Shooter cleared to seek Grundy teaching post

Officials in Grundy County say the county’s former director of schools, who was convicted in 2005 of shooting a school employee in the head, has been cleared to seek a job as a teacher.

Joe Nunley has had no legal problems since his conviction for reckless aggravated assault, court officials said. He completed four years on probation, and his record was cleared, records show.

Nunley is qualified for a special education job, Grundy Schools director Clay Newsome said.

Nunley, who still lives in Grundy County, successfully completed a background check and an interview, Newsome said. He said a decision on whether to hire Nunley will be made this week.

Nunley said Wednesday said he wants to return to Grundy schools.

“I care about the kids here, and I care about the people,” he said.

School system attorneys say Nunley must be considered for the job, but they also noted the system “would have a great amount of liability” if he were hired, Newsome said.

He said he has felt pressure both to hire and not to hire Nunley, but he said there’s been more pressure not to give him a job.

“There are a lot of folks that are uneasy,” Newsome said. “I’m leaning toward the attorneys’ recommendation.”

Diane Campbell, a custodial grandparent of a Grundy County student, said she has no problem with Nunley returning as a teacher.

“I know Joe,” Campbell said. “He’s a really good guy.”

Newsome said another factor playing into his decision is a civil lawsuit that Nunley’s shooting victim, Michael Byers, and his wife, Brenda, filed against Nunley.

Details of the civil case were not available late Wednesday and members of the Byers family declined to comment because of the pending suit.

Nunley, now 57, said Wednesday that he has fulfilled the terms of his sentence and jumped through the legal hoops necessary to return to teaching.

“I was convicted of assault. I did four years probation. I was given an expungement,” Nunley said.

His teaching certificate was revoked after the conviction but reinstated once his record was cleared.

Nunley, a Grundy County native, was a principal for two years in the county system before being elected superintendent for four years. When the job changed from an elected to an appointed one, he served as director of schools for three more years until his firing in 2003, he said.

That happened after Nunley was charged with attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Byers, a former school maintenance man.

Records show that the June 3, 2003, shooting happened a few hours after Byers was arrested by Grundy County deputies for slapping Nunley at a local gas station.

Court records show Byers drove past Nunley’s home in Coalmont, Tenn., later the same day and Nunley fired several shots from a .45-caliber weapon, striking Byers below the left ear.

In court, Byers told jurors he was headed to his uncle’s house. Nunley testified that he was defending himself, his family and his home.

Nunley declined Wednesday to discuss the case further.

“Any comment I make could be misconstrued,” he said. “We have an opportunity to move forward, and I would like to do that.”