Clark County school district regrets 2nd medication theft arrest


Staying with the story

The Springfield News-Sun has reported extensively on the medication thefts at Reid School since the story first broke earlier this month.

A second Reid School employee has been arrested and accused of stealing student medication.

Kevin L. Williams, a custodian at the Clark-Shawnee Local School District school, was charged Friday with two counts of felony theft and placed in the Clark County Jail. Deputies alleged he took multiple Adderall pills this week from the school.

Surveillance video allegedly shows the suspect taking the drugs this week, Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said, and he confessed Friday.

Williams was placed on leave Friday afternoon, according to Clark-Shawnee Superintendent Gregg Morris. The investigation stemmed from a parent complaint about missing medication, he said.

The district regrets the theft and wants parents to know they’re approaching the situation very seriously, Morris said.

“We want to have a safe environment for our kids and care about their well-being,” Morris said. “We’re working very hard to see that that happens.”

>>MORE: Clark County district drug oversight based on documentation, trust

A termination hearing for Williams will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday. A letter was sent home to Reid parents notifying them of the theft.

Earlier this week, clinical aide Amy Baumgardner, 48, of 3916 Petre Road, was indicted on a felony theft of drugs charge, also accused of stealing pills from students at Reid.

Williams has been a custodian at Reid for about a year, Morris said, and wasn’t drug tested prior to his hiring. The second theft happened after Baumgardner’s arrest and the drugs were locked at the time, Morris said.

Deputies were notified the school had been thoroughly counting its pill inventory and it came up short, Kelly said. Video from the storage room allegedly shows Williams going in and taking the pills, Kelly said.

The cameras were newly installed after Baumgardner’s arrest, Kelly said. The school has also reviewed its procedures, Morris said, including log sheets maintained at the school.

“We were doing that before, but we’ve just been extra cautious,” he said. “We’re going back and counting them. We’ve intensified the accountability piece.”

>>RELATED: Aide indicted, accused of stealing drugs from Clark County school

Baumgardner’s charge stems from allegations she stole Adderall pills that were stored at the school for students who were prescribed the drug, according to court records.

She was arrested Sept. 15 following an investigation by the sheriff’s office and was terminated five days later. A parent complained about missing medication, according to court records.

Clark County Deputy Mark Lane wrote in an affidavit that Baumgardner failed to keep thorough records of medications that entered the school building and admitted to him and another deputy of taking the pills “to get through the day.”

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