A whirl of allegations leads a high school band director to resign. Concerned parents say they want to know if the rumors they're hearing are true.
Former Roland Band Director James Allen tells 5NEWS in a phone conversation he’s been wrongfully accused of talking inappropriately to students. Allen says he resigned because rumors were too much to handle.
“It was to a point it was starting to hurt the band program and my reputation, so I resigned," says Allen.
Allen admits to texting students, but would not tell what the messages said. He did say 99% of the texts were school related.
"I texted a student, I mean, but that text was manipulated and twisted in such a way and turned back on me," says Allen.
Some students say they’re not surprised to hear the allegations led Allen to resign.
"There's like all kinds of rumors going around that he groped girls and that he's been texting people talking about girls and all kinds of stuff," says student Debbie Montebello.
While some parents tell 5NEWS Allen was an excellent teacher, others say they’re still concerned.
"He was right to resign then," says Jeanette Potts.
Allen was the band director at Roland High School for 10 years. 5NEWS tried to contact school officials multiple times about the situation. They never returned our phone calls. Roland Police say they’ve never had any complaints filed against Allen.