Former Tonopah principal working at district office

The Nye County District Attorney's office has yet to file charges against the principal at Tonopah High School arrested on open and gross lewdness charges five months ago.

As a result, Alvin Eiseman is now serving as principal on special assignment at the district's southern office on West Street pending the findings of the investigation.

District Superintendent Dale Norton said Eiseman's duties are strictly administrative at present.

"Mr. Eiseman is a principal on special assignment here at the southern district office where he relocated from Tonopah," Norton said. "It was a voluntary move to the Pahrump attendance area and he will be performing duties as I assign them in the future until the case is resolved.

"Those special assignments will not involve contact with students but they will include administrative tasks at the district level where he can be providing some services to the district while he is away from students."

Nye County District Attorney Angela Bello said last week a decision on the case should be made soon.

"The matter is still under investigation so as to determine what, if any, charges may be appropriate," she said. "We anticipate all pertinent interviews will be completed and a decision made within the next couple of weeks."

No matter what the district attorney's office decides, Eiseman will not be returning to Tonopah High. Norton said Friday he is in the final interview process with two out-of-state candidates for that school's principal position.

Eiseman was arrested and booked into the Tonopah Detention Center in February after two teen students reported the 57-year-old touched them at school. Police investigated the reports and found probable cause to arrest him.

That investigation led police to additional allegations that had gone unreported, a police report stated.

Eiseman was booked into the Tonopah Detention Facility on preliminary charges of open and gross lewdness and child abuse, and other reports are being investigated, police said. The Pahrump Valley Times reported the arrest in the March 11 edition of the newspaper.

Police were alerted after several students told school staff that the principal had allegedly accosted them in the cafeteria.

Over the next few days, police interviewed two girls who said Eiseman approached their lunch table.

Eiseman has been with the school district eight years after 23 years in South Dakota.

It was the second legal incident involving a school district principal last school year.

Von Sheppard, principal of Floyd Elementary School, submitted a letter of resignation following his arrest on domestic battery charges.

The district attorney's office declined to file charges in that case.

Eiseman has a status check on Oct. 10 in Tonopah District Court.