Superintendent: Investigation of Teacher Found No Criminal Wrongdoing

Last Monday, a teacher was reportedly led out of by police. More than a week later, there are still very few answers as to why, but an investigation has concluded that there was no criminal wrongdoing.

"An issue involving the possible improper use of electronic media by a staff member was brought to the attention of the school administration by a concerned parent," Superintendent Hottel wrote in a statement Tuesday.

After the teacher was placed on administrative leave, there was talk of pornography on an electronic device somehow being involved, causing panic among many parents.

Police confirmed that they had conducted an investigation at the request of Hottel but would not go into detail since no criminal charges were filed.

Hottel confirmed that he had requested a police investigation into the matter but would not explain why, saying it was a personnel matter.

On Tuesday, Hottel released his statement, although details were still scarce. He said that the investigation determined that no illegal actions occurred, nothing illicit occurred at the school, and "no school equipment was used for any illicit purpose."

Hottel did not say why a teacher would be led off school grounds by police if nothing illicit had occurred at the school. In fact, no further details of the incident -- or non-incident -- were released by his office.

"As I have mentioned, the safety and security of our students is paramount," Hottel wrote. "For this reason, at times we need to do investigations to ascertain the circumstances of reports made by our constituents. When we do such investigations, however, it is important that the public not rush to conclusions, disseminate inflammatory comments or compromise in any other way our ability to pursue our investigations and at the same time allow our schools to function smoothly and our teachers and students to continue teaching and learning."

Hottel added that he has formed a committee of teachers, administrators, students and parents to review social networking and electronic media policies and promote what he called "digital citizenship."