The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
District fires IT director
A senior member of the Gunnison Watershed School District staff was fired, as an investigation into theft from the school district goes on.
District superintendent Doug Tredway said, district Internet and technology (IT) systems manager Cannon Leatherwood “is no longer employed with the school district. The issue has been turned over to the police department at this time and there is an active investigation.”
Leatherwood was at the helm of the team responsible for upgrading and integrating 21st-century technology into local classrooms during the district’s recent $55 million renovation of its six school buildings. He had been employed with the school district since 2006.
Detective Chris Danos of the Gunnison Police Department would not provide any details about the investigation, saying he feared “sharing information could corrupt the investigation at this point,” but confirmed that the department is “investigating a report of theft from the school district.”
According to a website for the Gunnison-Crested Butte Education Foundation, on whose board of directors Leatherwood serves, he worked in Texas before moving to Colorado Springs as the director of engineering for Citadel Communications. He also owns Lucky Dog, the mobile hot dog eatery, the website said.
In an email sent to school staff last week, Tredway told employees that Leatherwood was not to be on or near district property. “Do not provide Mr. Leatherwood or any unauthorized person with any key or any means of access to district property, facilities, equipment including district computers or other technology.”
