SWANNANOA —After 2-1/2 years at the helm of the Swannanoa Valley Youth Development Center, Director June Fowler will be stepping down on March 15.

Fowler announced in an e-mail to staff that she would be resigning her post at the youth prison last week, saying she is tired and needs to take the time and energy necessary to “add balance back” into her life.

Since assuming the position in 2005, Fowler came under fire for an upsurge in violent attacks by inmates at the facility.

State Rep. Joe Kiser, a Republican member of a committee overseeing juvenile justice, had once urged her firing.

Other lawmakers raised concerns about her handling of a series of violent attacks in 2006, including one in which teacher Tom Donohue, 63, suffered brain damage.

District Attorney Ron Moore has been considering evidence gathered in a criminal probe by the State Bureau of Investigation into Fowler’s handling of the incidents. Moore, an outspoken critic of the facility, has said that juvenile-justice officials there tried to cover up the assaults.

Fowler’s resignation is the most recent in a long run of directors who stay for a relatively short period. Her predecessor, Michael Furrie, held the job for just a few weeks  less than Fowler will have had it before he quit for “personal, professional and health reasons.”

Since the prison opened in 1961, 15 people have served as its head.

Fowler will continue to work at the Swannanoa campus in her previous capacity, as an area consultant.
The 151-acre facility focuses on therapeutic techniques of dealing with improper behavior, rather than punitive measures.