The interim president of a West Virginia community and technical college was arrested Monday on misdemeanor charges that stem back to his retirement after 19 years as the director of a state-funded vocational school.

Robert Sisk and two other former employees of South Branch Career and Technical Center in Petersburg, Grant County, are charged with alteration and deletion of computer data, said West Virginia State Police Trooper D.G. Lahman.

Sisk, who left South Branch in June to run Eastern Community and Technical College in Moorefield, Hardy County, also faces a charge of petit larceny for allegedly removing a hard drive from a computer in his South Branch office.

Former secretary LeeAnn Shreve and Tamela Kitzmiller, who was South Branch's financial services coordinator, both resigned from the center last summer, Lahman said.

The charges come after independent auditors last fall found personal purchases on a state credit card, numerous improper payments and missing receipts, invoices and fundraising records.

The council that oversees South Branch launched an investigation last fall after Sisk's replacement, Randy Whetstone, discovered that a computer was missing from his office, police said Monday.

The missing computer prompted the council to hire a Kentucky-based auditing firm to further investigate the center's 2006-07 academic year, Lahman said.

Missing financial records, among other things noted in the audit, led the council to later hire a private investigator to investigate any criminal wrongdoing.

The interim president of a West Virginia community and technical college was arrested Monday on misdemeanor charges that stem back to his retirement after 19 years as the director of a state-funded vocational school.

Robert Sisk and two other former employees of South Branch Career and Technical Center in Petersburg, Grant County, are charged with alteration and deletion of computer data, said West Virginia State Police Trooper D.G. Lahman.

Sisk, who left South Branch in June to run Eastern Community and Technical College in Moorefield, Hardy County, also faces a charge of petit larceny for allegedly removing a hard drive from a computer in his South Branch office.

Former secretary LeeAnn Shreve and Tamela Kitzmiller, who was South Branch's financial services coordinator, both resigned from the center last summer, Lahman said.

The charges come after independent auditors last fall found personal purchases on a state credit card, numerous improper payments and missing receipts, invoices and fundraising records.

The council that oversees South Branch launched an investigation last fall after Sisk's replacement, Randy Whetstone, discovered that a computer was missing from his office, police said Monday.

The missing computer prompted the council to hire a Kentucky-based auditing firm to further investigate the center's 2006-07 academic year, Lahman said.

Missing financial records, among other things noted in the audit, led the council to later hire a private investigator to investigate any criminal wrongdoing.

The investigator, a former Maryland State Police trooper, determined that "a substantial amount, if not all, information on two computers ... were deleted and records were not available," according to a State Police news release.

The records, which had been on computers used by Shreve and Kitzmiller, included financial transactions detailing the center's expenditures.

Information from the council's investigation was given to State Police on March 4, Lahman said.

"The South Branch administrative council had a fiduciary responsibility to turn any and all investigative information over to the proper authorities," council Chairman Greg Pennington said, reading a statement over the telephone. "I am not at liberty to discuss any details of this matter until it has been resolved."

The police are still investigating the missing data, which police are trying to retrieve from the computer hard drives.

"We've still got considerable work to do on this investigation," Lahman said, adding that police do not know what all of the missing files are.

Sisk, 60, and Kitzmiller, 46, were released on bond after being arraigned Monday in Grant County Magistrate Court. Shreve, 46, will probably be arraigned this morning, Lahman said.

The state Department of Education recognized South Branch as a West Virginia School of Excellence for the 2006-07 academic year. Sisk had worked at the center for 32 years, the last 19 as director, and Kitzmiller had been there for 14, Lahman said. Shreve had worked at South Branch for eight years.

To contact staff writer James I. Davison, use e-mail or call 348-5119.