05/22/2026
The Cooper County R-IV School District is aware of former school board member Ashley Benny’s plea agreement and subsequent guilty plea. The District alerted law enforcement agencies when issues first arose with what the District and Board believed were investments made in 2018 that would benefit our District and students. We provided information to the state officials, the FBI, and the U.S. District Attorney's office. The district cooperated with their investigations into this matter.
Only recently did the District learn that Mrs. Benny was involved, and that she withheld pertinent information from the rest of the Board. Furthermore, the district discovered that she was involved in what the United States Attorney’s office has described as a “scam.”
Upon recently learning of these findings and potential charges, the Superintendent contacted Mrs. Benny to ask for her resignation. At that time, she committed to submit her resignation at the regular May Board of Education meeting.
Mrs. Benny did not attend the regular meeting, held Thursday evening, at 6:30 P.M. in the school conference room. Therefore, the board took action to remove Mrs. Benny from the board of education, under the provisions of Policy BBF: School Board Member Ethics. Board policies are available for constituents' review on the district's website, at www.bunceton.k12.mo.us.
We appreciate the help of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office in their diligent work, their efforts to obtain restitution for the District, and their continued efforts to make the District whole.
The District remains committed to serving our students, patrons, staff and community and we have taken further precautions to ensure that such a situation does not happen again.
Dr. Kathryn A. Anderson, Superintendent
Cooper County School District