UPDATE: School superintendent placed on paid administrative leave; Sheppard assumes duties

WCPS Assistant Superintendent for Administration Melody Sheppard assumes superintendent duties. Photo by Kim Riley.

FRONT ROYAL — Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) Superintendent Greg Drescher is now on paid administrative leave, said Catherine Bower, chairwoman of the Warren County School Board during its October 2 meeting.

“Mr. Drescher is on paid administrative leave until his retirement on December 31, 2019,” said Bower, following the board’s 6:30 p.m. closed meeting “to discuss an employee personnel issue.” The closed meeting preceded the School Board’s regular 7 p.m. meeting.

His replacement is Melody Sheppard, WCPS assistant superintendent for administration, “who will assume the day-to-day oversight of school duties,” said School Board Chairwoman Bower.

Drescher is one of 14 elected or appointed current or former County and EDA officials indicted September 20 by the EDA Special Grand Jury on misdemeanor charges alleging an absence of due diligent oversight of former Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority (EDA) Executive Director Jennifer McDonald over the last four months of 2018. Those defendants were allowed to turn themselves in for bookings at the magistrate’s office at RSW Jail and released on personal recognizance bonds on September 24 and 25.

The grand jury charged Drescher and each of the other officials, who include all of the members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, with two counts of misfeasance and one count of nonfeasance, meaning they had knowledge of but didn’t act on the EDA’s mismanagement of funds.

That inaction after investigative public accounting firm Cherry Bekaert was contracted in mid-September 2018 by the County on the EDA’s behalf to investigate financial fraud is cited as allowing the misdirection of an additional $309,000 or more during that time period.

The EDA is seeking recovery of as much as $21 million in allegedly misdirected or embezzled assets from four individual defendants and associated business entities. The Town of Front Royal has also filed suit against the EDA to recover as much as $15 million of Town assets believed involved in those transactions.

Drescher, who simultaneously served as chairman of the EDA Board of Directors and as WCPS superintendent, resigned his EDA Board chairmanship on August 24, 2018. That was one day after Town auditors and officials confronted him, McDonald and then EDA Attorney Dan Whitten over eight-plus years of debt service overcharges to the Town by the EDA. Those payments totaled over $291,000. Whitten is also one of the 14 charged with misfeasance and nonfeasance.

In March Drescher resigned completely from the EDA board after 12 years of service.

On September 6, Drescher announced his retirement from WCPS, where he has served the last five years as superintendent.

Sheppard, who attended the October 2 School Board meeting, was seated in Drescher’s chair on the dais, along with the School Board members, and provided the superintendent’s report. Drescher did not attend the meeting.

During School Board reports, the mood turned somber as members acknowledged Drescher’s impact and contributions.

“I would like to wish Mr. Drescher a good life and to thank him for his service to Warren County Public Schools,” said School Board member Arnold Williams, Jr. “I think he gave us his all every day.”

“I really enjoyed working with Greg,” said School Board member C. Douglas Rosen, who retires at year’s end. “He’s always been open, he’s been compassionate to students, and he’s been probably one of the biggest assets that the Warren County school system has had in many years. I’m gonna miss him.”

School Board member James Wells said, “There is nothing that makes me feel Greg Drescher ever gave anything less than 100 percent of his time, attention and skill to leading the school system. And his focus was clear at all times that our students and staff deserve the best opportunities to exceed what we could give them. And I wish him all the best.”

Bower also stated her appreciation for Drescher’s 37 years of dedication to education, with 34 of those years spent in Warren County.

“His passion for education was evident in many of the programs he initiated,” Bower said, noting that she had three pages listing all of them.

For instance, Drescher was behind getting all students in grades 6-12 a Chromebook to use as a learning tool, while elementary schools have Chromebook carts for each grade level, Bower said.

Drescher also initiated the summer meals program; the development of more afterschool programs; and was committed to retaining highly qualified teachers, she added.

“I want to thank Mr. Drescher for his guidance and all that he’s done for our school system and for his friendship,” said Bower.

Paid administrative leave means that Drescher will continue to receive his six-figure salary until the end of the year.