FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — Former state delegate Elliott Pritt is no longer a schoolteacher in Fayette County.
The Fayette County Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to suspend Pritt without pay, retroactive to June 22, and terminate his contract, effective immediately.
There has been a flurry of activity involving Pritt since his arrest by federal authorities last month on alleged sex crimes against a minor. Pritt is charged with seducing an underage girl into a sexual relationship over a two-year span, beginning when she was in the eighth grade. The relationship reportedly began on the video game Roblox and transitioned to Snapchat.
According to an affidavit filed by an investigator in the federal case, Pritt’s sordid actions also included meeting with the girl at his classroom at Oak Hill High School, where they would perform sex acts.
Pritt resigned his seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates last month and withdrew his candidacy from the November General Election last week. A banner in Oak Hill honoring his service in the Air Force will be removed as well, following a vote by Oak Hill City Council Monday night.
All this has happened as Pritt remains in federal custody.
Fayette County Superintendent of Schools David Warvel said it was a wake-up call when the allegations surfaced against Pritt. He said that Vector Solutions, a training and workforce management company, handles Fayette County’s mandatory reporter system through an online portal. With shocking, alleged actions by a schoolteacher in the district, there was question about whether any educators knew about it — and didn’t report it through the mandatory reporter system.
Warvel said that typically, Vector’s training is online. With this case, the district thought it best to have in-person conversations.
“We made sure, in light of the situation that took place that we all found out about in early July with one of our educators, we decided to have them come speak to all of us in the central office and also to our principals,” Warvel said.
Warvel reported that those principals took that information and, in turn, spoke with their staff at schools throughout the county. He said those who participated in the discussions with Vector personnel were broken up into small groups, all to encourage dialogue.
Additionally, Warvel said that schools, including Oak Hill High School, have put together discussions among students. He said he’s proud of how they handled the aftermath at Oak Hill High and how they’re moving forward after a dreadful situation.
“Everybody knows that there’s a problem that we had,” Warvel said. “But we have to learn from it and move forward, because we don’t want to overcorrect and make it too big of an overcorrection, but we also need to make sure we take it very serious. That’s tough and go when you’re dealing with children.”
Warvel said a preliminary investigation from an independent person has revealed that nothing “egregious or outstanding” transpired with mandatory reporters related to Pritt’s reported misconduct.
“Anybody that knows that you’re a mandatory reporter, you need to report in a 24-hour period,” Warvel said. “At this point in time, I can say with an independent person who’s doing the job, who’s an attorney who’s black and white, he has said, so far, interviewing all the people that he’s interviewed these past couple of weeks, there’s nothing that stands out to him that says there’s something foul.”
Other efforts to move forward include upcoming discussion with Homeland Security personnel, Warvel said. He noted that a member of that agency reached out to him, inquiring whether any assistance through training was needed. Warvel said that was on board with that and is now working with principals to see what dates and times will work.
Warvel said those conversations with Homeland Security will encourage parents to come in and teach them about the dangers online. He said parents are “first responders” in the current day and age of social media. In the Pritt case, Roblox was reportedly the starting point of the relationship. Warvel highlighted Roblox and Discord as particularly “secretive” social media apps, and parents need to take this as a learning opportunity.
While educating the parents is important, Warvel said, ensuring child safety is of paramount importance.
“We also want to talk to the children, because they have to understand what grooming is about,” Warvel said. “So, we’re looking at our curriculum to make sure that during the health classes, with body awareness, from the little guys all the way up to the ones that are about ready to graduate, are we doing a good job educating the students on grooming?”
Warvel mentioned that he doesn’t know the identity of the victim, or victims, of Pritt’s alleged actions. While that may be the case, he said, Fayette County Schools are going to support each child going forward.
“The students that reported this, I got to give them a lot of credit to do what they did,” Warvel said. “They did the right thing, they should not be ashamed of that, and we’re very proud of them for stepping up. At the same time, we’re sorely disappointed in the situation that took place.”