Bryson Payne
| Bryson Payne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sex | M |
| Birth name | Bryson Payne |
Bryson Payne became a principal at Spearfish Lake High School in the summer of 2008.SK34 He came from 'downstate somewhere' before he was hired, largely due to the school superintendent Charles DeRidder.SK35 He was described as a "thin man with an out-of-place pot belly and thin, slicked-back black hair".SK35 Wyatt Curtis added that he appeared to think "the world begins and ends with football, and he came right out and said at the pep rally that he’d never played football in his life.'"" His favoritism of athletes was such that he ordered the guidance counselor's office to "not give out applications to anyone but athletes" for the Donna Clark Foundation grants.SK37 It was apparent he'd never read the guidelines for the grants, all five grants he endorsed were rejected.SK38
Principal Payne suspended Cody Archer for his injuring Dick Hamilton and Allen Untermeyer, two football players, despite hard evidence of self-defense. "That doesn't matter, you injured those two so badly that they’re not going to be playing the rest of the season."SK35 Despite a court injunction from Judge Dieball, barring Payne from keeping Cody attending school, Payne continued his actions, resulting in Cody's father and mother having Matthew Schindenwulfe suing Payne and the school.SK36 The suits eventually resulted in the school having to pay for Cody's and Janice's college courses elsewhere. Those costs plus the loss of contributions by several large donors totaled around $700,000.BOF2
In June 2010, almost two years after Payne blocked Cody from attending high school as he was returning from a graduating seniors open house he was pulled over by policeman Cody Archer for speeding and running a red light, then arrested for DWI.SK39
He suddenly resigned as principal from the high school on August 5, 2010.BITH45 There were other reasons, but he had two prior DWIs that he had failed to disclose when hired and the school board was getting set to use the morals clause in his contract to fire him.BOF2
It is unlikely he was related to Art Payne, a tourist in the Bahamas that encountered Scooter in River Rat.RR33
