The superintendent of the Geneva City School District is outlining his district’s next steps after a teacher and assistant principal were both arrested over the course of the last three months.
This week, a former Geneva Middle School special education teacher was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. She allegedly gave a teenager psilocybin mushrooms. The district released a statement saying the 33-year-old was fired after it learned of the allegations.
In November, a Geneva High School assistant principal was accused of having inappropriate and unwanted physical contact with a student. Police say he was charged in December with harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. He later resigned.
Geneva Superintendent Bo Wright says the district is now enhancing the hiring review process for all Geneva teachers, staff and administrators.
“Moments like this are an opportunity to take a closer look at how these measures are working,” said Wright in a video posted on social media. “With that in mind, I have initiated an external review for our hiring and supervisory practices. This review will look broadly at our systems, how we screen, how we onboard, how we monitor and where we can strengthen safeguards moving forward.”
Wright says in each of these situations, when the district learned of concerns involving a staff member, it acted promptly and worked directly with law enforcement and appropriate authorities.