By KEVIN HOWELL

newsroom@reviewonline.com

BELOIT — The West Branch teacher on paid leave for alleged sexual misconduct with a former student has resigned.

The school board Monday afternoon accepted the resignation of high school English teacher Nathan Heddleston effective June 5.

Heddleston has been on paid administrative leave since April 30 after a former student posted on social media an allegation of misconduct. The 2013 graduate alleged the misconduct occurred in July of 2015 in the Alliance police jurisdiction.

“The minute this accusation came to light the district began to aggressively act in the best interest of our students, as the safety and welfare of our student population is our top priority,” said schools Superintendent Timothy Saxton.

The district is continuing to work with local law enforcement agencies. Saxton said there have been multiple other allegations of misconduct against Heddleston, in addition to the original one posted on social media, that are being investigated by the school administration and both the Alliance and Goshen Township police departments.

Heddleston, a graduate of Beaver Local High School and Mount Union, has been with the district over 17 years as a teacher as well as 15 years as a previous girls soccer and boys track head coach. Saxton said Heddleston will remain on paid administrative leave through his resignation, which comes at the end of the school year and completion of his annual contract.

A public records request showed that Heddleston received a written reprimand in January 2005 by then schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Weingart for an incident of “conduct (that) fell short of expectations for faculty members.” He then received a memorandum in March of 2005 from Weingart that stated Goshen Township police investigated possible misconduct between Heddleston and a student, but that the investigation resulted in no criminal findings.

In the memorandum, Weingart noted Heddleston had taken steps to define the role of teacher and student and to avoid situations where he was the lone supervisor. But the memorandum also noted the Goshen Township police investigation found “inconsistencies” between Heddleston’s and the student’s accounts of the incident. Weingart ended the memorandum with the advice to “make certain other adults are with you if/when you are supervising students in activities outside of the classroom.”

Saxton said he was unaware of the 2005 incident until investigating the allegation on social media last week.