By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
School board responds to public outcry in wake of Kansas Reflector story
COLDWATER — The Comanche County School District’s superintendent landed on paid administrative leave in the wake of a community uprising led by parents angry with how the school board initially responded to allegations he sexually harassed a student.
More than 100 residents of the rural southwest Kansas school district — including some displaying raw, intense emotion — descended on the high school Wednesday night to demand ouster or suspension of superintendent Ty Theurer.
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“How in the world did we get here?” said Zach Ellis, a county commissioner who has children in the district. “Does this board not have a responsibility to the kids of this district to do the right thing? Kids don’t feel safe in this building. You have created a hostile and toxic learning environment as well as a toxic working environment.”
School board president Kelly Herd, who became aware of the student’s harassment complaint four months ago, had resisted punishment of Theurer beyond the warning placed in his personnel file. She had told fellow board members no additional sanction was necessary in response to an allegation that Theurer, while serving as golf coach, advised a female student to hold clubs like she were gripping a penis. The girl had also complained of unwanted touching by Theurer.
Theurer signed a summary of the student’s complaint months ago, which was viewed by the student’s parents as an admission of guilt.
Herd also sent emails to other board members saying Theurer “did not deny nor make excuses” and “has been written up.”
In front of an unusually large crowd, the seven-member board moved in and out of executive session several times before Herd sought a motion to relieve Theurer of administrative duties in the 300-student district. He wasn’t at work Wednesday and didn’t attend the school board meeting after Kansas Reflector published an article Tuesday detailing allegations against the superintendent and the school board’s tepid response.
The school board didn’t discuss publicly the reason for taking action against Theurer at this time. There was no board disclosure about who would temporarily lead the district or for how long.
The board adopted a vague motion to proceed with “next steps” that the board president said had been discussed in executive session. None of that information was shared with the audience.
“Horrible,” school board member Dean Yoder said in an interview after the meeting. “It was not handled in May. It’s still not being handled in the right manner.”
He said the school board should have fired Theurer in the spring, and no evidence has surfaced to dissuade him of that necessity.
After Herd adjourned the meeting, the audience hurled questions at the school board. In the back-and-forth, school board vice president Andy Uhl confirmed Theurer was placed on paid leave.
An investigator with the Kansas Association of School Boards has compiled a draft report regarding an inquiry into allegations against Theurer. The board met behind closed doors with a KASB attorney before voting to relieve the superintendent of all administrative responsibilities.
The regular public comment portion of the meeting was moved to the back of the agenda. When that moment arrived, the school board president said she would forbid any speaker from referring to district employees or students. She asserted, without offering a justification, that such public statements would violate privacy rights of individuals.
“The board appreciates patrons taking the time to talk to us about our policies and procedures,” Herd said. “Please, understand this is not an appropriate time or place for patrons to make comments of a personal nature about any district employee or student.”
Initially, Herd told the audience that she wanted to convince Ellis — the only person to fill out an application for permission to speak — to share his concerns with the school board in a closed executive session. Herd’s suggestion was widely opposed by people in the crowd, including Ellis.
“You don’t get to go into executive session just because you don’t want to hear what I’ve got to say,” Ellis shouted.
Another person in the room challenged this secretive approach: “He speaks for a lot of us.”
“Is that a unanimous board decision?” Ellis continued. “Because I bet it wasn’t.”
“I’m not finished,” Herd shot back. “I’m going to let you speak. You have five minutes. You can’t mention anybody by name. If it gets out of control, we will stop it.”
Ellis didn’t mention the superintendent’s name during his speech, but there was no doubt he was talking about Theurer. Ellis accused Herd of running school board meetings with an iron hand and of stifling dissent among her elected peers on the school board.
In terms of the sexual harassment allegation, Ellis said, “The people who are sworn to protect these people have failed.”
“If you think that this is or was an isolated incident,” he said, “you are nuttier than a pile of bull crap. It’s a pattern in what now seems to be a decade of abuse.”
When the timer hit 5 minutes, Herd told Ellis that his time was up.
“Hey, freedom of speech,” said a man at the back of the room.
Another person was adamant: “Let him speak.”
Herd ignored their pleas and asked for a motion to go into another executive session rather than hear more from Ellis. Briefly, Ellis and Herd were simultaneously addressing the audience.
There was a puzzled response from the crowd when Herd declared the board would proceed with “next steps” in terms of the district’s leadership structure. She didn’t articulate elements of that plan.
“No questions. No answers,” one crowd member said.
“What if it was your daughter?” a woman yelled.
Ellis said he was optimistic change would come to the Comanche County school system, given the number of disgruntled people present at the meeting.
“You have awoke a sleeping giant, and we are pissed off,” Ellis said.