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WOODSFIELD -- More than 30 concerned residents came to show their support of two Swiss Hills Career Center instructors during a Switzerland of Ohio Local School District Board of Education meeting Wednesday.
At a meeting held earlier this month, the board voted 4-1 to hire an outside investigator to look into the heavy equipment class and its two instructors for alleged safety concerns.
Prior to the vote, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office conducted an investigation after Superintendent Robert Caldwell filed a criminal complaint against the instructors for allegedly using equipment outside the designated zone of operation, taking firewood without permission and damage to the property due to using the equipment outside the designated areas. After the investigation was complete, the prosecutor's office determined no criminal charges would be filed in the matter. The board chose to proceed with its own investigation.
Board President Ron Winkler called the special meeting Wednesday evening; however, the entire meeting was held in three separate executive sessions. The first and third were called to discuss consideration of the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee or official, while the second was called to discuss investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee, official, licensee, or student. Each lasted between 20 and 30 minutes with no action taken.
Once board members returned to open session after their final time behind closed doors the meeting was adjourned, leaving residents with unanswered questions. No one was given the opportunity to speak at any point during the meeting.
While the board was in executive session, Judy Moyer, a relative of one of the teachers under investigation, passed around a petition for residents to sign. The petition demands the district "immediately cease all investigations" of both teachers and that they be returned to the positions they held prior to March 1, when the criminal investigation began. Both teachers remain employed at the school but now hold different positions due to the pending investigation, friends and students at the meeting said.
Moyer said she is just one of many people throughout the county who are collecting signatures for the petition in hopes that the district will cease the investigation. She said she stands with her relative, whom she's known for the past 40 years.
"Anyone that knows him knows that he's done nothing wrong. He's here for the kids, and so is" the second teacher, she said.
In addition to ceasing the investigation, Moyer said she believes the district should publicly apologize to the instructors for the "ridiculous" accusations officials have made in the past few months.
"What it has done to these men and their reputation is horrible," she said.
Keith Young, an attendee at the meeting, said he came to support the instructors he has known for years. He said the allegations are false in both cases.
"This whole thing is a witch hunt. … We're spending taxpayer dollars on a bogus investigation into a couple teachers here and they're not the problem," he said. "I'm hoping they end this whole investigation … and get rid of some of the bad apples that initiated the whole thing. They need to go."
Students of the heavy equipment operator class also came to show their support of their teachers. Dustin Landefeld, a junior, said he wants answers from the district. He said because of the original investigation, the class was put on hold for a month and he wonders if it will affect his credits. The course has since opened back up, but without the original instructor. He said he does not understand why the district wants to get rid of the two teachers.
Landefeld urges residents to attend the board's next meeting to show support for the two instructors. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. June 10 at Swiss Hills Career Center.
Landefeld's mother, Mollie, said she is upset with the district for what officials "stole" from her son -- more than a month of his education, which caused him stress at home.
"Every time he came home, he was frustrated and upset. … All of this rhetoric is pointless. They're spending money, taxpayer money, on an investigation when there's a lot worse things going on. So why are they spending our tax money on something so stupid like this?" she said.
Mollie Landefeld said the investigation into the teachers needs to stop and the district needs to adjust its priorities, such as hiring qualified teachers to instruct students.
Although both teachers were present at the meeting, they declined to speak on the matter due to the open investigation.