the station reported. Two high-profile principal terminations within the same calendar year raise questions about administrative stability at a school network that has otherwise been expanding rapidly.
Cornerstone Academy is a K-12 public charter school serving more than 1,000 students across campuses in Westerville and New Albany, operated by management company ACCEL Schools and sponsored by St. Aloysius, per ACCEL Schools. The middle school sits at 7525 West Campus Road in New Albany and is led by Head of School Eugene Lindsey alongside Carlton, according to information published by Cornerstone Academy. In January 2024, the charter secured a $30 million bond to purchase two buildings and 14 acres of land in New Albany, expanding its middle and high school facilities to 100,000 square feet, ACCEL Schools said at the time.
Strong Ratings Amid Staffing Turmoil
Despite the back-to-back leadership departures, Cornerstone Academy Community School holds an overall 4.5-star rating from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, placing it among the top-performing charter schools in Franklin County. The rating underscores a tension facing families in the district: strong academic performance paired with repeated administrative crises at the top.
Local outlets have submitted public inquiries to the New Albany Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office asking whether criminal charges are being investigated or considered in connection with the October incident, 10TV reported. Neither agency had publicly confirmed an open criminal investigation at the time of that reporting.
What Ohio Law Requires Next
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 3319.313, school administrators and charter operators are legally required to report educator terminations, resignations under investigation, or conduct unbecoming to the teaching profession to the Ohio State Board of Education's Office of Professional Conduct, per the Ohio State Board of Education. That reporting requirement was expanded under a 2024 update to state law. Separately, Ohio Revised Code Section 2151.421 designates school staff as mandatory reporters, requiring immediate notification of law enforcement or county children services whenever there is reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or sexual exploitation, according to a legal explainer from Bricker Graydon Wyatt LLP.
Any formal state licensure investigation would unfold on its own timeline. The Ohio State Board of Education has reported that educator misconduct investigations take an average of 215 days to gather evidence, interview witnesses and determine licensure sanctions, a process that runs independently of any local police inquiry or the school's own personnel decision.
