JROTC instructor suspended with pay [View all]

[LeftInTX]

http://www.ksat.com/news/nisd-jrotc-instructor-suspended-with-pay/-/478452/20054620/-/14pkpd2z/-/index.html

Lackland airman barred from contact with O’Connor HS student
SAN ANTONIO -

Northside ISD confirms retired Lt. Colonel James Payne, a respected JROTC instructor and founder of the program at O’Connor High School, has been suspended with pay pending an investigation by the district.

“He was placed on administrative leave because he did not follow district policy when it comes to field trips,” said Pascual Gonzalez, NISD spokesman.

He said Payne should have cancelled a field trip late last month to Camp Eagle in Rocksprings with 29 students after two parents had backed out as chaperones a few days earlier, or notified the principal of the problem.

Gonzalez said the district requires three parent chaperones on field trips.

He said instead, the 48-year-old instructor, who was on the trip as well, relied on a 21-year-old airman who claimed to be writing a story about developing responsibility and leadership among JROTC students, and their retired military instructors.

Gonzalez said the airman was not authorized to be with students because he had not been cleared by the principal and did not undergo a required criminal background check.

When they returned, Gonzalez said a parent told Payne of serious allegations.

“This airman from Lackland Air Force Base had inappropriate contact, communication and behavior with Northside students,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez would not discuss the specific nature of those allegations.

The military sex assault stuff is now infiltrating Junior ROTC