Administrator leaving Valley Christian

The head administrator for Valley Christian School has been asked not to return next year amid a state investigation into his conduct.

Wes Evans, who has led the Spokane Valley private school for 18 years, is under investigation by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for failure to report physical abuse of a student by a teacher. State officials said they don’t know when the results of that investigation will be released.

The VCS school board notified staff last week of its decision to not renew the contract for Evans, 52.

“They feel … that it’s best for Valley Christian to have a change of leadership, that it’s in the best interest of the school,” Evans said Tuesday.

School Board Chairman Jeff Smith did not return a reporter’s phone calls Tuesday.

The school is home to about 300 students in grades K-12, and has been a part of the Valley community for more than 30 years.

In recent years, the school has dealt with dramatic enrollment decreases, the loss of its original school building, and a controversy sparked by the dismissal of a former boys basketball coach.

The school parted ways with Steve Altmeyer in May 2004 after allegations began to surface that he physically and verbally abused students and basketball players. Altmeyer is also under investigation by the state.

Some parents of former and current students claim that Evans failed to report the abuses by the former coach and asked that he also be removed from the school.

Evans and Altmeyer repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. One parent said Evans once told the school board that the allegations about Altmeyer from students and parents were “lies from the pit of hell.”

“I think this vindicates all the young men and women that stood up and weren’t listened to and weren’t believed when they said they were hurt,” said Linda Lanker, a former teacher and track coach at the school, whose own children formerly attended Valley Christian. “I think we have been vilified for standing up and speaking out. We were accused of not being supportive of Christian education.”

Lanker left Valley Christian after coming forward with concerns about Altmeyer’s alleged inappropriate behavior. Lanker said she once witnessed the coach shove a player and confronted him about his practice of telling basketball players that their losses on the court were the result of sin in their lives.

“The people that have spent thousands of dollars to send their kids there didn’t send them there to get a false picture of who God really is,” Lanker said. “What they got was a distortion of the loving God we know.”

A year ago the school lost its lease with Valley Fourth Memorial Church and was forced to lease space at the old University High School after 30 years on the church property.

A parent group asked the church to fire Evans, or see the lease terminated. The school board chose not to terminate Evans at that time.

The school was a ministry of the church for many years but has operated independently for about five years.

“We were disappointed the school board put their pride and power ahead of students and school, forcing VCS off the campus created for it,” said Pam Indahl, the parent of two former VCS students, who was involved in the effort to have Evans removed.

Indahl has helped maintain a Web site, www.vcstruth.com, where former VCS families have posted their grievances against Evans and Altmeyer.

Randy Knigge, the father of a former student who alleged that Altmeyer had hit him so hard in the chest that it “hurt every time he took a breath,” said his family does not feel vindicated.

“That doesn’t fit. There are deeply set scars and hurts here,” Knigge said. “It’s going to take some efforts from that school, some courage and some backbone to admit what’s happened.”

Evans and Altmeyer have repeatedly told the school community that his son’s account is a lie. Joel Knigge graduated from VCS in 2002.

“I think that Joel deserves to have the truth told to all of those school families that were told incorrectly,” Randy Knigge said.

While the investigation stems from conduct at a private school, both Evans and Altmeyer are certified educators and subject to the state’s code of professional conduct, state officials said. Private schools are also required to report violations to the state superintendent’s office.

It’s not the first time the school has had to deal with the bad behavior of a coach.

Darrell Boorman was fired from VCS in 1993 after three female students complained about inappropriate conduct. He was hired by the school despite allegations of sexual misconduct at three other school systems, beginning in 1986.