LEBANON n Sand Ridge Charter School violated its charter by allowing its administrator to engage in religious activity on campus, a Lebanon Community School District investigation has found.

Lebanon Assistant Superintendent Steve Williams said the district, which sponsors the public charter school, will continue to investigate to make sure the activity ended when the administrator resigned this summer.

"You still have the responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen again, regardless of who sits in that chair," said Steve Kelley, Lebanon's director of student achievement and liaison to the charter school.

Kelley and Williams spoke Monday at a work session of the charter's board, which is known as People Involved in Education, or PIE.

Williams said he will go over the complaints, his investigation and the results with the Lebanon School Board but would make no recommendation on renewal of the Sand Ridge charter, which expires at the end of the school year.

Both the PIE board and the Lebanon district received complaints this summer about John Leon, then the head of Sand Ridge. Parents Eric and Erin Wiggins were the only ones to make their complaint public, telling the Democrat-Herald and other publications that Leon had prayed in several meetings with the family and had encouraged their son to turn to God, rather than medicine, to cure him of being bipolar.

Williams also cited letters from two parents who said Leon either prayed with them or otherwise shared about God. He said he also received a copy of a videotape of the spring 2004 Sand Ridge kindergarten graduation, during which Leon prayed over the students and otherwise used religious references during the ceremony.

"It is very clear in the law and in this charter that that cannot occur, that we can't have religious promotion in our school," Williams said." It was pretty clear to me that that had occurred."

Leon resigned in July, citing personal difficulties, following a handful of closed-session meetings between PIE board members and the complainants.

Williams said he understood the board considers the matter closed.

"But I don't think just saying that can say a violation didn't occur. I think it did," he said.

He added that he wants to continue talking with people and review minutes from meetings and hopes to conclude the investigation by the end of the calendar year.

Williams said Lebanon received other complaints about Sand Ridge, including allegations that the PIE board was not complying with public-meetings laws and that a so-called "grapevine" policy infringed on First Amendment rights.

Williams said his and Kelley's investigation found no direct violation in either case, but that the PIE board should consider reviewing its policies in light of the complaints.

"What I think is there's some liability that could occur here," he said.

Jim Egan, the PIE board's attorney, recommended the PIE board assure Lebanon of its compliance by writing a letter outlining the complaints, what was done to address them and how that matched up with board policies.

PIE board members also suggested to Chairman Jay Jackson, also the school's interim administrator, that the religion policy be reviewed with parents and staff.