GENEVA \u2014 Superintendent of Schools Bo Wright said in an address on the city school district\u2019s YouTube and Facebook pages Thursday that he has launched a probe into district hiring and supervisory practices following the arrest of a former special education teacher this week, an investigation into a guidance counselor, and charges against a former assistant principal.<\/p>\n
The announcement follows Tuesday\u2019s arrest by city police of Trista L. Corey, 33, of Geneva, a former middle school teacher accused of giving psilocybin mushrooms to a person younger than 18. She was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past few months, there have been three separate situations involving personnel that have understandably raised concern in our community,\u201d Wright said. \u201cI want to begin by acknowledging that concern. When news involving schools appears in the headlines, it can affect trust. And trust matters. Families expect their children to come to a safe and supportive environment, and we take that responsibility very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wright said he could not get into the details of the incidents because \u201csome of these matters involve ongoing investigations and confidential personnel issues. But here\u2019s what I can tell you: In each situation, when the district first learned of concerns involving a staff member, we acted promptly and worked directly with law enforcement and appropriate authorities. Each of these matters will now move through a formal process to determine whether the allegations are substantiated. For that reason, we will not comment on guilt or innocence or attempt to litigate these matters in a public arena.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Wright said the district will \u201cfocus on the systems that protect students and uphold high standards. That includes how we hire, how we supervise, how we train, and how we respond when concerns are raised.\u201d Wright insisted that \u201cstrong safeguards are in place,\u201d including background and reference checks, although he said it\u2019s time for the district to take a deeper dive into its practices and whether they are working effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that in mind, I\u2019ve initiated an external review for our hiring and supervisory practices,\u201d he said. \u201cThis review will look broadly at our systems, how we screen, how we onboard, how we monitor, and where we can strengthen safeguards moving forward. \u2026When something challenges public confidence, we examine our systems carefully and make improvements where they\u2019re needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wright acknowledged the toll the incidents have taken on district staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of you are balancing concern for students, loyalty to colleagues, and a deep responsibility to your profession,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that isn\u2019t easy. At the same time, every day, hundreds of professionals across Geneva city schools show up for students with integrity, compassion, and commitment. That work continues. Our students are learning, and our staff is doing meaningful work on behalf of our children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to Corey\u2019s arrest, a former assistant principal at Geneva High School was accused of subjecting a student to inappropriate and unwanted physical contact. James J. Nu\u00f1ez, 50, was charged by city police in early December with endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, and second-degree harassment, a violation. He is expected to go on trial this summer.<\/p>\n
Additionally, a middle school guidance counselor was placed on administrative leave in January while city police investigates an allegation of inappropriate conduct against a student. No charges have been filed in that matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA \u2014 Superintendent of Schools Bo Wright said in an address on the city school district\u2019s YouTube and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4553,3562,1655,10321,65,13468,68,67,13480,72,69,5049,16591],"class_list":{"0":"post-27236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-geneva","8":"tag-arrest","9":"tag-child","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-criminal-law","12":"tag-geneva","13":"tag-issues-in-ethics","14":"tag-justice","15":"tag-law","16":"tag-misconduct","17":"tag-police","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-social-issues","20":"tag-teacher"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116188081419094926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}