Internal Investigation Update

Recent open records have unveiled significant allegations against Wrightstown Community School District Superintendent Andy Space, leading to his early retirement.

During the December 11, 2024, Wrightstown School Board Meeting, Board Members were provided an Internal Investigation Update. This update points to five major reasons for the School Board to consider proceeding to a hearing to discuss Space’s future with the Wrightstown School District.

The Five Major Allegations

1. Validity of Current Contract: Questions have been raised about the legitimacy of Andy Space’s latest employment contract. Concerns include whether proper procedures were followed during its formation and approval.
2. Authority Over Future Development: Allegations suggest that Space overstepped his authority regarding the development of athletic facilities within the district. This includes unauthorized decisions and potential conflicts of interest.
3. District Expenditures: There are serious concerns about district expenditures under Space’s leadership. These include questionable spending practices and lack of transparency in financial matters.
4. Exceeding Authority: Space is accused of exceeding his authority concerning board agendas, meetings, policies, and governance. This includes making unilateral decisions without proper board approval.
5. Insubordination: Allegations of insubordination to staff and individual board members have also surfaced. This includes instances of disregarding directives and undermining the authority of the board.

The Decision to Retire

Each of these allegations could have been made public through the hearing process and giving Space an opportunity to respond to them publicly. However, Andy Space chose to submit a retirement request rather than continue with the investigation. This decision has left many questioning what else might have been uncovered had the investigation proceeded eventually leading to a hearing.

The Role of the School Board Members

Interestingly, three school board members—Tiffany Van Vreede, Melinda Lemke, and Rayn Warner—voted against holding a hearing that would have made these issues public. This raises the question: why wouldn’t they want the public to know what is going on? A public hearing would have provided evidence to the allegations for the community to see firsthand so they could make a decision on their own. Instead, the three voted against the public hearing for unknown reasons and only raised more questions into what would have been released during the hearing process.

What Comes Next

Stay tuned for follow-up articles that will delve deeper into each of these topics. For now, here is a list of all the allegations:

1. Validity of Andy Space’s current contract
2. Authority over future development of athletic facilities
3. District expenditures
4. Exceeding authority regarding board agendas, meetings, policies, and governance
5. Insubordination to staff and individual board members

The question remains, why would certain board members want to keep these allegations under wraps?