They were accused of sexual harassment. San Francisco schools let them retire quietly

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The athletic director repeatedly called the teenage girl out of class and then escorted her to the locker room, the lawsuit alleges. He later sent her back to her class at George Washington High School, which seemed odd to at least one teacher.

According to the lawsuit against the San Francisco Unified School District, these were not legal passes to school, but repeated episodes of alleged sexual abuse that continued for four years. In the end, the girl confided in the school’s school psychologist, who called the police. Officials then sent Lawrence Young-Yet Chan on leave, the lawsuit says.

But then Chan was allowed to quietly retire.

He wasn’t the only one. Public records obtained by The Standard show that since 2017, at least 19 San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) employees accused of sexual harassment have been allowed to resign or retire instead of being fired. As with some of the other cases that led to the resignation agreement, The Standard found no evidence that Chan was charged with a crime.

The practice of handling allegations of sexual harassment out of the public eye is more common than is commonly known. But experts say such quiet settlement agreements allow abuses to persist.

Federal watchdogs, victim advocates and even former San Francisco school administrators say it’s a bad idea to let the accused abuser go quietly, and that a full investigation into these incidents will help better protect the safety of all students.

But officials tasked with dealing with the institutional problems that arise from allegations of abuse find it hard to resist the practice. A quiet settlement, whereby the alleged abuser simply resigns, eliminates the need to waste time and money on hearings, appeals, and other provisions guaranteed by union contracts.

This can make a big difference: A 2010 federal study reported that a school administrator feared that firing a teacher could cost up to $100,000 — “even in a bad case” — because investigations, hearings, appeals, and other necessary steps that precede dismissal takes time and requires the attention of senior staff. Giving the accused abuser a separation agreement could quietly reduce what could be a lingering embarrassment for the institution, experts say.

The so-called release agreement also protects students and staff from having to repeatedly talk about traumatic events, the district said. The administrators are “taking every effort to investigate and respond to this matter within our jurisdiction,” the statement said.

“Garbage Transfer”

Agreeing to allow a school employee to simply resign also quickly distances the accused from the students. San Francisco schools have repeatedly used this short-term solution for allegations of sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, numerous government investigations show that schools across the country have repeatedly covered up alleged employee misconduct and that in some cases, these teachers have continued to prey on more students.

Union contracts require a school worker to remain on the payroll while waiting to be laid off, but not necessarily on site. The employee has the right to a hearing with witness statements, potentially including students who have been abused or harassed.

Chan and the other accused San Francisco school employees agreed not to sue or apply for another job at the San Francisco public school as part of their divorce agreements, thus avoiding proceedings that could result in termination.

Critics, however, describe the disadvantages of allowing schools to opt out of fact-finding.

“Every complaint requires a prompt and thorough investigation,” said Billy-Jo Grant, board member of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation. “He protects student safety—not just for this student, but for all students.”

Allowing bad teachers to retire and possibly reappear at other schools is common enough across the country that it has its own name in educational circles: “garbage handover.”

“The long-term consequence is that this person has no records, and no [official] evidence of wrongdoing,” Grant said. This poses a risk that an employee may “go to work somewhere else and they will do it again.”

Standard obtained copies of the settlement agreements from San Francisco schools at the request of public documents.

Of the 19 misconduct settlement agreements five involved alleged inappropriate sexual contact with students.

In one 2019 case, a 6-year-old child allegedly told his mother that the teacher made them sit on his lap while he touched their private parts. School officials considered the claim credible, although a meeting with police did not result in charges being filed, according to personnel records. School officials were ready to be fired, but the teacher demanded resignation instead of defending himself.

Some offenses do not involve touching students. A Lowell High School math teacher allegedly told a lewd story about his teenage sexual adventures in class. He also commented on the student’s clothing as “sexually suggestive” and said the clothing was “distracting to the class”, according to his file. He was allowed to retire. Other settlements involve sexual harassment of other employees, sometimes in the presence of students.

But in seven cases, the school management did not provide information about what the employees were accused of. There is no clear way for the public to know what prompted these people to resign.

Hidden violations

The allegations that led to the settlement with Chan only came to light after the alleged victim filed a civil lawsuit against San Francisco schools in August. Soon a second woman joined the lawsuit with similar allegations.

The first former student alleged in a lawsuit that Chan raped her in the locker room, in the gym stairwell, in the student government classroom, and in his office behind a locked door and closed window.

However, Chan was allowed to settle down.

On February 3, a judge denied a request by San Francisco schools to dismiss claims that Chan’s superiors should have known that he was courting students, saying the court must weigh the claims.

After the allegations against Chan became known, San Francisco “immediately launched an investigation and placed the employee on leave,” according to an email from a school spokesperson. “Throughout the investigation [school] The district cooperated fully with law enforcement.”

Several attempts to contact Chan on the relevant phone numbers, email, and his attorney during the settlement were unsuccessful.

In 2017, the same year that Chan retired, San Francisco also allowed Roberto Gamino, a gym teacher and football coach at John O’Connell High School, to retire under a settlement agreement.

An investigation by San Francisco schools found that 30 students filed complaints against Gamino. According to the findings, described in a report by the state teacher certification organization, the PE teacher made inappropriate comments about their appearance and touched and hugged them in ways that made them uncomfortable.

The document says that on at least three occasions, Gamino allegedly engaged in “clearly abusive acts” such as grabbing, pinning and groping female students. The school received reports of his alleged inappropriate behavior two years earlier.

The woman who answered the call and identified herself as Gamino’s wife did not provide contact information, saying he was out of the country and no longer had an email address.

Lauren Cherry, a lawyer representing both of Chan’s alleged victims, calls the settlement situation worrisome.

The settlement agreement “protects the image and reputation of the school and [school] district on the safety of children from lifelong harm, ”she expressed her opinion.

Balancing

Teachers and school employees are required by law to report suspected child abuse to law enforcement. Both California and San Francisco schools have misconduct prevention and enforcement policies in place.

But that doesn’t always mean that schools properly deal with allegations of misconduct.

A 2016 civil lawsuit alleged that the director of the Leola M. Haward Early Education School in the Bayview area witnessed a teacher’s assistant hold a 5-year-old student on his lap and “push him”. But instead of calling the police, she only reported the incident to the school authorities, allegedly telling the boy’s father that since she had fired the assistant, there was no need to call law enforcement, the complaint said.

In Chan’s case, one teacher reportedly found it strange that he frequently called a student out of class. But the teacher “accepted it and took no action to report it,” the lawsuit says.

Such situations are not unique to San Francisco.

Irvin Zalkin, a lawyer who represents victims of abuse, says administrators may be reluctant to turn in valuable colleagues.

“They tend to ignore complaints,” he said.

Federal watchdogs have been calling for deals like the one in San Francisco for years.

The Government Accountability Office reported in 2010 that these deals allow teachers to claim they have never been fired from a school so they can find other jobs with children. Administrators were quoted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2017 as saying they allowed the accused teachers to quietly resign so that parents or news reporters would not find the abuse. In 2022, the US Department of Education produced a report citing an educator who is ashamed of the practice.

“There are many times when you will be looking for someone and you have probable reason to believe that sexual harassment has taken place,” their report is quoted as saying. “But for some reason, maybe you let them retire instead of being fired. This often happens.”

Former high-ranking San Francisco school officials shared similar complaints.

David Campos, who served as general counsel for San Francisco schools from 2004 to 2007, was aware of the practice but said he found it questionable. “I would definitely feel uncomfortable recommending a settlement,” he said.

Jill Winns, who served on the Board of Education from 1993 to 2017, said officials sometimes heard allegations for which there was no evidence.

“The best thing we could do is try to get [the teacher] turn in your IDs,” she said.

Cal Kinoshita, a student delegate to the San Francisco Board of Education and an activist against sexual assault, believes the settlement is shortsighted.

“It seems irresponsible and counterproductive for the mission to protect students and children to simply transfer troubled teachers to other districts without reporting the behavior to them,” he said.

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