The parent of a former Cody High School student said her daughter had experienced “creepy” interactions in the classroom of teacher Sam Buck, who is accused of sexual misconduct with students.
This comes after Buck told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that he didn’t commit misconduct, and is the victim of a witch hunt within Park County School District No. 6.
Jennifer Picchi said she raised concerns to the school, which turned a blind eye for years.
"But all through the four years, because we had that issue with that teacher, that school gave us nothing but problems,” Picchi said. “If there was an issue or whatever, they just dragged their feet and they just were total just jerks the whole way through, and then all of a sudden their precious basketball team starts having issues, and they do something about it.”
"So what makes me mad is that they should have done something four years ago with him,” she added. “And that's what the investigator said. They should have handled this four years ago instead of but it was his friend that was protecting him that worked there."
Buck formerly served as a special education teacher and girls’ basketball coach at the school. He is now the subject of two Title IX investigations stemming from his interactions with athletes on the team and a student in his classroom.
Park County School District 6 administrators say Buck engaged in misconduct, including exchanging 1,300 texts to student-athletes from his personal device throughout the day and in the evenings, the Powell Tribune reported.
An internal investigation concluded that Buck gave a student shoulder rubs and made comments on her clothing.
The school district's attorney, Alexandria Zafonte, called Buck's actions "unsettling."
Make It Public Then
Presented with these allegations, Buck called for a public termination hearing, though Wyoming public school district hearings on personnel matters are typically held in executive session, outside the public’s view.
Buck has since said he has nothing to hide from investigators or the public. He told Cowboy State Daily the student in question willingly returned to his classroom multiple times, despite telling administrators she felt uncomfortable there.
“I can tell you this, that I have only done anything and everything to be very transparent, that I have nothing to hide, and that I'm an open book,” Buck told Cowboy State Daily. “All along the way, every step, I've been only transparent. It's only an open book.”
Park County School District 6 Superintendent Vernon Orndorff and district Title IX Coordinator Chynna Singer did not respond when presented with Picchi’s comments Friday.
‘Creepy’ Conduct
Picchi told Cowboy State Daily the incidents happened four years ago when her daughter, who has dyslexia, was a freshman. She described her daughter as a “good student” who does not try to cause trouble.
Despite this, Picchi said Buck repeatedly engaged in interactions with the student that involved discussions of her clothing, which made her feel uncomfortable.
“She would wear her cheer uniform, (he would) make weird comments if she wore jeans, he would talk to her about talk about her to other students, like commenting what she looks like in her jeans, just creepy stuff like that,” Picchi said. “(He would) touch her creepy on the shoulder. So he creeped her out, but he started in with her, because she kind of withdrew from him.”
Picchi said this led Buck to make her daughter appear to be a poor student, despite her determination to always complete her schoolwork. The mother said Buck had also threatened to adjust the girl’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) to indicate that she needed to improve her social skills.
“She's not like that, if anything, she's very anal about getting her schoolwork done, even with all her struggles, her reading and stuff,” Picchi said. “He kind of did, weird, creepy stuff to her all day.”
When her daughter asked to be moved from Buck’s class, Picchi said a former school official in charge of Title IX complaints, who was friendly with Buck, reached out with the request. That discussion led that official to express skepticism with their concerns, she claimed.
“What pisses me off is that his friend, when he worked there, he called me on the phone and said, ‘Stop making rumors up about this teacher, he's a great teacher, he's a good friend of mine, blah blah, blah, blah, blah,’” she said. “It made us just basically just shut up, put our tail between our legs and move on.”
Picchi said the school’s decision to investigate Buck’s conduct four years later is too little too late.
“That's what makes me mad, because we (were) basically told to shut up,” she said.
Buck’s Rebuttal
Buck told Cowboy State Daily, conversely, Picchi’s depiction blew the events out of proportion. He argued that the school’s unwillingness to interview his former supervisor proves his point.
“None of that occurred how it happened, or how it's being alleged,” he said. “If the school district and the investigator would have actually interviewed the person who was in charge, who was my direct supervisor, and handled the entire situation the entire time, they would have gotten all that information at that point in time, but the school has refused to interview that person.”
Buck described Picchi’s student as a typical freshman who sometimes struggled adjusting to high school. He said the student would display “work refusal,” or an unwillingness to complete assignments.
“One of the things that happened in this specific incident, this student put her head down on her desk and was refusing to work,” Buck said “In this instance, I had said something to the effect of ‘Hey, listen, I'm going to take a picture and send it to your mom of what you're doing, which is basically head down, refusing to work.’”
After that incident, Buck said, he became aware that the student was not comfortable in his class. Buck said he agreed that having the student removed from his class was the best course of action, but said the student would sometimes voluntarily return to his classroom.
“So what happens is she would come back to my room on her own accord and ask for snacks or chat with kids and just be in my room,” Buck said. “If she was so uncomfortable or sexual harassment took place, would that be the case? And again, it's just a good question to add for everyone to ask, like, why would this girl come back?”
The teacher added that the fact that no action was taken by the school at the time proves nothing significant took place in his interactions with the student.
“If this was so serious and so like a sexual harassment situation, then why wasn't it handled?” he asked. “Why was it not brought up that way? Why was it not handled that way when at the at the initial time?”
Forthcoming Decision
The comments come as Buck awaits a decision by district officials as to whether he can return to teaching.
Buck’s three-day termination hearing happened in mid-October and a hearing officer is expected to release findings this month. After a response period, school officials have 30 days to decide whether to dismiss Buck over the allegations.
While this process could stretch into January, Buck on Monday said he expects a decision much sooner.
“I personally feel like they've already made up their decision,” he said. “They just want something that they can use to support it. But I don't think it's going to be later. I would think it's maybe sooner, and maybe that's just me personally bracing for whatever happens.”
Cowboy State Daily has since filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Park County School District 6 to obtain copies of the minutes from Buck’s termination hearing, the Title IX complaints against him and the investigative report into his conduct. A district official on Thursday confirmed receipt of that request but has not yet fulfilled it.
Correction - An earlier version of this story wrongly stated Buck's wife was fired. She resigned, she told Cowboy State Daily.
Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.
