The line between nurturing students and protecting them can be difficult to draw.
In the wake of the arrest of former special education teacher Howie Leung on sexual assault charges, the Concord School District has tried to make its Employee-Student Relations Policy crystal clear.
Leung gave students money, drove them in his car, allowed a select group of girls to eat lunch in his classroom each day, and frequently hugged students.
But when it came down to banning some of these potentially grooming behaviors between teachers and students, Concord educators couldn’t agree on everything. A draft policy that will be discussed Monday night does not strictly ban physical contact, like hugging, between children and staff, even though an independent investigator advised against it.
Some teachers, especially those who work with elementary schoolers, described banning hugging as “cruel” and “phenomenally unfair,” in a district survey and said it would prohibit them from being able to support students during difficult moments.
“I think a blanket ban on this prevents us from being human,” one teacher wrote.
“If we are being appropriate, and we are in the public eye, (hugging) is not an issue,” another wrote. “No parent would ever suggest that they would rather have their child held at arm’s length when they are hurting or upset. No parent would want their child touched without permission or inappropriately, either. Teachers typically know their students and are very aware of personal boundaries.”
The draft policy does not include a clause discouraging staff from socializing with students outside of school, something attorney Djuna Perkins, who investigated the school district’s response to complaints about Leung, also recommended.
Additionally, it does not out-right ban gift-giving between students and teachers, a recommendation of Perkins’s.
“Because sexual predators use ambiguity to perpetrate their crimes, even minor rule infractions can be indicators of potential boundary violations,” Perkins warned the school board.
Other areas of the proposed policy are more open-and-shut. For example, it states that staff should not give rides to students unless a parent has given prior authorization, a policy Perkins recommended the school district adopt.
Similarly, there was agreement that dating between staff members and students should never be allowed under any circumstances, according to the survey, which was disseminated to staff and students over the last several months, aiming to identify ways to protect students while also allowing them to bond with their teachers.
Many also agree that staff members should not be sexually suggestive with students or share or promote tobacco, alcohol or drugs. They believe strongly that staff members should immediately report any suspected signs of child abuse or neglect.
A survey about the proposed regulations for the policy was sent to 1,100 students and 500 staff members about their opinions of 13 statements included in the New Hampshire School Board’s model employee-student relations policy, as well as the five additional recommendations from Perkin’s 2019 report.
The results of the survey helped shape the most recent version of the district’s policy, which will be voted on by the school board at its meeting on Monday at 7 p.m.
One of the proposed policies that received the most responses was a ban on physical contact, specifically hugging, between students and staff. The recommendation came directly from Perkins’s report and has since been cut from the Employee-Student Relations Policy due to community feedback.
Perkins said that the district should consider adopting a policy “forbidding staff from hugging students or engaging in any physical contact with a student other than as a momentary hand on a shoulder or arm, or a handshake/fist bump outside of child restraint as it is defined in other policies/laws.”
According to letters written by union representatives after the school investigated Leung for inappropriate behavior obtained by the Monitor through a Right-To-Know request, Leung, had been spoken to by Concord High administration about hugging a student and crossing boundaries prior to his arrest. Teachers who worked in the same room as Leung reported that he regularly hugged his students.
In their responses to whether hugging and physical contact should be barred between students and teachers, 51% of teachers said no, 21% said it should and 28% were unsure or had questions.
The proposed ban on hugging drew the most critique from staff who work with elementary and younger students.
“I have kids running up to me throughout the day giving me hugs and I’m not going to break their trust with me by refusing those hugs,” a teacher wrote.
There is no longer any reference to physical contact between students and employees in the policy, except a general ban of any “sexually suggestive” behavior.
Students and staff were mixed in the survey on whether students and teachers should be able to exchange gifts, another red flag of predatory behavior Perkins pointed out in her report.
Before his arrest, Leung bought coffees and food for a select group of students, police said. He once gave a student a $200 gift for her mother. He also gave $25,000 to a Concord High senior and told her to hide it in her bedroom prior to his arrest, police said.
In her report, Perkins said the district should ban students from giving teachers gifts and forbid staff from giving “anything of value to students except rewards/awards authorized by the administration.”
Many staff and students said it would be hard to define a gift of “value,” like the ones that Perkins wrote about in her report.”
Almost 75% of teachers either disagreed that gift-giving should be discouraged or were unsure or had questions, according to the survey.
Students were concerned that the new rule would prevent teachers from bringing in treats to share with their whole class, like food during advisory periods. They also mentioned the practice of buying teachers presents around the holidays or at the end of the school year, particularly at the elementary school level.
The revised policy leaves gift-giving open-ended.
“The giving or receiving of purchased gifts between employees and students must be consistent with the NH Code of Ethics for NH Educators, which requires consideration of the potential implications and possible perception of giving or accepting gifts. There should never be an expectation of reciprocity with regard to a gift.”
Perkins recommended that staff be discouraged from socializing with students outside of school and that they be required to disclose any relationship with students that require in-person contact outside of school or school-sanctioned events, such as employment or family relationships.
Students and teachers had major concerns about these proposals.
“If students aren’t allowed to speak to teachers about anything but school, how are students expected to feel safe?” one student wrote in his or her survey. “Teachers are here to teach and to care for students.”
“Students need to build strong relationships with their teachers – they should be trusted and talked to, we like to know about their weekend and vacations and get to know them as people because that’s what makes Concord a great school district,” another student said. “Getting the idea into student’s heads that their teachers are strictly for educational purposes is sad and isolates people.”
They said this could create challenging situations if a teacher and student’s families are friends or they attend events or parties together outside school.
The revised policy seeks to clarify the role of the teacher and when a student should be referred to another professional.
“Employees shall not, beyond the bounds of their training and role, attempt to assess, diagnose or treat a student’s personal problem relating to sexual behavior, substance abuse, mental or physical health and/or family relationships but, instead, should refer the student to the appropriate individual or agency for assistance,” the policy states.
Students and staff were asked whether they think it’s appropriate for students and staff to interact on social media, including on their own personal accounts.
Students said accessing homework and class materials through social media is convenient for them. Many clubs and departments in Concord High have Facebook or Instagram accounts that are operated by teachers and students, students said. Students said they are comfortable with using social media with teachers in those situations, but not using personal social media profiles to communicate.
“We live in a time where social media is a significant part of personal and professional lives,” one teacher wrote. “We are meeting them where they are. Overlap of my personal social media sites with students’ is necessary.”
Teachers who have children who are students at the school shared concerns about belonging to Facebook groups with other parents whose children play sports or participate in other clubs in the district. They said they also will contact their children’s friends over text to reach them.
Still, the new policy seeks to limit these forms of communication.
“Employees are strongly discouraged from socializing with students on social networking platforms or via other electronic communications,” the revised policy reads.
Several of the proposed policy changes address the way teachers communicate with students.
One states that staff members should not make “derogatory comments” to students regarding the school they teach in and or its staff.
In their survey responses, students and teachers said that policy could bring up first amendment violations. Other teachers said defining what kind of language constitutes “derogatory” would be difficult and present potential first amendment violations.
“I think teachers and staff members should be able to respectfully voice their disapproval of the school or decisions made that affect them, because it’s important that teachers have a voice,” one student wrote. “However, I obviously do think teachers and staff members shouldn’t be able to trash or put down other staff members or the school.”
Teachers agreed.
“The school and district have made and will make mistakes,” one wrote. “I view these discussions as opportunities for growth, to model how to revise and improve our thinking, and how to move forward in a positive way.”
The proposed policy identifies and discourages those types of exchanges.
“Employees shall not make derogatory comments to students regarding the school, employees or students. This does not prohibit constructive criticism,” the policy says.
“Employees shall not use insults or intimidation against students as a method of forcing compliance with requirements or expectations.”
The survey asked students and teachers what they thought of prohibiting staff members from being alone with a student in a room with a door closed, a locked door, or with the lights off, or giving them rides in their vehicles without the consent of school administration and parents.
Students and staff said students may want to meet with a teacher or guidance counselor behind a closed door or work behind a closed door on a test to avoid distraction.
Community members said it’s also normal for coaches to transport students to sporting events, and teachers who supervise clubs are sometimes a student’s only way of getting to an event.
When Leung was seen by students kissing another student in his car last school year, he told administration the student was in his car because he was transporting her to a club event.
“During sports, I think it’s okay if there are always multiple students in the car of a coach, but if there is a sole student I think it shouldn’t be allowed,” a student wrote.
The revised policies read, “A room occupied by both any student with any employee must have a door that is unlocked, with an unblocked window, except during drills or emergencies, or as necessary to serve educational or health-related purposes.”
“Employees shall not provide transportation to students and vice versa unless the school administration and student’s parent/guardian receive prior notice of the transportation arrangements and give consent, except in an emergency or ex traordi nary circumstance, in wh ich case notifications would occur as soon as possible.”
(Leah Willingham can be reached at 369-332 2, lwillingham@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @LeahMWill ingham.)