San Francisco School Board defends layoff agreements for employees accused of sexual harassment

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The San Francisco School Board has defended the practice of allowing school employees accused of sexual harassment to quietly resign following an investigation by The Standard that uncovered several such cases in recent years.

Since 2017, the San Francisco Unified School District has allowed at least 19 employees to resign under settlement agreements amid allegations of misconduct, records obtained by The Standard show. Five of these employees allegedly had sexual contact with students. The other cases did not involve students, and seven of those records did not state what the employee was accused of.

These resignation agreements, like other legal matters, are approved by the Board of Education in closed sessions. While one commissioner criticized the practice, other members described it as the best of bad options.

“Employees come to us with a recommendation that they believe will protect the financial interests of the district and keep the children in our sight safe,” said board president Kevin Boggess.

Board vice president Lisa Weissman-Ward and committee members Jenny Lam and Lisa Motamedi declined to comment, giving way to Boggess as board spokesperson.

Commissioner Alida Fischer, who joined the board in January, said she had not yet encountered such agreements and was not very familiar with them. But she was annoyed at the thought of hiring someone who harmed children and potentially putting children in other counties in that situation.

“Philosophically speaking, I don’t understand how we as a school district can’t share information and potentially put other students at risk,” Fisher said. “This is contrary to our obligations. If policies and practices do not meet the requirements for the protection of children, we must correct it.”

“Institutional failure”

Boggess and Commissioners Matt Alexander said approval of the agreements usually generates lengthy conversations. They both said they trust the staff to make such a recommendation after exhausting other options and interviewing people during the investigation.

However, Boggess expressed discomfort with the practice being forced on the San Francisco Unified School District, as well as other districts across the bay and the country. He added that he was “unhappy” that the county could not “punish and enforce properly.” In his opinion, this raises questions related to ensuring that school sites do not encourage such behavior and having more adults to keep students safe.

“The calculations as a whole represent an institutional failure,” Boggess said. “If we are dealing with an incident and a settlement, it means that we missed something from the very beginning that could have prevented this harm, and that is where we should direct our energy as much as possible.”

Alexander agrees that prevention is something that needs more work. He supports the calculations, mainly when there are assurances from employees about accountability.

“A lot of it has to do with our legal system and people’s ability to sue,” Alexander said of dispute resolution. “By that time [staff] brings them, it seems that settlement is the best option and they have really taken accountability factors into account. We thought we wanted to feel that there is a sense of justice. This is the opposite of what our legal system often pushes us to do.”

Districts must report to the Teacher Evaluation Board if they change jobs due to allegations of misconduct. This, however, only applies to certified teachers, leaving a gap in the registration of allegations of sexual harassment against other employees.

Commissioner Mark Sanchez, a teacher and longest-serving board member, said it’s “very disturbing” when questions about sexual harassment reach the board.

“You will have a settlement agreement where the employee agrees to leave the area and waives their right to initiate any legal action, but they can move to another area,” Sanchez said. “It’s frustrating. We’re kind of locked in.”

warning signs

Sanchez also believes that there is still much to be done in prevention.

Internal guidance on maintaining boundaries between staff and students, released in October and obtained by The Standard, lists examples of red flags: giving students personal attention and friendships, endearment or petting names, transporting students in a private vehicle without proper prior authorization in a non-emergency scenario, and touching students or inappropriate non-educational physical contact, such as hugging.

While all employees are trained as authorized reporters and on sexual harassment, he believes the county should be more clear about what people can’t do.

“We rightly assume that everyone knows that this is not normal, but it happens,” Sanchez added.

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