HONOLULU (AP) — Dozens of public school employees remain under investigation by the Hawaii Department of Education over allegations of misconduct, with some cases having been open for longer than a year.
HONOLULU (AP) — Dozens of public school employees remain under investigation by the Hawaii Department of Education over allegations of misconduct, with some cases having been open for longer than a year.
The department has open cases against 37 employees, KHON-TV reported on Tuesday (https://bit.ly/1ModL1t). Eight of those cases are over a year old, which marks an improvement from January when there were 12.
Data from the department also shows that there are 24 cases that have taken up to six months to complete. In January, there were 21.
The total number of cases has increased from November 2015 when 28 employees were being investigated, but has gone down from 63 cases reported in December 2014.
Brian De Lima, vice chairman of the Board of Education, said having several cases open while employees are still being paid is a concern for the board. But he also said it seems like the investigations are moving along.
“If you look at the data that was presented today it appears that the investigations are being completed in a timely manner,” De Lima said.
The allegations against the employees, including teachers, counselors and custodians, range from sexual harassment to inappropriate conduct toward students.