Chesapeake Schools Superintendent Scott Howard is back on the job after he was cleared of the ludicrous allegations leveled against him by the school board.

But, even after an investigator has presented his seven-page report, many questions remain unanswered. Perhaps the most important is, exactly how much has this cost taxpayers of Chesapeake?

The attorney investigating this certainly doesn’t come cheap, although the district has yet to disclose what the cost was, and Howard was paid for more than two weeks when he was unable to do any work for the district.

Another key question is, exactly what brought the school district to this point?

Although we understand the board needs to investigate any allegations of misconduct, common sense has to also come to bear.

Howard has said he admitted to everything he was accused of, which was asking the staff to provide minimal assistance on a student leadership project through the Greater Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.

Even the most skeptical of observer should have been able to come to the conclusion that Howard was being truthful when he discussed the level of involvement and that this certainly would be considered a legitimate use of his time and resources for the district because it ultimately would benefit Chesapeake students.

Did it really take a two-week investigation by an attorney for the board to see that? This, combined with a dispute a year ago over contract language and the general contentious way that was handled, certainly creates the impression that some members of the board simply don’t want Howard to be there.

The problem is that the man — love him or hate him — has a valid contract. If the board doesn’t think Scott Howard is the right man to lead the district, then they should abide by the law and his contract and buy him out. A witchhunt over nonsense allegations borders on harassment.

This isn’t in the best interest of the school district and certainly isn’t in the best interest of Chesapeake students.