HURON — After an eight-month investigation into allegations that some school staff members were behaving improperly with students, the school board spent a whole of about 20 minutes reviewing the findings and then declaring the matter closed.
The board received the results of the investigation on Dec. 15 during a brief, closed-door executive session. When they returned to the public meeting there were no questions, no discussion, no reaction and no vote.
“This matter is closed, for now,” board member Stacy Hinners read from a prepared statement. It remains unknown who authored the statement or who approved its “case closed” conclusion.
In May the school board asked Venice Solutions Group to condiuct an investigation into multiple allegations against school staff members. The investigation was conducted by David Brode, an assistant Portage County prosecutor. The Brode report essentially served as an administrative “clearance,” offering a narrow review that lacked independent interviews with key witnesses and failed to address the most severe allegations.
