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Great Moments in Public Education V, Part II: Guess Who's Done This Kind of Thing Before

Remember the Federal Way music teacher who was arrested for fondling a student? Well, it gets better. From the TNT:

A Twin Lakes Elementary music teacher arrested on suspicion of molesting an 11-year-old student had been suspected of sexual misconduct at his previous school district in Nevada, Federal Way school officials said Thursday.

The Federal Way School District said it received an anonymous phone call in 2001 alleging that the teacher, Scott Riley, committed sexual misconduct with students while an assistant principal at Pahrump Valley High School near Las Vegas from 1993-98.

Because there was no evidence and Riley had no criminal history, the Federal Way district closed its investigation in November 2001, the letter states.

Fair enough I suppose. But either way, the district knew he was trouble. What did they do about it?

Riley began working for Federal Way Public Schools in July 1998 as assistant principal at Decatur High School, according to the letter’s summary, written by Chuck Christensen, executive director of human resources.

The district said it learned “well into” the 1998-99 school year that Riley had disclosed he dated and subsequently married a former Pahrump student.

At Decatur, he had “general performance concerns and issues” in his interactions with adults, the letter said.

Riley was assigned to other administrative duties in spring 2000 because of an angry outburst with a student. He was reassigned to teach music at elementary schools starting in fall 2000. He’s taught primarily at Twin Lakes since 2002, said district spokeswoman Turner.

Okay, so a year into his tenure at Decatur, the FWSD learns that the guy dated a student, and then married her. That doesn't set off any alarms?

After losing his temper with a child, and being deemed unable to work with adults, the teacher was reassigned to teach students at an ELEMENTARY school.

Here's what SHOULD have happened. Mr. Riley should have been fired. He should have been fired after his outburst. He SHOULD have been fired when it turned out he didn't work well in the position he was hired for. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED WHEN THEY FOUND OUT HE WAS MARRIED TO A STUDENT!!!

Instead, he was allowed to stay at the district for nearly a decade, until he finally got caught. According to the student:

... He put his hands on her back, and slid them under her buttocks above her clothing... (and) kept his hands there while she performed the entire song.

The worst part is there's no one person to blame at the Federal Way School District. This is the way the system is set up to work. Teachers get hired, and then they have to molest somebody in order to get fired. Sick.

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on May 12, 2007 2:27 AM.

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