Valley Forge Military Academy and College fires top aide after reports of "possible inappropriate actions"

Valley Forge Military Academy and College has fired its guidance director after receiving reports of "possible inappropriate actions" involving her and two cadets that allegedly occurred Saturday, the school said Wednesday.

Symantha Hicks was originally suspended but was fired Sunday after "the administration determined there was enough evidence to immediately terminate Mrs. Hicks from duty," the school said in a prepared statement, adding that both it and Radnor Township police were investigating.

Hicks was fired for violating the school's alcohol policy, as well as its code of conduct and ethics policy, spokeswoman Jennifer Myers said.

The parents of the cadets involved had been notified, according to the school's statement, which said the "administration immediately took steps necessary to ensure the appropriate handling of the situation."

An online report by the Philadelphia Daily News, citing an unnamed source, said Hicks was "accused of supplying alcohol to the cadets and may have engaged in sexual acts with one of them."

Myers did not respond to a request for comment on that report.

Hicks could not be reached for comment.

Myers confirmed that Radnor police conducted a search of the school offices and said that a notice had been sent to faculty members and parents of students informing them of Hicks' dismissal.

Radnor police declined to comment until an investigation was completed.

Valley Forge Military Academy, in Wayne, is a private, all-male boarding and day school for grades seven through 12. It also has a coed, two-year college. The college has been designated Pennsylvania's official military college.

The school is headed by retired Col. David R. Gray, a former administrator at the U.S. Military Academy who took the helm in 2010.

He has pushed to maintain the school's academic standards and enrollment, which had fluctuated.