Bishop Miege board removes president amid investigation into conduct
Phil Baniewicz has been removed as president of Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park as an investigation continues into allegations of inappropriate behavior with a minor, the board of trustees announced Wednesday.
The announcement came two months after the board placed Baniewicz on leave while an investigation got underway into reports regarding his ability to manage a safe school environment.
“After careful consideration of the present circumstances, the board determined it is in the best interest of the BMHS community to move forward toward new leadership,” it said in a statement posted on the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas’ website.
“Because this is a confidential personnel matter, no further information will be provided. The process of selecting a new president will begin soon, and the board expresses its gratitude to interim president Joseph Schramp for his leadership as the new school year begins.”
Board Chair Holly Bentley said the board was grateful “for the prayers and support of our families and benefactors” and asked for continued prayer for all those affected.
“As we move forward, we’re committed to strengthening Bishop Miege High School by reviewing our practices and continuing to ensure a safe environment for our students,” she said. “At the request of Archbishop McKnight, we’ll work with the archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office and the Office for Protection and Care to create opportunities for the school community to be heard and supported.”
Bentley said an independent, professional firm has been hired to conduct an investigation and that more information would be shared as it became available.
Baniewicz could not be reached for comment. He has not been charged with any crime.
Placed on leave June 5
The executive committee of the Bishop Miege board of trustees placed Baniewicz on administrative leave on June 5 while it began an investigation. The announcement was made by newly installed Archbishop Shawn McKnight.
“I support this action of the executive committee for the well-being of the school,” McKnight said at the time. “Due to recent reports concerning his ability to oversee a safe environment for BMHS, a thorough investigation has been initiated.”
The archbishop’s statement provided no details about the “recent reports” that led to the action. The board then appointed Schramp, the school’s associate principal and athletic director, as interim president.
On June 17, 2025, the archdiocese announced that Baniewicz was restricted from all active ministry in the archdiocese due to an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a minor.
That action was made “in the interest of promoting the common good, protecting the vulnerable, and pursuing the truth of the matters being investigated,” McKnight said in making the announcement.
The school’s board of trustees referred to those restrictions in its statement Wednesday.
“The precautionary restrictions are no indication of guilt or wrongdoing; however, they will remain in place pending the results of any civil investigations and the archdiocesan investigation being conducted by the independent professional firm, along with any subsequent process in the Church’s judicial system,” the board said.
2005 sex abuse lawsuit in Arizona
Baniewicz, who was appointed in June 2023 as president of Bishop Miege, had come under criticism after reports that he was a defendant along with two Catholic priests in a 2005 sexual abuse lawsuit in Arizona.
The lawsuit accused Baniewicz of sexually abusing a teen in 1985. The other defendants were the Rev. Mark Lehman and Monsignor Dale Fushek. At the time, the three were associated with St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Mesa, Arizona. Baniewicz and Fushek also were co-founders of Life Teen, a Catholic youth program that was used in hundreds of parishes worldwide.
Filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, the suit alleged that Life Teen participant William Cesolini was abused by Baniewicz “on more than one occasion” at St. Timothy’s and by Lehman “on several occasions.”
It also alleged that Fushek, the church pastor, failed to stop or prevent the abuse, provided alcohol to Cesolini and watched Lehman sexually abuse the teen. The three men threatened Cesolini if he reported them, the suit said.
The lawsuit was based on repressed memories that Cesolini — who later became a seminary student — said he recovered in 2003 while undergoing counseling at a parish in Gilbert, Arizona. After the case was filed, the Life Teen board placed Baniewicz on administrative leave while it investigated. He was reinstated a few months later, but resigned in May 2006.
The Diocese of Phoenix and church officials were named as co-defendants in the suit for allegedly being negligent in overseeing the priests. In December 2006, the diocese agreed to pay Cesolini $100,000 to settle the suit.
Baniewicz was never charged with a crime in Arizona, but Lehman and Fushek were convicted in cases involving other youth.
In 1992, Lehman was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the sexual abuse of a minor girl in a Phoenix parish and sentenced to lifetime parole for the sexual abuse of three other minor girls and one boy. He was defrocked in 2006 and died in 2018.
Fushek, a onetime second-in-command of the Phoenix diocese, was charged in 2005 with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, indecent exposure and assault — all misdemeanors — stemming from incidents involving other youth in the Life Teen program. He pleaded guilty to one count of assault and was sentenced to 364 days’ probation and a $250 fine. He was defrocked in 2009.
KCK archdiocese was aware of lawsuit
Baniewicz started working at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, in the summer of 2006, where he was vice president of college relations for more than 3 1⁄2 years. After that, he served for nearly 14 years as president of Maur Hill-Mount Academy, a college preparatory boarding school in Atchison.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas told The Star in 2023 that Bishop Miege and church officials knew about the 2005 Arizona lawsuit when Baniewicz was hired. Benedictine College and Maur Hill-Mount Academy also knew of the allegations, the archdiocese said, and in each hiring process, “the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of the hiring entities.”
“The allegations were made known not only to Bishop Miege’s board, but were discussed openly by Mr. Baniewicz during the hiring process,” the archdiocese said in 2023.
The archdiocese said that Baniewicz had emphatically denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
When the Bishop Miege board announced Baniewicz’s hiring in 2023, it included a statement from then-Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann.
“Phil Baniewicz has been an exceptional leader for Maur Hill-Mount Academy,” Naumann said. “Mr. Baniewicz is a man with a deep love for Jesus and His church. I am delighted that he will continue to use those leadership skills to serve Catholic schools as he begins his new responsibilities as the President of Bishop Miege High School.”
Baniewicz was quoted in the announcement.
“I have been blessed to watch the Lord do amazing things at MH-MA,” he said, “and I now look forward to being a part of a great Catholic community at Bishop Miege and seeing what God has in store.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 9:24 AM.
