CLYDE, Ohio – An Ohio superintendent faces a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of official business after he allegedly attempted to handle an investigation into marijuana at a middle school in-house.

A Clyde, Ohio police report alleges Clyde-Green Springs superintendent David Stubblebine searched lockers at McPherson Middle School in December after school staff discovered a bag of marijuana students had passed around to avoid detection, the Zanesville Times Recorder reports.

Clyde Police Det. Roger Weaver met with McPherson assistant principal Katey Brown and Stubblebine after the district requested a canine unit to search lockers at the school for marijuana.

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“According to the (police) report, Clyde-Green Springs school officials gave police a bag containing approximately 19 grams of marijuana, but would not give additional information on who the drugs belonged to. It said Stubblebine began a search of lockers without waiting for police,” according to the Times Recorder.

The police report also alleges the two officials told police they planned on conducting their own investigation, but were told it would be best if police were involved, to ensure evidence was collected correctly.

“Both school officials, according to Weaver, were told by Clyde Police Chief Bruce Gower that if they were going to conduct the investigation on their own, they would be responsible for storage of evidence and following up with the prosecutor’s office for criminal charges,” the Times Recorder reports.

A week after the incident, police had not received a report from the district, and Gower alleges. He said the district recovered marijuana, but “had no way of stating who it came from, that was improperly collected and marked, never photographed at the scene and has to stated trail of evidence from person-to-person other than Stubblebine to an officer,” the news site quoted from Gower’s report.

The school board met for a special session on Wednesday to discuss Stubblebine’s criminal charge, and decided to “pay up to $2,000 in reasonable attorney’s fees” to defend the superintendent, the Norwalk Reflector reports.

“We respect and appreciate the valuable role that local law enforcement plays every day in ensuring the safety of our students,” Board President Denise Harick said, according to the site.

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“We also believe that, based upon our understanding of what occurred at the middle school, all of our administrators were acting within the scope of their job duties as set forth under board policy, and in the best interest of the district and our students.”

Stubblebine also sent a letter to district staff professing his innocence.

“This charge is truly unprecedented,” he wrote, according to the Reflector. “While I am extremely disappointed that the Clyde police department decided to take this course of action, and did not respond to my request for a meeting the Monday following the incident, I will strive to find common ground between our agencies in the future.”

The pot bust incident isn’t the first time Stubblebine has had to explain himself to school officials and the public.

In November, after a two-month school investigation, Stubblebine and McPherson Middle School principal Rachael Aldrich confessed to a long-term extramarital affair. The school board issued Stubblebine a written reprimand for violating district policies regarding conflicts of interest, according to the Sandusky Register.