L.A. schools to tell parents of teacher sexual misconduct within 72 hours (Miramonte)
Source: CNN
The Los Angeles public school system will notify parents within 72 hours when a teacher at their child's school has been removed from the classroom on allegations of sexual misconduct against students, officials said Friday.
The new policy comes in the wake of alleged sexual misconduct by teachers against pupils at Miramonte Elementary and other schools. Miramonte parents complained that they weren't notified for months about former teacher Mark Berndt, who has been charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct upon students. Parents learned of the alleged crimes through the media.
The only exception to the policy, adopted Thursday, would occur if the Los Angeles Unified School District were told by police to not release the information within the 72-hour period.
"The spate of cases involving sexual misconduct in recent months has prompted a re-evaluation of our reporting procedures," Superintendent John Deasy said in a statement. "Working closely with local law enforcement, we believe we have come up with a plan that best serves the needs of parents and teachers, while not hindering possible criminal investigations."
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/30/us/california-school-case/index.html
The LA Times reported last month: "Teachers' contracts hinder misconduct investigation": "Under the contract, alleged misconduct that does not result in discipline is removed from personnel files after four years. The provision dates to the early 1990s when the L.A. Unified School District agreed to it in exchange for teachers taking a 10% pay cut."