Teacher arrested over sex with minor

A 45-year-old teacher who had just begun work at Voyager Charter School was arrested early Tuesday at a Waikiki condo on charges of having sex with a student in Arizona several years ago.

Deborah Hoshiyama had been teaching special education for just six days at Voyager and was immediately suspended, according to Principal Jeff Vilardi. He said the arrest came as a complete surprise.

"We never start anyone without the proper clearance," he said. "Voyager would never do anything to put a student at risk."

Hoshiyama received her license to teach in Hawaii on Oct. 1 from the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board after moving here from Avondale, Ariz. Nearly three weeks later, on Oct. 20, the Maricopa County Attorney’s office in Arizona issued a grand jury warrant for her arrest.

The U.S. Marshals Task Force tracked her down and arrested her at 5:15 a.m. Tuesday at her residence on Ala Wai Boulevard.

The warrant alleges that she had a sexual relationship with a minor student from about Aug. 1, 2007, to April 11, 2008, while she was a teacher in Avondale, according to the marshals. She faces five counts of sexual conduct with a minor.

Hoshiyama, who is also known as Debo­rah Nicholson, was booked Tuesday at the Hono­lulu Police Department and was being held pending a court appearance and extradition hearing, expected Wednesday, that would send her back to Arizona.

Vilardi said the school had conducted three reference checks on Hoshi­yama, and all came back positive, and she began work on Nov. 7. The school had submitted her name to the Department of Education on Nov. 5 for a criminal background check, he said.

"She was cleared to begin work starting the 7th," Vilardi said. "We have the documentation that supports our claim that she was released to work." The documentation was not provided to the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser.

Department of Education spokes­woman Dona­lyn Dela Cruz, however, said Hoshi­yama’s application was still being processed, and the teacher had not been approved for hire or put on the payroll. The DOE handles special education for the charter schools and hires and pays those teachers.

"I can confidently say the department did not give the green light to move forward as her application was still being processed," Dela Cruz said Tuesday. "The first part of her criminal background check was completed only yesterday afternoon. We were just about to get into the second part," which includes fingerprinting.

"At this point she was not an active employee of the department," Dela Cruz said.

The Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, which is separate from the Department of Education, issued her a standard license last month in special education, reading and teaching English as a second language.

Applicants for teaching licenses must inform the Standards Board of anything that would interfere with their professional fitness, including whether they have had a license suspended or revoked, been terminated from a job for misconduct or been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, according to Lynn Hammonds, executive director of the board.

Another safeguard is an automatic check against a national database that tracks teacher misconduct. But the indictment came after the license was issued, so no problems would have shown up.

Vilardi said Hoshi­yama was suspended with pay while she receives due process through the courts. The licensing board also would not take action against her until after a conviction, Hammonds said.