The ongoing Concord School District investigation into alleged sexual abuse by one of its teachers and the subsequent handling by school administration of this misconduct has now stretched into many months.
Frustration, doubt and anger now consume the community, and little has been done by the current school board to address these serious concerns.
I respect the process and nature of such an investigation, and fully understand that the board is limited in what it can share with the public at this juncture. However, the board has been negligent and silent with regard to their process and expectations. We have heard nothing from individual school board members who have instead chosen to respond through a collective voice of their board president.
We need to hear from each of these elected officials. They each have an equal voice and influence over the process. Their job is not to protect the board or district as an institution, but to serve as our elected voice on matters of policy. There is both obligation and opportunity for individual board members to speak to the community.
Each school board member was elected to represent the best interest of the community. Elected board members are charged with the responsibility to set policy, hold those in authority accountable and ultimately serve as a check and balance to those who educate our children. Their mission is not to insulate the district and administration from civil or criminal liability.
There have been a variety of nuanced comments from the board’s president, which essentially translate into “no comment.” One recent comment is perhaps the most frustrating example, when board president Jennifer Patterson was asked about the activity of Principal Tom Sica that occurred during his voluntary leave of absence. Her response, reported by the Concord Monitor, was that “it is a good question. I am not going to answer it.” Unacceptable.
While this situation of course deserves a fair and impartial investigation, Patterson’s response does a disservice to both the public and Sica. I firmly believe in the legal principle of due process and do not believe blame and culpability should be decided in the public arena. There are too many examples where institutions have found someone to scapegoat while not addressing the greater institutional failures that need change. There are far too many examples of this “circle the wagon” approach and response. St. Paul’s School to the Catholic Church come to mind.
There exists such a culture within the Concord School District and it has continued for many generations. When pressed, current and past educators will quietly confirm this culture has been with us for some time. I witnessed such behavior both at Rundlett Junior High School and Concord High School during my years there in the 1970s.
The board must be focused on policies that establish and enforce a much different environment that now exists in our school district.
These assaults involve the psychological and sexual manipulation by those in a position of power and control over their subordinate students. The victims are physically and emotionally devastated. These are not “inappropriate” behaviors but criminal acts of sexual abuse.
There is information that can and should be shared at this point in the investigation. Such information would address some of the public’s concerns. It would demonstrate that the school board is operating in an open manner with our community and fully cooperating with law enforcement. Details about the board’s independent report have already begun to unofficially dribble out into the public domain. This is not a preferred method of communication but unfortunately is not unexpected given the current vacuum of information.
As an elected public official, I very much appreciate the hard work and believe in the good intentions of this current school board. They are essentially volunteers who have been thrust into a most difficult situation. However, I urge them to reevaluate their approach to this crisis. I urge them to them to look at this not as an isolated incident, but instead as a systemic failure that they have inherited from previous boards and school administrations.
I fear this school board has focused too closely on legal advice that is designed to limit political, criminal and civil liability instead of fixing a broken system that will protect future generations of children.
(Fred B. Keach of Concord is an at-large city councilor.)