PETERSBURG, W.Va. — The former director and former financial services coordinator of the South Branch Career and Technical Center in Petersburg have been found not guilty of charges filed against them in April.

Indications from at least two sources are, however, that the investigation into missing files from computers at the Career Center, as well as a separate investigation into improper accounting practices, is far from over.

Robert Sisk of Petersburg, who had served as director of South Branch for 19 years, and Tamela Kitzmiller of Elk Garden, who served as financial services coordinator for 14 years, were found not guilty earlier this week of alteration and deletion of computer data, which had been filed against both of them, and petit larceny, which had been filed against Sisk.

Sisk had been accused of removing a hard drive from the computer in his office while he was employed at the Career Center.

Magistrate Willard Earle found the two not guilty during bench trials held Monday for Sisk and Tuesday for Kitzmiller.

A third person who had been charged as a result of an investigation by West Virginia State Police, Lee Ann Shreve of Pendleton County, pleaded no contest on Aug. 14 and was fined a total of $460.

Shreve had been a secretary at the Career Center for eight years.

All three had resigned from their positions in 2007.

Throughout the investigation, Sisk continued to serve in his new capacity as president of Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College and Kitzmiller, who had taken a job as a secretary/accountant at Keyser High School, was placed on administrative leave with pay by the Mineral County Board of Education.

According to Mineral County Superintendent of Schools Skip Hackworth, however, Kitz-miller returned to her job at KHS on Wednesday.

“I called her immediately after being informed of the decision,” he said.

The Associated Press reported earlier this year that an audit of the Career Center’s books in February and March found several actions that violated West Virginia State Department of Education policy, including improper personal purchases that had been made using the center’s credit card and tax-exempt status. The amount was eventually repaid, but it was discovered that there were multiple cases of missing receipts, invoices and fund-raising records at the school.

According to Liza Cordeiro, communications officer for the West Virginia State Board of Education, the audit also found “a hostile environment” at the school that had generated concerns for the staff and students.

Investigating officer Senior Trooper D.G. Lahman of the Moorefield/Petersburg Detachment, West Virginia State Police, told the Times-News in April that a separate investigation revealed that a considerable amount, if not all, information on two computers used by Shreve and Kitzmiller had been deleted. The records included, among other files, financial transactions for the center detailing its expenditures.

As investigation into the missing files proceeded, the West Virginia State Board of Education took action and declared the South Branch Career and Technical Center to be in a state of emergency on April 9, and took over control of the center. Ron Grimes, a consultant for the state board, was sent to Petersburg to work with Randy Whetstone, who had succeeded Sisk as director.

Both Grant County Schools Superintendent Marsha Carr-Lambert and Cordeiro agree that the findings of the court earlier this week do not indicate a conclusion of the state investigation nor do they affect the continued oversight of the center by the state board.

“The outcome of the three criminal cases has no bearing on the South Branch Career & Technical Center,” Carr-Lambert said Thursday.

“The center is presently under state control when the administrative council voluntarily surrendered their authority last spring.”

“We continue to monitor the school the way we have been doing,” Cordeiro said.

Carr-Lambert confirmed that there are issues that remain to be resolved.

“There are still pending lawsuits and one certainly cannot speculate at this time what additional suits have yet to be filed,” she said.

“I have no doubt that this will be ongoing for at least the upcoming year. I certainly look forward to some type of closure that I do not unfortunately anticipate anytime soon.”

The South Branch Career and Technical Center serves students in Grant, Hardy and Pendleton counties.

Contact Liz Beavers at lbeavers@times-news.com.