Investigation of Houston High choir director's actions nearing conclusion

The Germantown Municipal School District could make a decision as early as the end of the week on the future of William Rayburn, the embattled Houston High choir director currently suspended without pay for accusations regarding his interaction with students.

Superintendent Jason Manuel said Wednesday the investigation into complaints against Rayburn is reaching its conclusion. Rayburn will have one more opportunity to plead his position to the district's human resources department.

At that point, the department will make a recommendation to Manuel, who in turn will discuss the matter with the district's Board of Education.

"I expect that to be by the end of this week or the first of next," Manuel said Wednesday.

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The superintendent said that timetable was already set before a new complaint regarding Rayburn emerged earlier Wednesday. The recent claim did not accelerate the timetable for a decision regarding Rayburn's status. Rayburn was suspended without pay by the suburb's school district for previous claims about his interaction with students.

The latest accusation, filed Tuesday, concerns a March 1 incident at Houston High, the only high school in the suburb's school system. The police report, heavily redacted because the female victim is a juvenile, states the teenager was walking along a narrow school hallway with Rayburn in front of her.

"She further stated that Dr. Rayburn then slowed down, walked into her as if to push her closer to the wall, and eventually pushed her up against the wall with his stomach," the offense report states.

"Our student services department and counseling staff have been mobilized to support any students who have been affected by the suspension and investigation of William Rayburn," GMSD spokesperson Kate Crowder said in a Wednesday statement, adding Manuel is meeting with concerned parents.

The Rayburn situation is among a series of revelations about problems plaguing Germantown schools.

In an April 11 memo, Manuel informed Rayburn that the choir director was suspended without pay, "pending charges of conduct unbecoming to a member of the teaching position."

Manuel cited accusations from parents and students that Rayburn had kissed students, made inappropriate comments to them and inappropriately touched students.

In addition to the upaid suspension of Rayburn a month ago, Houston High principal Kyle Cherry resigned in April, citing the stress of the job.

After Cherry's departure, a strange event last summer came to light with Cherry going to an instructor's house unannounced in the middle of the night. He put a ladder against the residence — next to the window of the teacher's teenage daughter. He abandoned that approach before entering the front door of the residence while people in the house slept.

Those episodes and growing awareness about other incidents in the district led to an emotional school board meeting Monday night. One student talked about being bullied in elementary and middle school. Other speakers talked about a lack of transparency and the school district not properly reacting to complaints.

"We take these allegations very seriously and follow a rigorous procedure to investigate and document allegations and protect our students during the time of an investigation," Crowder wrote in reaction to the latest accusation against Rayburn.

"Once authorities are informed, the district engages a team of HR investigators who talk with students and parents, current and former, to learn all of the facts," Crowder wrote. "We cannot overstate how thorough and rigorous they are.

"In this environment, our schools value the well-being of children over all else, and inappropriate behavior will NOT be permitted."