Employee misconduct inquiries have BOE asking: What about prevention?

As the state Department of Education continues to reduce its backlog of employee misconduct cases, some Board of Education members are questioning whether the department is doing enough to prevent cases in the first place.

As of Jan. 1, 32 DOE employees were on paid leave while under investigation for alleged wrongdoing, personnel officials told the board’s Human Resources Committee this week. Most of the cases involve teachers accused of inappropriate conduct toward students.

That’s down from 63 investigations that were pending at the end of 2014, when the board began probing the department’s handling of so-called “department-directed leave” and “leave pending investigation” cases. The board, citing concerns over the cost of paid leave and the stigma for employees who may eventually be exonerated, called for quarterly progress updates at the time.

“The reason that we’re monitoring this is because putting an employee on directed leave that did nothing wrong is just as bad as paying an employee who is a wrongdoer for any longer than they should be paid,” said Brian De Lima, vice chairman of the board and chairman of the Human Resources Committee.

Barbara Krieg, the department’s assistant superintendent for human resources, said the DOE has closed 12 investigations since October and opened 17 new cases in that same time period.

The 32 current investigations include 19 cases against teachers. The teacher investigations include allegations of inappropriate conduct toward students (12 cases); inappropriate sexual relations with a student (three cases); and creating a hostile work environment (one case). Three teachers also are under “suitability analysis” investigations to determine whether they are still fit for public employment and to work in close proximity with children.

The remaining open cases involve misconduct allegations against educational assistants, school administrative services assistants, office assistants, school custodians, a school cook and baker, a food serv­ices manager and a security attendant. Those cases include allegations of misappropriation of school funds, workplace violence and violation of drug and alcohol policies.

“When we first started this venture I think it was all about the amount of investigations as well as how long it was taking. It seems obvious that in the last year, it seems to have reduced itself quite a bit and seems to be more manageable,” said BOE member Hubert Minn, a retired teacher.

But, he added, “Although we are taking care of cases faster, are we preventing others from coming? It seems like there’s still more cases falling. … What are we doing to prevent future misconducts or things like this from happening?”

Krieg pointed out that employee misconduct occurs in any large organization like the Department of Education, which has more than 20,000 salaried employees.

“Keep in mind, please, that we have 22,000 permanent employees, and to have 32 of those 22,000 out because of allegations of serious misconduct is really a very, very small percentage,” she said. “Therefore, I think that this data reflects that we do not have a serious problem with employees who are not behaving well.”

Still, she said school principals have the ability to provide employee training in areas where they may recognize a need, and the department’s central offices can also provide training in specialized areas like civil rights compliance. She added that most misconduct investigations are of school-level employees, but that the department hasn’t seen any patterns of repeat offenses at the same schools.

Minn asked whether there are any system-wide training programs in place to ensure all school employees receive the same information about expected behavior and conduct.

“To me, any misconduct to a student is very, very important,” he said. “Are we setting some type of goal so that as small a number as we have, is it still our target to reduce the amount of issues or do we say, ‘Well, because we have 22,000 (employees), we can always expect a certain percentage’?”

Krieg reiterated that principals have the responsibility and authority to implement employee training at their schools.

Under department policies, employees can be placed on paid leave for up to 10 days by a school’s principal, with approval from the complex-area superintendent. Longer periods of leave or extensions require approval from the superintendent.

Lance Mizumoto, the BOE’s chairman, requested that future updates include the results of any resolved cases. Krieg reported that of the dozen investigations closed in the past three months, six resulted in termination or resignation in lieu of termination, while others involved suspensions or written reprimands. Three employees were allowed to return to work while the decision-making phase is ongoing.

De Lima, the board’s vice chairman, said he’s pleased that cases are being resolved quicker.

Two years ago the BOE turned its attention to the issue after hearing about the frequency with which employees accused of misconduct were placed on leave — on average one employee a week. Board members also expressed concerns about employees lingering on paid leave for extended periods.

Of the current 32 pending cases, 20 have been open for six months or less; nine cases have been open for between seven and 11 months; and three have been open for a year or longer. By comparison, a report a year ago showed 12 investigations had been active for a year or more.

“I think that we’re doing a good job getting to the point where everyone believes that it’s not being used to punish in a negative or evil way, that the people who are being put on directed leave need to be put on directed leave,” De Lima said.