SEX EDUCATION

Darl Andersen, a Mormon bishop now on a mission in Alabama, said the board had done what it thought best for the Mesa public schools, for Janice--and, yes, for Ralston Pitts.

John Crandall, another ex-school-board member contacted by New Times, is one of few involved in the Pitts affair willing to admit that the board erred dreadfully. Crandall says he and his peers had taken Pitts at his word that he would never, ever do anything like this again.

"School boards are people people, and sometimes they err on the side of the employee," Crandall says. "In Ralston Pitts' case, he had done such a good job that we thought, 'Here is a good man who made a mistake.'

"It was us who made the mistake."
Ralston Pitts officially retired from NAU on September 30. A week later, Flagstaff police arrested him on 32 felony counts.