Ethics

Paper
Chapter II
Corey Golla

Our most important responsibility as educators is assuring the safety of our students. The
Supreme Court has clearly established the precedent in parentis loci. When students are left in
our care, and their parents are absent, we must advocate and protect them as our own. At the
same time we have a legal and ethical obligation to treat our staff fairly and at times help
protect their professional integrity from public assumptions that might be inaccurate or even
false. In moments when a staff member is accused of sexual misconduct by a minor
administrators are immediately thrust into position where these two responsibilities come into
conflict. While we must act quickly, carefully, and discreetly to investigate and resolve these
matters our commitment to student must always come first. Recent cases in Menomonee Falls
and Plum City Pennsylvania illustrate two distinct ethical paths.

In Plum City, Pennsylvania allegations and concerns that a teacher were brought forward to
administrators as early as the 2011 school year. It appears that the administration conducted
an internal investigation and concluded that the allegations lacked merit. It is not clear if the
matter was reported to the police through the school resource officer. It appears that the
teacher was not relieved of their duties while the investigation was ongoing. In another case in
the same school a teacher was given a written reprimand before they were found guilty and
sentenced for sexual misconduct. It seems as though the administration had prioritized the
protection of its staff over the responsible investigation required to protect students.

In a similar situation in Menomonee Falls Superintendent Dr. Pat Greco lead a much different
approach. The allegations were brought forward to school officials in the afternoon on
Thursday. The investigation immediately began. On that same day the teacher was placed on
administrative leave while the investigation continued. The matter was reported to the police
who began their own separate investigation. Within days the teacher resigned her position and
was arrested by the police. Rather than delaying the investigation and erring on the side of
protecting the teacher the investigation was quick and the communication with families and
the media was proactive and clear.

In both cases the trust placed in educators was violated by a horrific decision by an individual
teacher. The different responses by these two districts left the districts in two very different
positions. In the case of Plum City residents have likely lost trust in their local school system.
Menomonee Falls is hopeful that the direct communication coupled with the quick response
helps assure residents that when bad things happen they will place their responsibility to
students and the community above their very real concern for the protection of employees.

Majors, D. (2016, September 28), Victim of Plum schools sex scandal files lawsuit. Pittsburg Post
-Gazette.

Bee, T & Kacner, K. (2015, December 23). Parent says reading specialist accused of sexual
assault taught her daughter: I loved Ms. Novak. Fox6 Now. Retrieved from
http://fox6now.com/2015/12/23/menomonee-falls-school-district-responds-after-reading-
specialist-charged-with-sexual-assault/