The school district in Ripley, Ohio where a teacher resigned last week after allegations of inappropriate contact with a student was involved in a similar controversy last year, according to paperwork obtained by 9News.
The papers are part of a resolution filed by the State Board of Education in Ohio.
According to the documents, an employee of Ripley Union Lewis Huntington School District surrendered several licenses in March of last year in the wake of accusations that he had inappropriate electronic communications with a student from 2005-2007. Those forms of communication reportedly included instant messages. The teacher is identified as Stephen B. Vietze, 9News has learned.
On Monday morning, Ripley Union Lewis Huntington School District Superintendent Dr. C. Stephen Oborn identified Vietze as a music teacher and confirmed the information found in the resolution.
Oborn said the two cases are "unrelated."
The resolution states that Vietze surrendered his five-year professional elementary principal license, his five-year professional high school principal license, and permanent special all grades teaching certificate. The 41-year-old Vietze earned all three in 2003.
A Ripley Middle School teacher resigned Thursday after an allegation surfaced that he allegedly sent an inappropriate text message to a student four years ago.
Oborn wouldn't name the teacher because an investigation is underway and no charges have been filed.
However, he did say the teacher had been with the district for 27 years.
"I want to protect the students. I want to protect the staff, the school and my teachers in these situations," he stated.
The accusation reportedly took place in mid-2005, but was reported a week ago.
A high school senior told a guidance counselor about the communication and Dr. Oborn immediately started an official inquiry.
"The issue has to do with communication via the computer and it was not anything other than that," Dr. Oborn said. "We had one instance of one student reporting improper communication using technology."
"The allegations right now are just words -- no pictures," the Superintendent stated, adding that it's not believed anything occurred on school property or with school equipment.
One thing Dr. Oborn said bothers him and others is why the incident was reported four years after the girl said it occurred.
"It begs the question why," Dr. Oborn wondered. "There's reasons it's sometimes suppressed. There are certainly other reasons, but it doesn't make any difference when it comes to us. Whatever time it is, we deal with it as instantaneously as we can."
Dr. Oborn said the matter has upset the entire 1,200 student district.
"It is devastating. It hurts everyone involved," he said. "That is the sad thing about this."
