Board examines policies after investigation results released

Mark Rogers, The Sanford Herald, N.C.
·3 min read

May 11—A criminal investigation that resulted in the arrest of a San-Lee Middle School teacher in 2022 prompted the Lee County Board of Education to review policies and procedures for the school district.

The decision came after a Lee County Sheriff's Office investigation led to the November arrest of Andrew Braxton Allen, 32, of Siler City.

Allen was alleged to have engaged in inappropriate relationships with students and was indicted by a Lee County grand jury. Allen was arrested in November on charges of statutory sex offense with a child by an adult, taking indecent liberties with children and sexual activity with a student.

In January, the board took an additional step in hiring an outside agency — Brooks Pierce Law Firm of Raleigh — to investigate what was defined as a "personnel matter."

At Tuesday's Board of Education meeting, Chair Sherry Womack released some of the results and read a statement about the issues it raised.

"As many of you know, Andrew Allen's arrest in November 2022 was related to sexual abuse of students," Womack said. "The Lee County Board of Education authorized an external investigation into the matter and a review of the school system's policies, training and safety plans to seek improvements that would help prevent something like that from every happening again. For the past several months, our investigation has been conducted by outside counsel and included extensive staff interviews and an in-depth review of documentation. The board is grateful for the methodical work of our external investigators."

Womack said much of the investigation won't be made public because it is personnel matter and includes information that is confidential or privileged. However the board wanted to share some of the findings with the public.

"In doing so, I need to clarify the scope of the investigation," Womack said. "While the review did look back to the time of Andrew Allen's hiring and was very thorough, the review did not include interviews with Andrew Allen or any of his victims. We also only have access to our own documents and may not have information shared with police from other sources, including private communications outside of school."

In the statement, Womack said that the board wanted to make clear that the predatory behavior of Allen was "horrific and reprehensible."

"Such behavior has no place in our school system or community," Womack said. "Andrew Allen should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The Lee County School Board has and will continue to cooperate and support our law enforcement and District Attorney in all aspects of the case.

Womack said that the investigation did not find any evidence that the district's hiring practices were insufficient, or that any "red flags" were missed. The investigation also found no evidence that any staff member had actual knowledge of Allen abusing any students. Prior to November, no complaints from students or parents regarding abuse was found.

Womack said that the investigation also helped the board find additional measures that could be implemented to better safeguard the students from future misconduct by a staff member or teacher.

"We plan to conduct more detailed anti-grooming training for both staff and students," Womack said. "We will review changes of board policies and school-level procedures to clarify boundaries that staff must adhere to in their interactions with students. Finally, we will clarify our staff roles and improve our Title IX complaint and review process to create clear lines of communication for any future concerns, including a clearer public identification of the school system's Title IX coordinator."

Womack concluded by saying that because of the ongoing criminal investigation, the board would no provide any further comment on the matter at this time.