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Warwick School District officials Wednesday had different reactions to an investigation into the initial report of misconduct involving music teacher Todd Sheerer and a 15-year-old female student.
The investigation found that two school board members, Karen Malleus and Jay Hostetter, discouraged or impeded family members from testifying about seeing Sheerer kissing the girl in school in 2006.
The district subsequently warned but did not discipline Sheerer, who apparently continued his relationship with the girl for two years, until police found the pair in the back seat of his car in 2008.
Wednesday, the man who was superintendent at the time of the investigation talked about his decision to leave the district not long after it was completed and a report was issued.
A board member said he was "shocked" by the investigation's findings, saying the police should have been contacted to conduct their own investigation into Sheerer.
Another member said the entire board should have been informed about the two students' report that they witnessed Sheerer kissing the girl. Initially, only Malleus and Hostetter were aware of the incident.
And the current superintendent said she is "heartbroken" that the issue is in the news again.
The details of an area law firm's investigation into the initial report that Sheerer was seen kissing the girl were not made public until Wednesday, after the confidential report about it was given to this newspaper. The school board requested the law firm, Kegel Kelin Almy & Grimm, conduct an investigation after Sheerer's arrest in 2008.
The investigation showed that Karen Malleus' grandniece and Jay Hostetter's daughter told the two board members that they saw Sheerer passionately kissing another student in school in 2006.
However, Malleus discredited her grandniece, and Hostetter discouraged his daughter from testifying about the incident, the investigation found.
The investigation concluded that Malleus and Hostetter acted inappropriately as board members.
The two also should have resigned their positions because they could not act in the best interest of the school district, the investigation concluded.
Neither resigned. Hostetter recently lost his bid for re-election. Malleus remains on the board and was recently named to a professional conduct review committee.
John George was not the the superintendent at the time the students said they saw Sheerer kissing the girl, but he was superintendent at the time of the investigation.
George left Warwick several months later to become executive director of the Berks County Intermediate Unit.
Wednesday, George talked about his decision to leave the district.
"There are many variables that should be under consideration when looking at employment," he said.
"Probably, for me, the most important are the ethics and character of people with whom I work.
"I believe that any board members, any elected officials of a school district, probably their most important responsibility is the protection and safety of children.
"If anyone would have been unable to fulfill that responsibility — if they were not capable of it, or they chose not to — they should not serve on the school board," he said.
Current Warwick superintendent April Hershey was busy with Veterans Day assemblies Wednesday and unavailable to directly answer questions about the report, said district spokeswoman Lori Zimmerman, who instead e-mailed a prepared statement from Hershey.
"This incident has been investigated by police and is closed legally," Hershey said in the statement. "While the Sheerer incident occurred under a previous administration, the current administration has put a lot of hard work into healing from the events of the past and moving forward.
"I am heartbroken for our school community that this issue is in the forefront yet again. Our primary focus continues to be educating children to their fullest potential in a safe environment. We look forward to a new year with the board and intend to work cooperatively for the good of the Warwick School District."
The superintendent in 2006, when questions about Sheerer's relationship with the student were first raised, was Stephen Iovino. He retired from the district that same year. The high school principal at the time, Penny Mason, began this year as a middle school math teacher. In October, she was named assistant principal at the middle school.
Neither immediately responded to a request for comment about the report by the law firm.
Board members had a mixed reaction to the report that resulted from investigation, which some already had read.
Warren Newberry read the report in 2008. He was not a board member in 2006.
"It was a shock to hear about it," said Newberry, who will complete his board term in December. "It was like, 'Oh man, this is bad.' "
Newberry said he believes the police should have been involved immediately and should have conducted their own independent investigation into the report that Sheerer had been seen kissing the student.
He said he does not believe that Malleus and Hostetter were completely responsible for the way the district handled the incident.
"It looked to me like it was a series of things that went wrong," he said. "You see a series of fumbling and bumbling. It just didn't look like it was clear there was a good intent to solve the problem."
Newberry said he believes the district's and board's admiration for Sheerer, who helped the school marching band win awards, may have gotten in the way of their handling of the incident.
"This fellow here, this Sheerer guy, he was like the best thing since oxygen," Newberry said. "Maybe that was the problem."
Board member Dave Pusey said the full board didn't learn of the 2006 incident until the investigation was conducted two years later.
"It was never discussed in a board meeting," he said. "It was never brought to us as board."
He added, "I think it should have been discussed but that would be the job of the superintendent and the two board members. They felt it was a personnel matter."
Other board members said they were in office at the time of the initial report. Some said the board has moved on from the controversy surrounding Sheerer, who is serving a three- to nine-year prison sentence for his sexual misconduct with the girl.
"Without firsthand knowledge, it's not fair for me to draw conclusions one way or another," said William Flickinger, the current board president who was appointed to the board in December 2008.
Flickinger said he has not read the report but was aware of it.
"Quite frankly, as far as I was concerned, the district has moved on," he said. "Basically, the matter has been resolved, legally and otherwise."
The district paid a $75,000 settlement to Sheerer's victim for counseling. It also reviewed its sexual harassment policies and recently formed the professional conduct review committee.
Board member Darryl Miller said, "My heart's desire was that having resolved or dealt with the issues, as we felt we were capable of dealing with the issues at a board level, we wanted and hoped to move on from this.
"Obviously, it just keeps cropping up."
Said board member Michael Landis, "I guess I'm disappointed it came out at this point.
"I was hoping we could put the whole issue behind us. We've got some positive leadership excited about the future. I'm concerned about how this is going to impact the future of the board."
Two members did not return calls or e-mails for comment. They are Beth Ann Sahd and Dr. Timothy Quinn.
Malleus said Tuesday that she reported all information about Sheerer in an appropriate and timely manner. The administration, she said, is responsible for all investigations.
Hostetter questioned the way the investigation was conducted, saying it was done by the same law firm that advised Iovino on how to initially handle the matter.
