Moraga School District officials plan to look into the district's handling of sexual abuse allegations against a Joaquin Moraga Intermediate school teacher, even though that teacher committed suicide in 1996 after denying the allegations.
District officials told the Contra Costa Times they will examine how former JM principal Bill Walters and other district employees handled complaints made by students against science teacher Dan Witters before his death. The newspaper reported that Walters -- who is still a principal with the district -- was aware of reports of abuse but failed to report complaints of abuse to local law enforcement.
Witters was reported missing from his Danville home in 1996, a day after school officials ultimately suspended him from teaching at JM and told him he was being investigated by Moraga police for alleged misconduct with students. His body was found with his pickup truck at the base of a cliff off Highway 1 in Big Sur several days later. No suicide note was ever found.
In a strange twist that rocked the close-knit district, the Witters case dovetailed with reports of abuse that surfaced after a former JM student detailed her trauma at the hands of another teacher -- -- in 1996 and '97.
Correa was convicted on multiple felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and sentenced to eight years in prison last year after she was taped making incriminating statements during a telephone conversation with her accuser.
A school climate committee was formed and an anti bullying policy was put in place. The school climate committee is made up of administrators and teachers yet does not have parents or students. Our anti bullying policy is only effective if it is followed by the adminstration. A positive school climate change starts with the principal on down. When problems are identified, transparency by the school is needed, documentation should be required and victims be respected. Until these are done I would say many of the same problems with the school's administration exist today. While the problems today may be different than what was originally reported the indifference toward the victim and the benign neglect is still the same! While we gave a district anti bullying policy in place it is just paper unless our school administrations are willing to follow it
The responses to a very heartfelt letter to Patch from a Moraga parent [ http://lamorinda.patch.com/articles/letters-moragan-questions-moraga-school-district-practices] make it seem like a lot of ostriches have kids in school in Moraga today: "drumming up drama, fanning the flames, unproductive adult behavior,witch hunt, no cabal of bad actors....terms used by posters to convince the community to move on and look forward to a bright future with Burns and the Correa supporters teaching their kids, Waters retiring.
June 12, 2012 Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School Auditorium 1010 Camino Pablo, Moraga, CA 94556 7:30 p.m. Regular Meeting Dexter Louie, President; Charles MacNulty, Vice President Kym Leserman, Member; Dennis Kelleher, Member; Kathy Ranstrom. Member
I would hope that the adults attending the meeting would exercise restraint, and ask intelligent probing questions regarding the specifics of the investigation - not simply rant (as some posters have done), screeching for the head of all tangentially involved.
We have found the current principal and staff take bullying very seriously. Anti-bullying program is continually being examined for improvements, and all programs are helping create safety awareness, and reporting opportunities - all a good thing. Rare, but sometimes the programs are abused by savvy kids. This past year at least 1 student falsely reported bullying actions,with the anonymous reporting plan in place, that enabled her to do so. Admin takes all reports seriously, so it made it more difficult to determine who was the real "victim" (the accuser or accused?) Overtime behavior patterns emerged, and more students "felt safe" enough to bring the truth out about the false accuser. In our experiences, JM has been very proactive regarding anti-bullying, implements a safe student ambassador program, and other leadership programs to promote student safety. Sorry to hear about your daughter's challenges - wish you the best, and hope she finds support and a productive way to get through and enjoy school.
From the CC times article: "From the earliest version of California's child abuse reporting laws, it was a (misdemeanor) criminal offense for teachers, school administrators and other mandated reporters to fail to report suspected child abuse," wrote William Grimm, senior attorney with the Oakland-based National Center for Youth Law, in an e-mail. "Attaching a criminal sanction to the failure to report indicates how important the Legislature viewed this duty to suspected victims of abuse. The failure to enforce the reporting laws likely has led to countless children going unprotected, suffering repeated abuse, and left their abusers free to victimize other children." Kristen Cunnane, who was raped repeatedly by Correa over a three-year period, believes Correa -- who is serving an eight-year prison term -- could have been charged with failure to report allegations that Witters kissed female students, even licking one girl's ear. She documented the accounts in a memo to Walters, but neither Correa nor Walters reported anything to police. "If she had been arrested she would have been stopped," the Walnut Creek 30-year-old and Cal women's assistant swim coach said. "It would have also sent a message to me about the safety of coming forward."
I'm going to go out a on limb and suggest that the District Attorney's office WOULD have brought charges against ANYONE that they believed was guilty of a crime related to this case. The fact that they have not pursued a criminal case against anyone other than Correa says a lot to this citizen. Again - "the fullest extent of the law" - is often a different standard than what the frenzied community may desire. Thankfully, that is why we have laws and not mob rule.
Also, the DA's office did not bring charges against Correa, the AG did. Due to a conflict of interest. Also, where is this frenzied mob you speak of? I was at the commons yesterday and didn't see many pitchforks and people burning at the stake which was surprising. Maybe they are all at RLP protesting those pesky dogs.
I'd love to go back and convict everyone that got off, unfortunately the "law" doesn't allow for that. Hindsight is always 20/20.
They must be initially treated as if they were suspected carriers of the Ebola Virus or some such deadly contagion, that is removed from contact with children immediately. If the damning information is at all credible, willful delays make those that fail to act accessories. Support, treatment and decisions regarding the suspect's future can all take place after the children are protected. The presumption of innocence is a powerful philosophical symbol of free democratic society, but the handling of crimes against innocence must trump this presumption. There is just to much at stake and at risk when the little ones are involved. That this principal was not removed and allowed to retire with full benefits is an outrage. Surely even people without children can comprehend this.