Jay School Superintendent Resigns Under Pressure

"No other choice right now," Schachle says.

Combine the following:
--the resignation of the Jay school superintendent;
--resignations of the school athletic director and two coaches;
--two lawsuits against former school officials;
--possible violation of the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act;
--a rape of a minor on a school bus;
--repeated sexual harassment by a former school janitor, maintenance man and bus driver with a previous criminal record;
--a campaign to discredit the victims by a Jay church;
--theft of personnel records from school offices;
-- failure of former school officials to take action after complaints from parents regarding sexual misconduct over a three year period;
-- reports of drugs and alcohol being furnished to minors in exchange for sexual favors and to insure their silence…
and you have big doings in little Jay.

Tuesday at a special meeting of the Jay Board of Education, members voted 4-1 to accept the resignation of David Schachle, Superintendent of Schools, with member Steve Lane voting nay.
"Is this what you want to do?" Lane asked Schachle prior to the vote. "Not really, but I have no choice right now," Schachle replied. Schachle had two years left on his contract and his "resignation" is effective June 30, 2007, nearly 11 months away. He gave up a year of his contract. He has been in his position for three years.

It was unclear if Schachle would continue in his office until June 2007 or if another person would be hired as Superintendent, although Schachle said after the meeting that he hoped to "be right here." The May 30 secret memo is believed to contain a list of do's and don’t's for Schachle to follow, otherwise he will be fired.

In attendance at the meeting was Randy Mathia, special investigator for the Delaware County District Attorney's office, taking notes and interest in Agenda Item Number 8…
"Consideration and vote to approve the memorandum dated May 30, 2006, from the board of education to David Schachle." The memorandum was approved 4-1 in open session of the meeting but the contents were labeled "private."

When members of the press asked for a copy of the memorandum, not a part of the Executive Session, they were told the memo was "private" and not available. Board members were then challenged that this was a possible violation of the Open Meetings Act. Board member Lane voted nay on the motion to approve the memo. Mathia said he would take his report back to the D.A.'s office for review. During the meeting, District Attorney Eddie Wyant spoke to Mathia via phone, regarding the memo.

More than 40 people attended Tuesday's School Board meeting but none were permitted to speak during the meeting. At adjournment a couple of board members ran for the door while three others stayed to hear from Mary Talley, wife of John Talley, head basketball coach. She told the board that the athletic department had held up purchase orders for the summer youth basketball camp, effectively killing it. The purchase orders never made it to the superintendent's office, she said. The resignations of Athletic Director Eddie Barnwell, coach Leann Barnwell, and Talley were approved by the board. Attorney Charles Shipley of Tulsa told the board "you should be ashamed of yourselves."

Shipley filed a lawsuit filed last week in US District Court, Northern District, on behalf of two victims of the sexual abuse, alleging that Schachle was asked to leave for his refusal to cooperate in the cover-up of crimes committed by William A. Stroud, the former Jay school employee who is now incarcerated in the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington, OK. Stroud pled no contest last year to second degree rape and two counts of lewd molestation, committed in 2003. He was sentenced to two concurrent 15 year terms in jail, suspended upon completion of a sex offender treatment program, according to court documents.

Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Lelecas said this week Stroud had not yet entered the sex offender program at Lexington. This could be either because he is on a long list awaiting the course, or he has not yet admitted that "he has a problem," a requirement for entering the program. If he does not enter the course, he could serve up to 15 years in prison, Lelecas said. And at the end of the term he would be labeled a sexual offender.
Prior to his hiring at the Jay School District, Stroud was convicted of Grand Theft Auto in California, a felony, an act that would have prohibited him from being hired by the school district. School officials said they were unaware of his previous record. Stroud's wife, Kimberli Sue Dunham Stroud, a Jay school teacher, is the niece of the Mayor of Jay, Waynie Dunham.

Shipley filed a lawsuit in November 2005 on behalf of Julia Haskins and Natasha Dick against Mike Seifried, former Jay High School principal; Doug Spillman, former superintendent; Gary Brewster, former Assistant Superintendent, Will Stroud, and the Southside Church of Christ of Jay. This lawsuit was settled out of court in March 2006 with the board's insurance carrier.

Last week, Shipley filed another suit against Seifried, Spillman, Brewster, Stroud and Clark Ritchie, former assistant principal of the high school, on behalf of two additional victims, Kelly Barnes Nutter, and L.H.B. a minor child. This included the seldom used Tort of Outrage against Brewster and Stroud, alleging allegations "so outrageous in character and so extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency and should be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community."

This suit alleges that Nutter and L.H.B. contend that they were repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted by former Jay Public Schools employee William A. Stroud after management officials Seifried, Brewster, Ritchie and Spillman knew of previous sexual abuse by Stroud and failed to take action to stop it.

The lawsuit states that Brewster "has admitted that he stole the personnel records of the Jay Public School system…including the personnel records of Will Stroud and Walter Brunson, another school bus driver.

Court documents state that Stroud, Brewster, Brunson, Stroud's wife Kimberlie Sue, her uncle Waynie Dunham, were all members of the Southside Church of Christ in Jay. Current board member Warren Shackleford is listed as an Elder, along with Brewster, on church letterhead. The lawsuit settled in March alleged that the church "intentionally or recklessly engaged in extreme and outrageous behavior by coordinating a campaign to discredit the plaintiffs in the community."

Jay Police Chief Mike Shambaugh indicated Tuesday that he would follow up on allegations of furnishing drugs and alcohol and alleged sexual contacts behind a school bus barn inside the city limits. Shipley said some of the sexual misconduct occurred in the county's jurisdiction. School employees and students filed written statements that Stroud allegedly gave marijuana, alcohol and tobacco to students at various times, slapped girls on the backside, and grabbed the breasts of females. Shipley said he had also spoken to Sheriff Jay Blackfox about the matters.

According to a pre-sentencing Investigation Report conducted by Linda Butler of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Stroud admitted that "on Jan. 1, 2003 and Aug 6, 2003, he touched the breast of N.D. who is under 16 years of age, without consent, while N.D. was a passenger on a school bus driven by me."

The report continues "that on or about Mar. 11, 2004 the evidence presented by the state would show I engaged in sexual intercourse involving vaginal penetration of J.H. when J.H. was a least 16 years of age and was less than 18 years of age…we were the only ones on the school bus run and a few blocks from her residence, I pulled the school bus over to the side of the Back road in the rural Grand Lake area development that J.H. and I both lived in. J.H. went back to the middle of the school bus and with her consent, I placed my penis into her vagina. Almost immediately She said that it was hurting her and I quit immediately. We then put our clothes back on and I took her home…"

While working for the Jay school system, Stroud was also a part time employee of Grand Home Center in Grove, as sales and delivery person. In the statement, owners Bill and Sandy Fernandez stated "Stroud was an excellent employee and they will continue to employee him and will rehire him after he completes his incarceration," according to the Client Information Sheet and interview with Butler.

According to the statement, Stroud was raised by his mother; when he was about 14 years old his brother and mother both died and after a fight with his stepfather he moved out on his own.

His employment with Jay Schools was from Aug. 9, 1999 to Nov. 8, 2004, when he was terminated by Schachle, the report said. "Stroud is in denial about his involvement in the current charges but did say he is willing to comply with the sanctions of the court," the report continued. "Stroud has needs in the areas of impulse control and would benefit from completion of intensive behavioral impulse control counseling and sex offender counseling," according to the report.

The report was signed by Kristi Olzawski, although Butler, who is from Sallisaw, actually submitted the report.