Trust in Concord’s school district and the nine-member school board that oversees it can’t be restored until the district releases – to the greatest extent allowable under New Hampshire law – the findings of independent investigator Djuna Perkins.
To do that, the district must first put its obligation to be open and transparent on issues of child safety ahead of the privacy rights of the few district leaders who may be mentioned in the report.
In an interview with school board president Jennifer Patterson, Monitor editors asked for access to a version of the report with only minimal redactions. We would expect any release to include an account of how district leaders handled the accusations against Howie Leung and some basic understanding of how the district erred and how it can improve.
Many things at many levels appear to have been botched in the matter of Leung, a former Concord teacher currently facing charges of rape. Established school district policies, including an agreement to notify police of all allegations of sexual misconduct, were ignored. As a result, Leung was allowed to continue teaching and remained in contact with students for more than three months while an “in-house” investigation was conducted by Leung’s colleagues. The school administrators were not qualified to conduct such an investigation.
Concord has long been known for supporting top-notch schools, but these are indeed challenging times. The district’s superintendent, Terri Forsten, and Concord High School principal Tom Sica are on paid administrative leave. Both earn six-figure salaries.
Perkins, the independent investigator, is a former Massachusetts prosecutor whose law firm has investigated sexual assaults and the institutional cultures that allow them to occur. Her firm counts among its clients Harvard, Williams, Tufts, Amherst and other schools.
Concord’s school board hired Perkins to investigate complaints against Leung made in 2014 and 2018, including one that led to the wrongful suspension of a then-14-year-old student. Perkins also examined whether the district, over time, created a culture that overlooked inappropriate behavior and developed a kingdom-unto-itself mentality. The first part of her report was delivered last week; the second part is due this week and should promptly be made public in its entirety.
Concord’s schools do an excellent job for most students and their families, but the district’s very success discouraged scrutiny. As the only fiscally independent school board in the state, its members are answerable only to voters who pay attention. That attention has perhaps been insufficient.
Privacy rights, particularly of minors, personnel policies and labor contracts all come into play when distinguishing between public and private information. But they can also serve as a shield against accountability.
Inappropriate behavior between teachers and other staff and the students they are charged with educating and protecting is a concern in every school in the nation. Institutions, for fear of bad publicity and to protect their own, have a history of sweeping the problem under the rug. Was that the case in Concord?
Faith has been broken. Parents fear for the safety of their school-age children. Did school district leaders fail in their duty to report instances of suspicious behavior or inappropriate conduct? Fail in their duty to protect children? The public deserves answers, and the board has a responsibility restore the community’s faith.
Individuals make mistakes. They should be held accountable and, if necessary, replaced. But if all that has occurred reflects a systemic failure, that’s a much bigger problem.
Concord has a right to know.