LIZTON, Ind. — Several Tri-West High School students walked out of school today in protest of the firing of the school employee who reported the sexual abuse accusations against teacher Tyler Bruce to DCS.
The worker is David Pyatt. He was was a part-time attendance secretary at the school up until this week. In an email he received, Tri-West administrators accuse him of stealing surveillance footage of Bruce and a female student walking into an athletic office where it appears they spent time alone.
“I have several students messaging me saying ‘Hey, Mr. Pyatt, you stood up for us’,” Pyatt said. “I would never encourage them to do this, but I am proud of them. They did it without any influence from me.”
Pyatt said the students told him they are doing it to support the good people within the school system and to support the victim.
Bruce is still an employee of the school district, albeit while on unpaid administrative leave. Prosecutors are still investigating the accusations against Bruce. The Indiana Department of Education has also filed a complaint related to the case.
In the complaint they request the state suspend the licenses of Tri-West athletic director Nathan Begle, Dean of Students Stacy Begle, and now resigned Tri-West principal Adam Benner.
Parents of Tri-West students have been circulating a petition for a recall of the Northwest Hendricks School Board. The board voted unanimously to retain Bruce at a termination hearing last year. The parents believe the board is trying to protect Bruce, something Pyatt agrees with. He also said it’s peculiar the board voted to retain the Begle’s who DOE accuses of knowing about the accusations against Bruce and failing to immediately report them to the Department of Child Services.
“They have the same evidence that the school board has and they (the DOE) think they should lose their licenses, while the school board thinks they should be back at work,” said Pyatt. “I mean, somebody’s wrong here.”
Both Nathan Begle and Stacey Begle were placed on administrative leave soon after the DOE complaint was filed.
