Chickasha School Administrator Resigns Following Suspension

<p>A Chickasha school administrator has resigned -- after they were suspended before the new year. </p>

Tuesday, January 23rd 2018, 11:15 pm

By: Bonnie Campo

Chickasha School Administrator Resigns Following Suspension

A Chickasha administrator has resigned following an investigation within the school district.

Pete Bush, the district’s maintenance director, originally faced claims of embezzlement. Tuesday night, during a special school board meeting, lawyers for the district cleared him of those accusations. However, Bush still resigned.

Bush's attorney said other factors played a role.

Bush was one of five employees suspended before Christmas break. Parents say staff were suspended because they protested a new curriculum put in place by the district.

12/18/2017 Related Story: Five Employees Suspended From Chickasha Public Schools

“It’s one cover up after another,” said Tony Tuthill.

Each of the five employees have a separate investigation. One has been allowed to come back to work. While others still face accusations of embezzlement, or failure to report the abuse of the student.

“We have two law firms, now a forensic audit team in town, if they truly had embezzlement, or failure to report child abuse one simple phone call to Chickasha PD would have took care of all that,” Tuthill said.

Parents allege the real conflict involves the Self-Paced Learning Center. It’s a system that put in place by Dave Cash, Chickasha’s former superintendent who recently took a leave of absence and will not return to his position. Parents say they’ve seen students' grades altered and attendance manipulated to make the program appear successful. They believe Bush and the others tried to confront the administration about the issues.

“When we’re talking about grade changes, we are noting about bumping a C to a D. We are talking about alerting lessons in a computerized system,” Tuthill says.

A citizens petition is now being passed around, with 1,000 signatures. If completed, it will land on the state auditors desk. Signees are asking for their own investigation. They allege the SPLC program might have been misused to profit outside organizations.

“We are wanting to find out the trail of money. Where it’s going? Who’s been making money off of it...if they are we don’t know that one way or another, but that’s the problem. There is no transparency,” Tuthill said.

We also reached out to the school's attorney for comment, they declined the request.

Another hearing involving a separate employee has been scheduled for Monday.

Bonnie Campo

Boomer Sooner! Bonnie Campo is thrilled to be at News 9 as a native Oklahoman. She was born and raised in Norman and has worked all around the country.