The school employee linked to the Jan. 2015 modifications to the orchestra pit cover, identified in reports as auditorium director Quinten James, faces possible disciplinary action but no criminal charges.
Westfield High School superintendent Mark Keen noted that the school’s maintenance department was not involved in the orchestra cover’s modifications, and that James had not filed work orders or secured approval for the changes made to the stage.
Reports also indicated that students may have helped James make the modifications to the staging structure. The school noted that, with the cause of the collapse now known, it will proceed with its own investigation to determine whether James acted with any other school employees in making the changes to the orchestra cover and its support structure.
A detailed analysis showed that steel beams that had been supporting the removable orchestra pit cover for more than 2,800 events since the school opened in 1997 were absent after the January 2015 modifications. Instead, the modified orchestra pit cover had been secured to decorative trim that was not designed to support heavy loads.
