Rocori school chief accused of exposing himself 5 times to staff at Kwik Trip

The head of a central Minnesota school district has been arrested and accused of exposing himself several times to employees at a convenience store in Waite Park.

Rocori Superintendent Scott Staska, 56, of Cold Spring, was booked Wednesday into the Stearns County jail by Waite Park police on a misdemeanor count and released later that day, according to the Stearns County jail log. Staska has not been charged.

Staska was among six finalists selected this week to interview to be the next superintendent of the Moorhead School District. His interview was to occur Saturday before the school board, but he has withdrawn from consideration, a district spokeswoman said.

Staska was captured on store video about 12:15 a.m. Sunday exposing himself to employees of a Kwik Trip store in Waite Park, Police Chief Dave Bentrud said Thursday.

The chief said Staska has been accused of exposing himself at least four other times at the same store dating back to December. All incidents occurred inside the store, he said.

"It is not clear why the previous incidents were not reported sooner," but they are now being investigated, Bentrud said in a statement.

"We need to interview a bunch of employees and review old store video to determine exactly when the other incidents occurred," the chief said. "Preliminary investigation seems to indicate at least a monthly occurrence since early December 2017."

Bentrud added that his department has "no information that minor children were present during any of these incidents."

A telephone message was left at Staska's home seeking a response to the allegation.

Staska was placed on paid administrative leave Wednesday night, said school board Chairwoman Kara Habben, and the district will likely "have to develop a plan at some point" to address how to deal with Staska's absence.

Habben said school officials have heard of no similar accusations against Staska on district property or involving students or staff.

Staska became superintendent in 2002 and a year later was directing high school students to safety when a freshman shot and killed two students.

The district has three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Its enrollment of roughly 2,000 comes from the Rockville, Cold Spring and Richmond areas. His salary for 2016-17 was $149,400, according to public records.

He came to Rocori from the Yellow Medicine East School District in Granite Falls, Minn. He also was a high school principal in Barnesville, Minn.

In 2010, Staska was named the state's top superintendent by the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. He was credited for his leadership during the 2003 school shooting.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482