SIOUX FALLS - The chief executive officer of the South Shore School District says he was suspended for refusing to write an apology letter to two students who were left behind after being late for a school trip.

"They wanted me to write an apology to the kids that missed the bus trip, and I refused," said Scott Bartholomew. "I refused because I didn't do anything wrong."

The school board suspended him without pay as of Jan. 9. Bartholomew said he learned of the suspension from a message left on his answering machine.

School board president Stephanie Hansen said the board could not give details.

"It's a personnel matter that was done in executive session, and we cannot speak about that out in the public," she said.

Bartholomew said he resigned his CEO job last July - effective this June 30 - over what he called an unhappy relationship with the school board.