PIERRE, S.D. (KELO AM) What did they know and when did they know it in the Gear Up Scandal is a little clearer now.
An email from seven years ago to Melody Schopp before she became State Education Secretary shows that there were concerns about financial problems in the education program to benefit Native American students.
After learning she was losing her job as Director of Indian Education, LuAnn Werdel, emailed Schopp in January, 2011. Schopp was Deputy Education Chief at the time.
"You have effectively sided with those who have no integrity or morals when it comes to managing federal grants and funds." Werdel wrote to Schopp that she had warned here "over and over" about her concerns involving Gear Up. Schopp was Deputy Education Chief at the time.
A group of lawmakers investigating the scandal will consider the email package at their meeting next week. Schopp, and other state officials, have declined to testify in person.
A copy of the key Werdel email to Schopp is attached to this story.
Mid Central Educational Cooperative in Platte was running the Gear Up education program until Schopp terminated the agreement in 2015.
The scandal really blew up after Mid Central's Scott Westerhuis killed his family and then himself, as the investigation closed in.