Shepherd Public Schools Superintendent Scott Carter confirmed Monday he was arrested for a DUI in 2009 in Kansas while he was the superintendent of Kingman-Norwich schools. Carter said he was never convicted of the charge but does not deny that he was arrested for that crime.
According to an article by the Hutchinson News in Kansas, Kingman County Sheriff Randy Hill said deputies responded to a report of a hit-and-run accident involving a damaged mailbox and a vehicle driving erratically. Carter was arrested in December 2009 as the suspect in the hit-and-run after officers stopped his car during the investigation.
Carter said Shepherd school officials were aware of his alcohol problems in the past.
“I have never kept that a secret," Carter told Q2 News on Monday. "It happened over a decade ago and I have had no problems with it since, except for this incident. I have made it a decade without a drink until last Thursday, and I can’t tell you why.“
School board chairman Carl Openshaw said Monday he had no comment when asked if the board was aware of Carter's previous DUI arrest.
According to the Lawrence Journal World, Carter resigned from the Kansas school district in 2010 and was to receive $50,000 from the district at the time of his departure.
Carter, who was hired to lead the Shepherd schools two years ago, was placed on administrative leave with pay late last week for conduct that violated school district policy, the district announced.
On Sunday, Carter addressed those allegations in a letter on the Shepherd High School Facebook page.
He stated that he "violated the trust of the community by showing up at work Thursday morning smelling like alcohol."
Carter wrote that he "was drinking late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning."
When he showed up to work that morning a staff member thought they smelled alcohol and he admitted in the letter that he "did in fact have alcohol on his breath."
Carter said he realizes that he has a problem "bigger than himself" and immediately sought treatment and counseling. He went on to say that he has never drank at work in his 25-plus year career, and promised to accept any sanctions but prays that he is allowed to continue to lead the Shepherd School District.
