THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 11, 1996 TAG: 9604110359
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Law enforcement officers confirmed Wednesday that they are investigating a Manteo High School chemistry teacher who resigned unexpectedly last week.
Dare County Deputy Sheriff Rodney Midgett said investigators gathered evidence last Friday at the Manteo residence of Frank C. Schultz Jr. A search warrant was issued by Judge Jerry Tillett, but it was sealed to the public.
The State Bureau of Investigation is assisting the sheriff's department in the investigation, Midgett said.
Schultz, 51, had taught college-level chemistry at the high school for the past seven years.
Students in Shultz's chemistry class said administrators walked into the classroom last Wednesday, searched it, locked his office and led him out of the room. No explanation was given to the class about what was happening, and school officials have declined to discuss the case.
Schultz submitted his resignation last Wednesday afternoon. When reached by telephone the following afternoon, he said he had ``resigned for strictly personal reasons.''
Schultz could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Superintendent of Schools Leon Holleman said only that ``we were having a discussion'' about pursuing an investigation of Schultz at the time school officials confronted him in his classroom.
Holleman said he is not permitted to discuss personnel matters that are under investigation.
The attorney for the School Board said Schultz resigned at his own volition.``He was asked to meet Dr. Holleman at the central office and by the time we had arrived, he had left a hand-written resignation letter,'' said Richard Schwartz, the attorney representing the Board of Education.
But Schwartz said the School Board plans to ask the state to revoke Schultz's teaching license.
Betty Blanchard, the PTSA president - and whose son was in Schultz's class that day - said the students have asked the school to provide a coach to help them get through the May 13 Advanced Placement chemistry tests.
Blanchard said Schultz ``brought the Manteo science department to new heights. The kids are devastated. I've heard so many rumors and I don't have a clue what happened. I have a wait-and-see attitude. I think it's a very painful situation for staff, students and parents.''
In a 1993 interview, Schultz said chemistry had been his life for 25 years. He also said he was a Woodrow Wilson fellow at Princeton University and a full professor at the University of Arizona.
Princeton University and the University of Arizona both reported Wednesday that there was no record of Schultz in faculty, alumni or employee files. MEMO: Staff writers Lane DeGregory and Paul South contributed to this story.
by CNB