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A teacher at Palmyra High School has been placed on paid administrative leave until an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol is complete.
The decision was handed down by Palmyra Superintendent Eric Churchwell Jan. 22 after authorities told him the teacher was alleged to have been inappropriately involved with a student.
The teacher is also a coach at Palmyra High School and is a former Hannibal-LaGrange University employee.
Sgt. Brent Bernhardt of the Missouri State Highway Patrol would not comment since the investigation is ongoing, but did confirm the investigation involves a Marion County juvenile.
There’s no timeline as to how long the investigation could take.
“The timeline is in the hands of the investigation,” Bernhardt said. “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on any open investigation that we have.”
Palmyra Police Chief Eddie Bogue explained how the investigation fell to the highway patrol.
“It can be investigated by any of the three of us (Palmyra PD, the Marion County Sheriff and the highway patrol) actually,” he said. “Depends on what jurisdiction things fall in. Even though the school is within the Palmyra city limits, that does not necessarily mean the violation happened inside the city limits. So that opens it up to where the county could investigate it or the patrol can investigate it or we can investigate it.”
At Palmyra High School Friday, Churchwell said it was business as usual “as much as it can be.”
Churchwell released a media statement and said that was all the commenting he could do.
“The school district is working cooperatively with law enforcement and Missouri Social Service, Children’s Division during the investigation,” Churchwell said in his statement. “The Palmyra R-1 School District takes the safety of our students very seriously and will continue to place student safety as our top priority.”
A teacher at Palmyra High School has been placed on paid administrative leave until an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol is complete.
The decision was handed down by Palmyra Superintendent Eric Churchwell Jan. 22 after authorities told him the teacher was alleged to have been inappropriately involved with a student.
The teacher is also a coach at Palmyra High School and is a former Hannibal-LaGrange University employee.
Sgt. Brent Bernhardt of the Missouri State Highway Patrol would not comment since the investigation is ongoing, but did confirm the investigation involves a Marion County juvenile.
There’s no timeline as to how long the investigation could take.
“The timeline is in the hands of the investigation,” Bernhardt said. “It would be inappropriate for me to comment on any open investigation that we have.”
Palmyra Police Chief Eddie Bogue explained how the investigation fell to the highway patrol.
“It can be investigated by any of the three of us (Palmyra PD, the Marion County Sheriff and the highway patrol) actually,” he said. “Depends on what jurisdiction things fall in. Even though the school is within the Palmyra city limits, that does not necessarily mean the violation happened inside the city limits. So that opens it up to where the county could investigate it or the patrol can investigate it or we can investigate it.”
At Palmyra High School Friday, Churchwell said it was business as usual “as much as it can be.”
Churchwell released a media statement and said that was all the commenting he could do.
“The school district is working cooperatively with law enforcement and Missouri Social Service, Children’s Division during the investigation,” Churchwell said in his statement. “The Palmyra R-1 School District takes the safety of our students very seriously and will continue to place student safety as our top priority.”
