Royse City schools chief put on paid leave

Official says he’s innocent in missing gasoline case

TEXAS – A unanimous Royse City school board placed Superintendent Mike Harris on paid leave Monday while police investigate the disappearance of several hundred dollars’ worth of gasoline from the district’s stocks last fall.

“As of right now, he is considered a prime suspect,” Royse City Police Chief Tom Shelton said.

On the advice of his attorney, Keith Wheeler, Mr. Harris would say only: “I’m innocent, and it’ll all take care of itself.”

School board President Bobby Summers wouldn’t discuss details, but a district news release said the move was a precaution and not an indication that the board had decided guilt.

Mr. Harris, who was hired 14 months ago from the Slaton district in West Texas, receives a $600-a-month car allowance in addition to a $100-a-month cellphone allowance. The board recently extended his contract by a year, to June 2009, and gave him a 3 percent raise on top of his original salary of $125,000 a year.

The Texas Association of School Boards named Mr. Harris its superintendent of the year in 2004, and he was also Slaton’s man of the year.

Dallas Morning News