Crime News
Reports of sex put schools in a jam
By Lisa Renze-Rhodes
Apr 13, 2003, 16:22

When the headlines tell of teachers accused of inappropriate relations with their students, parents' blood runs cold.

These incidents -- five in the Indianapolis area in the past two years alone with the latest allegation surfacing this month -- leave parents with many questions.

Parents look for answers from school administrators who are stuck in the precarious position of balancing the rights of their accused staff member with the need for parents to get information.

That scenario is playing out in Pike Township Schools, after the arrest of teacher and coach Jon Christopher Ayers.

Ayers, 30, was charged two weeks ago with two felony counts of sexual misconduct and one count of criminal confinement for alleged acts involving two female students.

The incident has left Pike administrators with a keen awareness of the tightrope they walk between protecting employees and providing information for the public.

"It's no win," said Kevin McDowell, an attorney with the Indiana Department of Education. "You really have to tread lightly."

What to tell parents about a school employee who stands accused -- and when to do it -- is a delicate task administrators are happy to leave to their lawyers.

R. Craig Wood, immediate past president of the Education Law Association, said the first task for school administrators is to define their obligations. First, they need to assure students' safety, which could result in a staff member's suspension, either with or without pay.

Once law enforcement is involved -- which Wood said should be immediately after allegations arise -- it is a police, not a school, matter.

"Even though it may have involved students, it's not a school matter," Wood said.

That distinction is important. Law enforcement officials usually ask school administrators to not take any steps that would jeopardize their investigation. Pre-emptive communications -- such as a letter sent home telling parents a staff member is under investigation -- could do just that.

"I would advise not to send that kind of letter because it doesn't create an environment that's any safer than before," Wood said. "All it is, is a hysteria-creating, useless communication.

"When (people) say, 'Why didn't they tell us,' the question is why would they?"

Furthermore, said the Education Department's McDowell, it's not an announcement that state law requires school districts make.

Steve Key, general counsel of the Hoosier State Press Association, said there's nothing in the state's law that gives the public access to that type of investigatory information.

Moreover, he said, the rights of the accused must be considered.

"You could have a student or parent make allegations that are unfounded," Key said.

Once word is out, people begin pointing fingers, and the accused is guilty in the court of public opinion.

"It's hard to put the genie back in the bottle," Key said.

An accused employee could sue a school district for libel or slander, if that information gets disseminated before a situation is resolved.

Kathy Christie, vice president of research and information at the Denver-based Education Commission of the States, said she was unaware of any state laws that would protect a school corporation from lawsuits that could come if officials talk too soon.

Parents, even those in Pike Township, appreciate the need for balance.

"I'm not going to be the first to say he's guilty," said Dave Carter, who has two children at the Guion Creek Middle School, where Ayers was a social studies teacher and coach.

Police say Ayers, 30, had sex twice with a 15-year-old student and accosted another middle school student, then 13, in his classroom in 2001.

Carter said he's talked with his children about fair trials and how the country's judicial system works.

Still, as a dad, news of this nature is tough to take.

"You want to believe it's not true," Carter said. "No parent ever wants to catch wind of this."

But the incident did not leave Carter concerned about the safety of his children.

Acting Pike Superintendent Larry Galyen said the district did not notify parents of the situation when it was being investigated.

Galyen said once the situation has come to a legal end, he'll decide then whether the district will have any discussions with parents.

In the meantime, Galyen said he and other administrators welcome calls from parents who might feel uneasy about the situation. To date, Galyen said, he's received only one e-mail.

He'll tell them that Pike Township schools provide a good, safe education. And that the district took immediate, necessary steps to protect everyone involved by placing Ayers on paid leave, beginning Jan. 28, four days after the allegations surfaced.

Galyen's approach is similar to that taken by Carmel Clay school administrators during the spring and summer of 2001.

There, within a four-month period, three former staffers were criminally charged as a result of inappropriate teacher-student relationships.

Superintendent Barbara Underwood said district officials worked to keep things "business as usual" and did not send letters home to parents during the investigation.

The district did not change its information policy, and did not ever send home letters before or after the resolution of those specific cases, it did adopt new curricula and employment policies that directly address staff and student relations.

One such change is having a seminar with newly hired staff members, reminding them of what are healthy, appropriate staff-student relations.

"We don't want teachers to be afraid to get to know kids. We've struggled with how to do this so as not to scare teachers to death," she said.

Some of the work that is an implicit part of being a teacher is building positive relationships with young people.

That juxtaposition makes it even harder, Underwood said.

"There are just no absolute correct answers."

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