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When the Teachers Misbehave: Luzerne County School Districts Are Not Immune From Improper Conduct Between Educators and Students.

Posted on: Sunday, 25 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Kris Wernowsky, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

Jun. 25--An angry father, Chris Roleski doesn't mince words when speaking about one of his daughter's teachers.

"I think he's a piece of crap and I don't think he should be an educator anymore. …The guy used GAR for his own personal dating game show.

"He should have nothing to do with children."

Roleski's daughter, 17, says she had a crush on the teacher since her junior year. One day, she decided to take him up on an offer to come to his apartment for a visit.

But she did more than visit, she says, much more.

The alleged encounter led Chris Roleski and his wife, Christine, to complain to school officials, police and the Times Leader. The teacher has been suspended with pay but not charged with any crime.

Experts say the case mirrors others getting media attention nationwide. Earlier this year, Debra Lafave of Tampa, Fla., was arrested after allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old middle school student. Charges against her were dropped because the parents of the child thought it would be too traumatic for him to testify.

More famously, Mary Kay Letourneau had two children with and eventually married a former Seattle student. She managed to parlay her eventual marriage to Vili Fualaau into celebrity status resulting in interviews on Larry King Live and several news magazine shows.

The increased attention to such problems -- coupled with a Pennsylvania policy requiring reporting of ethical lapses by teachers -- now forces educators to respond to allegations against teachers rather than ignore them or handle them privately, experts say.

Locally, during the past five years, school district superintendents have acknowledged complaints of improper student-teacher conduct at five high schools. A sixth complaint involving sexual allegations against a high school teacher didn't specify whether the person complaining was a student.

But, other than acknowledge complaints, what can educators do?

One measure would be to decrease the opportunity for improper contact. Charol Shakeshaft, who has studied teacher-student relationships for 20 years, says schools need to strengthen policies to keep students and teachers at a safe distance, and to better explain to teachers, especially young ones, the dangers and temptations in dealing with adolescents on the verge of adulthood.

Wilkes-Barre Area Superintendent Jeff Namey said the past few months have been a difficult time for his school district, which is in the midst of two inquiries into teacher conduct with students.

The GAR teacher, whose name has not been released by police or school officials, was suspended in mid-May after the girl's parents say they learned of their daughter's actions with the teacher and took their complaint to police.

"What happens when you have a small piece of information, a lot of people simply like to jump to conclusions or assume certain things are true," Namey said. "The other side of the story needs to be looked at carefully."

Namey has made similar comments about another male teacher at Meyers High School. Officials remain mum on details of claims by a female student against that teacher. Namey has said only that the claims are "troubling" and "sketchy."

Three other school districts and a private school have taken action against teachers for conduct toward students or otherwise since 2002, according to statistics compiled on the state Department of Education's Web site.

-- Dallas High School teacher Gregory Solfanelli resigned in 2002 after allegations surfaced that he had sex with a student.

-- Wyoming Valley West music teacher Dorothea G. Volpe surrendered her state teaching certificate in April 2004 after she was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student.

-- Richard G. Smith, a former teacher, coach and principal at Bishop Hafey High School in Hazleton, surrendered his teaching certificate in October 2004 after confessing to having sexual relations with a student, including in his school office.

-- Hanover Area Junior/Senior High School social studies teacher George Third voluntarily resigned his teaching certificate in May 2003 after the school district filed a complaint with the state when sexual allegations surfaced. Information about who Third was allegedly having contact with has not been made public.

Shakeshaft, a professor and researcher at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., began studying relationships between teachers and their students more than 20 years ago. She also presented a report to Congress on the subject in 2004.

According to her data, about 7 percent of students in grades K-12 reported they were the target of some form of physical contact by an educator.

"There's a group that thinks 'these kids seem grown up to me.' They tend to think of the kids not as kids but as equals," Shakeshaft explained. "If you're a teacher, you have a responsibility to act as an adult and not confuse the relationship between a student and a teacher.

"You're not there to find a spouse."

Gilbert Griffiths, College Misericordia's director of graduate teachers programs, is a member of the state's 13-member Professional Standards and Practices Commission overseen by the Department of Education. The commission determines whether to revoke or temporarily suspend teacher certification.

"There's a professional line that you never cross and a lot of times, because of age, because of the similarities of dress, the similarities of their conversational language, it's very easy for a teacher to get up to that professional line," Griffiths said. "But because that line is always there, you always back away."

The remedy, according to Shakeshaft, is for districts to adopt clear policies regarding teacher-student relationships and to ensure that when an incident is reported that it is dealt with promptly.

Shakeshaft, who teaches school administrators at the doctoral level, said school districts should require annual training sessions with teachers, students and parents. She also recommends that students be made aware of the proper way to report incidents to administrators without feeling threatened.

"Schools don't do a very good job of educating (in this matter) at all," she said. "That, I would say, is the weakest link. We need to really help teachers and students understand what the issues are."

Often, there is no crime

During his tenure as Dallas superintendent, in 2002 Griffiths dealt with claims that Solfanelli had a sexual relationship with a student.

State police originally charged Solfanelli with corruption of a minor, but the charges were dropped by prosecutors. Shortly after the charges became public, Solfanelli quit his job and surrendered his teaching certificate.

State criminal laws don't prevent consensual sex between a student and a teacher if the student is over age 16 and the sexual contact is not the result of rape or unusual circumstances. In Pennsylvania children as young as 16 can marry with parental permission. A marriage at a younger age requires permission from the Orphans' Court.

"The contact may be something that's inappropriate, but its legality is problematic in how it's addressed under Pennsylvania law," said Lackawanna County First Assistant District Gene Talerico. "If the legislature was to pass a bill and amend those statues, then that would be the only way to cure that ambiguity."

No such law is in the works.

"Once they start getting past the threshold of the age of 16, it becomes a lot more difficult," said Detective Charles J. Dyanick of the Wilkes-Barre Township Police Department, which is investigating claims against the GAR teacher. The probe is about five weeks old.

"I don't know why they don't include teachers in the institutional sexual assault laws," Dyanick said.

Such charges can, by law, be filed only against corrections officers and employees of youth development and juvenile centers, mental health or mental retardation facilities.

Districts must report problems

For the Department of Education's Professional Standards and Practices Commission to hear a claim against a teacher, the claim must first go through a school district-level investigation. Charges are then examined by the commission's attorneys before a public hearing is held and a resolution takes place.

To avoid having teachers quit before the state and school district can do a formal probe into allegations, superintendents are required to report resignations, firings or dismissals to the state or risk being fined $2,500, according to Griffiths. This is done, he said, to keep districts from covering up major ethics violations.

"In the past, what would have happened, a teacher might have been accused of something and then what they would do is resign their position and leave before an investigation took place," he said. "Superintendents now should be very aware of their responsibilities under their code of conduct."

Namey said there is no specific policy in his school district that speaks directly to the issue of a teacher carrying on a relationship with a student. At most, cases of teachers having improper contact with students could fall under the district's sexual harassment policy.

Namey said he and school district officials have consulted with the Department of Education in the incident involving the Meyers High School teacher. Because the GAR student's claims remain under investigation by police and the school district, the state has not been contacted.

State makes actions public

The state Department of Education publishes information to publicly acknowledge when educators have their certification to teach suspended or revoked. Statistics compiled from the department's Web site shows that of the 130 revocations, suspensions and voluntarily surrendered certifications between March 2004 and February 2006, a total of 29 were a result of relationships or inappropriate or sexual contact between teachers and students.

Of the 29, 20 surrendered their certificates. Five were revoked and four were temporarily suspended and could have their certificates renewed eventually.

These relationships are usually considered to be an ethical violation of the Code of Professional Practice and Conduct for Educators. The upside to this, according to Namey, is that unlike a criminal case requiring proof beyond a reasonable doubt, school districts need less evidence to instigate a state investigation.

Teachers, according to the code, can be reprimanded if their activity "offends the morals of the Commonwealth and is a bad example to the youth whose ideals a professional educator or a charter school staff member has a duty to foster and elevate."

"It's not considered a heinous crime against humanity but it's considered an ethical violation for the state of Pennsylvania," Griffiths said.

Information about the status of teacher certifications is entered into a searchable statewide network accessible by all school districts. Any revocation or suspension of certificates is entered in the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification clearinghouse that is accessible by any school district in the nation.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

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