Related story: Former teacher pleads not guilty to multiple counts of unlawful sex with students
Statement of School Board President Donna West, on behalf of the Board of Education
You all know about the tremendously troubling events of the past week. I want to address the situation briefly on behalf of the board, and then we must remain silent. The criminal investigation that is underway, and the underlying events, have or will touch the lives of our students, our parents, our faculty and our entire school district.
Without talking about the specifics of the case, which we as a board are not in a position to do, several points must be made.
First, this board joins all our administrators, teachers and staff in expressing our deepest concern for any student, past or present, who has been placed in a situation by an adult that no young person should be put in. If the allegations that have been made are true, we are deeply sorry for the pain caused to students, families and others.
The district has counseling available for any student who feels the need to talk about any aspect of what has apparently happened. To access a counselor, all a student or parent has to do is contact the district's main office and indicate that you or
your student would like to meet with a counselor.Second, law enforcement is conducting an investigation to determine exactly what happened. We are in a legal arena where schools do not belong. I want to assure our community that, as a board, we are committed to finding out exactly what happened and that we will cooperate with law enforcement to the full extent we can.
This board has complete confidence in Mrs. Rhodes and our administrative team. From what we know today, this incident has been handled properly. If there is one thing every teacher and every administrator understands, it is our responsibility to report any reasonable suspicion of abuse. It is also true, however, that false accusations made without proper consideration also can be damaging. Having said all that, we expect the investigation to go where it needs to go, and to follow the truth wherever it leads. For the sake of our district, our community, and the families involved, we need for all the facts to be brought to the surface.
Finally, one thing is certain. We must do everything we can in the future to try to prevent any improper treatment of students by adults employed by the school district. This is not the first school district to have this kind of problem. We will explore what others have done and find out what can be learned from law enforcement professionals who have dealt with these matters, and we will put in place any steps that would further ensure the safety and well being of our students.
This is serious and heartbreaking occurrence in the history of our school district. The five of us are mindful that we have employees, families and, most important, students who have been affected by what has happened, and we very much regret that.
As board members, part of our job now is to not get in the way. So, while others may want to make statements to us, please understand if we do not reply. You also may have questions, and I hope you will appreciate that -- however much we might like to -- tonight we will not be able to answer them. We are in the midst of a necessary police investigation, and right now that requires us to maintain our silence.
We will get through this. We will have brighter days, many of them. For now, we must keep cool heads and trust that when all the facts are known and we have done the things we need to do, we will come out of this a stronger school district.
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