Concord police say they are interested in reviewing two reports generated by an independent investigator into the Concord School District’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations.
“I would eventually like to read both of them,” Concord police Chief Bradley Osgood, said of the report the board received last week on staff actions related to complaints about former teacher Howie Leung, and the second section of the report on district culture due this week. “Since a lot of it involves reporting requirements and actions they are going to take as well as staff training – it directly affects our relationship with them and our role in protecting students. ”
“We want to make sure their policies are not in conflict with ours,” he added.
Lt. Sean Ford, the spokesman for the department, said it’s important for school and police officials to be on the same page moving forward following Leung’s arrest on charges of raping a Concord student at a Massachusetts summer program.
“I think it will be important for us to see and try and learn from the report,” Ford said.
If the report contains evidence of other criminal wrongdoing, police will investigate, Ford said.
Osgood and Ford said no one from the department was interviewed as part of Djuna Perkins’s investigation, which covered district officials’ responses in 2014 and 2018 to complaints by students about Leung’s relationship with female students.
The Concord School Board hired Perkins to conduct the investigation in late July after a student came forward saying she was suspended in 2014 by principal Tom Sica for spreading gossip after she said Leung’s behavior with her female classmates made her uncomfortable. The student, now a senior, was in the same grade as the alleged victim, who has since left the Concord School District.
Ford said no one from the school board has reached out to the police about the contents of the reports.
“I just kind of expected they might consult a little bit, to get an idea of what our feeling was about, ‘what do you think happened?’” he added. “I was surprised since we have a fairly significant role in this.”
Leung has been charged with rape in Massachusetts, and he still may be charged in New Hampshire, Ford said.
Osgood said he had a “disagreement” with the district because they did not go to police in December 2018 after several female students said they saw Leung kissing a high school senior in a car. Superintendent Terri Forsten, who is now on paid leave following the results of the independent investigation, said the district did not report to police at the time – or the resource officer at Concord High – because the student was 18, and above the age of consent. Instead, the district contacted the Department of Education, which promptly contacted police.
“I think I said then, that based on what I now know, I think it would have been prudent that the school district report that to us,” Osgood said.
Osgood said before Leung’s arrest, he didn’t have much communication with the school district. He would check in with Forsten every few months.
“I would say our communications were irregular,” he said.
Since Leung’s arrest, he said they had been touching base weekly until Forsten was placed on administrative leave by the school board last week. He said Forsten and Assistant Superintendent Donna Palley both came to the police department last week to discuss next steps.
“This summer, Terri had included me in discussions about policies and she and I were talking about a revision to the memorandum of understanding as recently at last week,” he said. “I thought we were making good progress.”
One issue they had been discussing is the number of reports police have been receiving from schools. Since staff received training on mandatory reporting at the start of the school year, Ford said the department has been receiving five or six calls per school day. He said although the department appreciates the attention staff is giving to the issue, they are getting some calls that do not rise to the level of police involvement.
At a Public Safety Advisory Committee Monday where Osgood was present, Mayor Jim Bouley said city officials are discussing whether they need to become more involved with the school district’s handling of student safety.
“I think there’s serious concern about safety in our community,” Bouley said. “People are asking me, they’re asking other councilors, what are we going to do about it? Should we play a bigger role?”
City councilors, Osgood and other representatives from the community talked about meeting again to specifically address everything going on in the school district.
Osgood said he wants to continue to work with the district to ensure school safety. Although he would eventually like to see the repo rt, he said he understands they have a process they need to follow first.
“I know the school district is very busy and I know it’s a private, personnel document they have to digest,” he said. ” I don’t have a sense of urgency to read it, but eventually I would like to read it unredacted or in its redacted form.”