No Additional Lake Bluff Sex Abuse Investigation Into Charles Ritz

LAKE BLUFF, IL — The Lake Bluff school board made a public statement about the sex abuse allegations against former junior high school teacher Charles Ritz, who was employed by the district in 1975-1985 and allegedly went on to subsequently abuse other victims in California.

At the time, District 65 officials were notified of potentially abusive conduct. According to records, there were a series of memos regarding allegations of Ritz's "highly questionable sexual behavior" but instead of being fired, he was allowed to resign and collected more than $22,000 as he left, according to a report from WLS last November.

At a Feb. 28 meeting, board president Mark Barry read a prepared statement from the District 65 Board and the board herd public comment on the matter. The statement said the board is considering an independent audit of all student safety policies and procedures, but the district's legal counsel has advised it against conducting any further investigation of its own into Ritz, according to the statement.

Read more:

• Lake Bluff Superintendent sends an open letter regarding sexual abuse accusations against a former math teacher and coach.
• Former Lake Bluff Teacher Investigated For Sexual Abuse of Students

The Lake Bluff District 65 Board's Feb 28 Statement:

The Board was deeply moved by the statement made by Mr. Moss at our February 14 Board meeting and we remain very concerned about the events described by former students of Charles Ritz, who taught at Lake Bluff Junior High School between 1975 and 1985. We can’t turn back time and change the events of the past. What we can do is be compassionate and respectful toward those impacted, while being vigilant and proactive in our duty as a School Board to provide a safe and supportive environment for learning.

The Board met in closed session last Thursday night to consider how we will continue to respond to this matter. We have strong policies and procedures in place to protect our current students, all of which meet or exceed those required by law. While these policies are reviewed on a regular basis, the Board Policy Committee will examine ways we can further enhance these safeguards. This Committee will consider an independent audit of our policies and procedures regarding student safety as a possible recommendation to our Board. The Policy Committee will report back to the Board on its work in open session. As many of you know, there is an ongoing law enforcement investigation into this matter, and the District must not interfere with that process. This includes limiting our public comments and discussions, and also informs our decision not to place an item regarding the recent petition presented to the Board by Mr. Moss on our public action agenda. As always, during the public participation portion of our agenda, community members may address the Board on any topic.

We have turned over to the Lake Bluff Police Department and the Lake County State’s Attorney all documents related to Charles Ritz, his employment in the District and his interactions with students, including personnel records, notes, memos and documents, for their ongoing investigations. These same law enforcement officials as well as our own legal counsel have advised us against any investigation of our own, therefore, based on what we know now, we have determined that the District will not initiate an additional, independent investigation at this time.

We will keep the community informed as this matter progresses and share updates on our assessment of current policies and procedures at future public Board meetings and in direct communications to our parents, staff and community.

Note: Patch has obscured identifying features of one of the members of the public at their request.