Unfortunately the folks in Forsyth County, NC have been getting a lot of practice in dealing with teachers accused of inappropriate conduct in their school system. In the latest instance, news came out today that a teacher and a teacher's assistant at Moore Magnet Elementary have been accused of inappropriate conduct and they've been suspended with pay until the police department completes an investigation. If you click through to the story you'll note this sentence at the end: "WXII isn't identifying the teacher or teaching assistant because neither has been charged with a crime."
While it's never good that a teacher's been accused of misconduct, this story at least shows that the folks at WSFCS and the local media have learned their lessons. You may recall that administrators at WSFCS were accused of mishandling previous cases of teachers accused of inappropriate behavior by opting to hand investigations themselves rather than immediately contacting the police or sheriff's departments. This case makes it sound like they've finally gotten the message that they are to turn these cases over to the authorities right away.
You also may recall that the local media has been in the habit of identifying the accused teachers, even before they're accused of a crime. This, of course, has had a devastating effect on the teachers, some of whom have been cleared of any wrongdoing. The fact that the media is protecting teachers' reputations from being unnecessarily damaged by a kid making false accusations because they're upset with the teacher is a good thing. (Let's hope that the rest of the local media follow WXII's lead). On the other hand the fact that the teachers have been suspended prevents them from doing any further harm if they are guilty of misconduct.
All in all this is a much needed improvement over how similar cases have been handled in recent years.
Befuddled 