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PARKERSBURG — The Wood County Board of Education released the results of a 153-page comprehensive forensic audit last week that states some allegations made against former high school principals were “founded,” or able to be proven — including the misuse of school funds, grade alterations for student athletes and graduating students lacking the required credit hours.

The report, initiated by Superintendent Christie Willis in July 2024 and carried out by Perry Forensic, a division of locally based Perry & Associates CPAs, looked into former principals Betsy Patterson at Parkersburg South High School, Kenny DeMoss at Parkersburg High School and Jason Ward at Williamstown Middle/High School.

The report said Perry Forensic contacted Attorney William “Bill” Merriman on two occasions to arrange an interview with Patterson but no return telephone call or written communication was received. It said DeMoss initially agreed to be interviewed but later canceled stating his attorney, Merriman, advised against participating. Ward cooperated with investigators and was interviewed.

A message seeking comment from Ward was not returned in time for deadline.

Contacted by the News and Sentinel, Merriman said both of his clients have indicated the report is “misleading and has misinformation.”

“This is a witch hunt,” Merriman said. “Because the board doesn’t like Mr. DeMoss and Ms. Patterson.”

He said there was no criminal conduct indicated in the report and that it was a malicious and unnecessary attempt to cause a rift in the community. Merriman said he has never seen a financial audit that looked into personnel matters.

“This should have been handled in executive session and not at a special board meeting,” Merriman said.

He said he would like to know how much the district paid to have the audit done.

“The board should be looking at this expense and why they’re releasing this information to make my clients look bad,” Merriman said.

Wood County Prosecutor Pat Lefebure said his office hasn’t received anything formal about the audit. Parkersburg Police Chief Matthew Board and Wood County Sheriff Rick Woodyard said they do not have any open cases based on the information in the audit.

“The principals of the three high schools engaged in rogue behavior while under the supervision of the Director of Secondary Education,” the report said.

According to the report, Patterson allegedly received improper payments for events she was not required to attend, was reimbursed with internal funds outside of the school district’s purchasing policy and utilized the school’s tax-exempt status and other benefits for personal purchases.

The audit said during the 2022-23 school year, Patterson sought, and was paid for 35 instances for a total of $5,000 for attending events for which she was not entitled to payment. In addition, it said she submitted time sheets to the district’s Finance Department nine times when she acted as the administrator for rentals and was compensated $7,387.50. During the 2023-24 school year, Patterson sought and received payment for 24 instances for serving as an administrator for attending events for which she was not entitled to payment totaling $5,062.50, and she submitted timesheets for 18 instances where she acted as the administrator for rentals and was compensated $11,325.

The report said Patterson was entitled to compensation for rentals, although any of the administrators could have worked at those events. They were not given the opportunity because Patterson wanted to increase her salary for retirement purposes, the report said.

The audit said Ward allowed students to graduate who had not earned the required number of class credits. It said 25 students graduated from the school between 2020 and 2024 without meeting the 24-credit requirement, including 12 special education students and nine who did not even meet the state’s 22-credit minimum.

The report also said that it is “factual” that students at Williamstown could have participated in athletic events when their grades and/or disciplinary actions should have prevented them from doing so.

Ward initially denied disciplinary actions were changed for athletes but later acknowledged to investigators he had awareness of it happening, saying changes were also made for non-athletes, such as band and choir members and students with jobs. He stated to investigators these changes were not unusual or infrequent and admitted the school had a reputation for being “lenient” regarding discipline.

The report said DeMoss inflated enrollment numbers at PHS to receive more funding from the West Virginia State Department of Education. It said 145 students had “fake” classes added to their schedules and records indicated that over 80 students were listed as enrolled even though they were not physically present. Some students were scheduled for multiple lunch periods to fill out class schedules, despite not attending school and investigators concluded that this was intentional, unlike minor errors found at other schools, the report said.

The report also said grades were changed for a student-athlete at PHS to allow participation in sports when the student would have otherwise been prohibited from participating.

The report also said significant turnover of staff, primarily in the district’s Finance Department, allowed taxpayer funds to be improperly paid to employees without detection. A lack of communication between Human Resources and Finance allowed taxpayer funds to be improperly paid to an employee without detection, and a lack of communication between the Special Education Department and Finance allowed taxpayer funds to be improperly paid to employees without detection.

Inquiries sent to the West Virginia Department of Education asking if any investigations would be opened based on the results of the audit had not been returned in time for deadline.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

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Allegations Made Against Three Former High School Principals

The Wood County Board of Education released the results of a 153-page comprehensive forensic audit last week that states some allegations made against former high school principals were “founded,” or able to be proven — including the misuse of school funds, grade alterations for student athletes and graduating students lacking the required credit hours.

Betsy Patterson (File Photo)

Betsy Patterson, Parkersburg South High School

Founded:

* Received compensation for attending extracurricular events without entitlement.

* Submitted and received travel reimbursements using internal funds instead of a district credit card.

* Used Sam’s Cash for personal purchases

* Used tax-exempt status for personal purchases at Sam’s Club

Unfounded:

* Misused $18,000 donation from Girls Basketball Boosters

* Altered grades for student athletes

Kenny DeMoss (File Photo)

Kenny DeMoss, Parkersburg High School

Founded:

* Used school funds for staff massages

* Double paid employees for extra duty coverage

* Purchase card logs not reviewed/signed by supervisors

* Inflated student enrollment to obtain excess funding

* Used school funds for staff Christmas party

* Changed grades to allow athletic participation

* Misused position for private fundraiser

* Inappropriately paid employees for extra duty

Unfounded:

* Misuse of LSIC Grant funds

Jason Ward (File Photo)

Jason Ward, Williamstown High School

Founded:

* Failed to report mandatory issues to DHHR

* Graduated students lacking required credits

* Allowed unauthorized use of his district-issue credit card

* Engaged in online gaming during work hours using Wood County Schools devices

* Lack of oversight of school weight room

* Grade changes for certain students

Unfounded:

* Maintained school district digital assets at home for personal use