A computer technician has been suspended indefinitely without pay in connection to problems at South Branch Career and Technical Center in Petersburg.

Kevin Graham, a Regional Educational Service Agency employee from Lahmansville, was suspended May 6, according to RESA VIII director John Hough. He did not disclose details of the suspension.   

On his attorney's advice, Graham said he would make "no comment until this investigation is complete and the real truth comes out."

Graham said he has not worked as a computer technician at South Branch since the summer of 2007 and he does not know why he was suspended. He worked on school computers in at least four Eastern Panhandle counties.

This spring, three former South Branch employees were charged with misdemeanors, accused of altering and deleting computer data.

Former South Branch director Robert Sisk and employees Tamela Kitzmiller and LeeAnn Shreve were arrested March 31. Sisk, now interim president at Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Moorefield, also was charged with petit larceny for allegedly removing a computer hard drive from his South Branch office.

Eastern's Board of Governors has supported Sisk. Graham worked at South Branch under Sisk, not current director Randy Whetstone.

State Board of Education members declared a state of emergency at South Branch last month, after they were told the school has a hostile, volatile and unsafe environment.

State Schools Superintendent Steve Paine now has direct oversight of South Branch, and has appointed temporary monitor Ron Grimes to report back to him.

Grimes is the executive director of Cedar Lakes Conference Center.

Kenna Seal, director of the state Office of Education Performance Audits, visited South Branch with other auditors earlier this year. Auditors interviewed the entire staff.

A computer technician has been suspended indefinitely without pay in connection to problems at South Branch Career and Technical Center in Petersburg.

Kevin Graham, a Regional Educational Service Agency employee from Lahmansville, was suspended May 6, according to RESA VIII director John Hough. He did not disclose details of the suspension.   

On his attorney's advice, Graham said he would make "no comment until this investigation is complete and the real truth comes out."

Graham said he has not worked as a computer technician at South Branch since the summer of 2007 and he does not know why he was suspended. He worked on school computers in at least four Eastern Panhandle counties.

This spring, three former South Branch employees were charged with misdemeanors, accused of altering and deleting computer data.

Former South Branch director Robert Sisk and employees Tamela Kitzmiller and LeeAnn Shreve were arrested March 31. Sisk, now interim president at Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College in Moorefield, also was charged with petit larceny for allegedly removing a computer hard drive from his South Branch office.

Eastern's Board of Governors has supported Sisk. Graham worked at South Branch under Sisk, not current director Randy Whetstone.

State Board of Education members declared a state of emergency at South Branch last month, after they were told the school has a hostile, volatile and unsafe environment.

State Schools Superintendent Steve Paine now has direct oversight of South Branch, and has appointed temporary monitor Ron Grimes to report back to him.

Grimes is the executive director of Cedar Lakes Conference Center.

Kenna Seal, director of the state Office of Education Performance Audits, visited South Branch with other auditors earlier this year. Auditors interviewed the entire staff.

Their audit report went beyond the arrests of Sisk, Kitzmiller and Shreve.

Seal found a hostile work environment between current South Branch administration and teachers that deteriorated to open conflict and confrontations.

A council of superintendents and school board members in Grant, Pendleton and Hardy counties has traditionally overseen South Branch. They now collaborate on matters with the state Department of Education.   

"While we are not at liberty to discuss any actions recently taken, due to the continuation of this investigation, please be assured that ... proper procedures have been followed at all times during such action," council member Greg Pennington read from a prepared statement.

"It is our hope that we can soon finalize all investigative work over the upcoming months and the vocational center can begin working toward a more positive future that the students in all three counties deserve," he said.

Last fall, independent auditors found personal purchases on a state credit card, numerous improper payments and missing receipts, invoices and fundraising records.

The South Branch council had launched an investigation after Whetstone discovered that a computer was missing from his office, State Police said in March.

The missing computer prompted the council to hire a Kentucky-based auditing firm to further investigate the center's 2006-07 academic year, State Police have said.

Missing financial records, among other things in the audit, led the council to later hire a private investigator from Maryland to investigate any criminal wrongdoing.

To contact staff writer Davin White, use e-mail or call 348-1254.