Testimony: Officials covered up misconduct
COLUMBUS (AP) -- A state investigator says Columbus school officials told a high school teacher who got a math student pregnant "to go quietly" and get a job somewhere else.
Department of Education investigator Jodi Vice testified in a state hearing in October as part of a process revoking the teacher's license of Roger McEldowney, The Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday.
"He was told, according to him, to go quietly, and they wouldn't put anything in his personnel file so he could get a job someplace else," Vice testified. "And he chose to do that because he felt his career could not be salvaged at Columbus Public."
The two married after the girl turned 18, have one child together and were expecting a second, according to state school board records.
The state school board revoked McEldowney's license this month. A message for McEldowney was left seeking comment.
Columbus schools said the claim was false and the district has no records to support the allegation. District spokesman Michael Straughter said Thursday the school system was moving toward firing McEldowney but he quit.
"He knew a termination was coming," Straughter said.
This is the second time recently the district has been accused of trying to keep sexual misconduct quiet.
Last year, the father of a 16-year-old girl who said she'd been sexually assaulted called police even though an assistant principal warned him not to use 911 because it could be monitored by media outlets and attract public attention.