Concord city councilors say they want greater transparency and accountability from their counterparts on the school board after the public release of a 115-page report describing a systematic failure to act on a pattern of misconduct by former teacher Howie Leung.
The report, which was released Monday, details years of Leungโs inappropriate behavior toward students, as well as failures by administrators to act on complaints from students and staff. Leung is facing criminal charges accusing him of sexually assaulting a former student.
โWhat strikes me the most is the insularity of the school district, and I think transparency would help counter that,โ said Byron Champlin, an at-large councilor.
The Concord City Council does not have any oversight or control over the school board or its financial decisions because of a unique structure that makes the Concord School District completely autonomous from the city.
Discussions about potential changes to the structure of the school board have arisen in the wake of the Leung case, but councilors still generally agree that the school boardโs autonomy is beneficial.
Concord Mayor Jim Bouley said there is always room for more collaboration between the city council and the school board, however he does not believe that the school district needs to be brought under the control of the city.
โThe oversight comes from the citizens of Concord and municipal elections every two years,โ he said. โIf the community doesnโt like the direction that their elected officials are moving, then I think thatโs the opportunity to change the direction. Thatโs really where your oversight comes from, and I think it works.โ
During Bouleyโs mayoral campaign last fall, he cited the school districtโs reputation as the biggest hurdle to economic development in the city.
Councilors said that the most significant change the school board can make going forward is to hire a new superintendent to further change the culture of the district.
โThe budgeting side of things is the main focus of what the city council does, as well as the school district,โ said councilor Jennifer Kretovic. โPolicy is the second one, and if you read the report, the policies were in place โ but it wasnโt the school districtโs responsibility to enforce the policies, that was the superintendentโs.โ
Champlin agreed.
โThe biggest step that can be taken to continue to resolve these issues beyond what the school board has already done is to have a permanent new superintendent who has been vetted by the community โ someone who has the confidence of the community and an awareness of the issues that have come to light due to this incident,โ said Champlin. The district began its search for a new superintendent in February, but both of the finalist candidates withdrew their names from consideration in May, citing the COVID-19 crisis.
Councilor Amanda Grady Sexton took issue with the school boardโs decision to hire a public relations professional to help them address the crisis. On July 6, the school board voted to hire Karen Schwartzman to manage the districtโs communication about its response to the Leung case, among other issues. The district will pay Schwartzman $10,000 for approximately 35 hours of work for the next six months, a rate of $275 per hour.
โThe Concord School Board has charged taxpayers more than a half a million dollars to address the districtโs gross mishandling of a sexual predator, including extensive legal bills to try to keep the public from seeing this investigative report,โ Sexton wrote in an email to the Monitor. โIn the midst of an economic crisis, itโs unconscionable for this board to spend $275 an hour on a PR specialist to make themselves look better. The victims in this case deserve more, and Iโm confident that our community will not be fooled by spin. Instead of wasting money on high priced attorneys and PR specialists, they could have offered an apology for free.โ
Kretovic echoed Sextonโs concerns over the hiring of the PR firm. โThey could have simply said, โThere were absolute mistakes that happened here, and we see that, and thatโs why we took the action that we did,โ and that wouldnโt cost anything,โ Kretovic said.
Councilors Robert Werner and Erle Pierce declined to comment on the case. Councilors Brent Todd, Keith Nyhan, Gail Matson, Candace C.W. Bouchard, Zandra Rice Hawkins, Nathan Fennessy, and Fred Keach did not respond to email requests for comment.
Several councilors simply expressed their reaction to the contents of the report, which led to the dismissal of former superintendent Terri Forsten and principal Tom Sica.
โHow we care for and educate our children is the ultimate reflection of our city,โ councilor Meredith Hatfield said in an emailed statement.
Councilor Linda Kenison said she was โstunnedโ by the extent of the wrongdoing contained in the report and administratorsโ failure to discipline Leung.
โThe administration had a duty to protect these girls from sexual assault by this predator and they did not,โ she wrote in an email to the Monitor. โInstead they further abused the girls by not believing them, dismissing their complaints for years, and protecting the predator.โ
Kretovic remains optimistic that the release of the Leung report will help the community continue its push for reform.
โParticipation is the number one thing that is going to drive this,โ she said. โParents are going to be at that table, and theyโre going to make sure that this change happens. Students are going to speak up, and theyโre going to make sure that wrongs are righted. The school board is going to be paying attention, and so will the superintendents, the principals, the vice principals, special educators, the teachers โ all through the entire system they will not tolerate this cronyism anymore.โ