A former teacher in a Montgomery County school district is now seeking justice.
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He claims he was wrongly terminated after bringing allegations of misused funds to school leaders.
As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, Corey Zickefoose filed a lawsuit in January against the Vandalia-Butler City School District and two others who currently work there.
Zickefoose said that in fall 2021, he discovered that funds were missing in his track team’s account, which is primarily funded through fundraisers.
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“Coaches, myself included, reported financial concerns within the athletic department in regards to transparency,” he said.
The lawsuit alleges the district “became upset” and “did not order a financial audit.”
So he went to the Ohio Board of Education’s Office for Professional Conduct in the spring of 2024.
Soon after, he was placed on a performance improvement plan and ultimately, the district’s board of education voted to not renew his contract.
News Center 7 reached out to Superintendent Robert O’Leary about Zickefoose’s allegations.
He said in part:
“I want to assure our community and school district that the allegations made by a former employee are untrue…
The former employee had the opportunity to appeal the non-renewal decision to the courts and chose NOT to do so.
Additionally, the District in no way mismanaged funds. The audit by the State of Ohio has already been completed, and the district received a clean audit report.”
The lawsuit also claims Zickefoose reported a track coach threatened to harm him and a student, but claims the district again did nothing.
“As a mandated reporter by the state of Ohio. Not reporting an accusation like this could result in loss of license. Again my intent was for this to be sorted out in court,” he said.
The district also denied this allegation.
Zickfoose’s lawyer said there will be changes and additions to the lawsuit in the future.
We will continue to follow this story.
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