Update: Leadership Changes Coming To Concord School District

CONCORD, NH — The Concord Board of Education will meet Friday in public session to make a decision on the hiring of an interim superintendent. The board made the announcement Thursday and also released a recommendations report on changes to the culture and policies at SAU 8 after an internal investigation of how and why Primo "Howie" Leung was allowed to stay on teaching at Concord High School after accusations of inappropriate behavior that later led to rape charges in Massachusetts. The board released the report with a joint statement by all the members.

"The Concord School Board received the report, 'Recommendations following investigation of sexual misconduct of Howie Leung,' from independent investigator Djuna Perkins, Esq., in a meeting on Wednesday evening, October 30, 2019," said Liza Poinier, a school board member representing District B (Wards 5, 6, and 7), in an email to the press and the public. "Our goal was to get the report into the hands of the public as soon as possible, knowing that there is much work still to do. The recommendations in the report will be discussed and considered in an inclusive community process in the months to come."

The report is linked here .pdf and embedded below.

There was no mention in the email of the status of School Superintendent Terri Forsten, who is currently on paid administrative leave, along with Tom Sica, the principal of Concord High School.

The recommendations report, a second report, put together by the board in the wake of the public's demand for details about the case, offers no information about the case. In it, Perkins offers a number of recommendations, many of which are already offered in education rules as well as the New Hampshire Department of Education Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics, implemented last year. Other provisions in the recommendations are basic commonsense, like adhering to state and federal laws, informing involved parties of the outcome of any investigation, and applying consistent disciplinary actions.

The report also recommends designating or hiring a Title IX coordinator to investigate sexual misconduct allegations instead of having principals and superintendents make the final decisions about incidents. Investigations, the report stated, should also be handled at the district level and not the school level, to avoid bias and retaliation – while minimizing trauma and embarrassment. It also recommends training staff and administrators to recognize "red flags" of misconduct.

"Recovery from these recent events will require considerable time, resources and reflection," Perkins wrote, "but this process also presents the Concord School District with the opportunity to heal and move forward as a strong community by creating robust response mechanisms, and more importantly, a culture that recognizes and understand the realities of sexual misconduct and the harm it causes, encourages reporting, and holds offenders accountable."

Concerns Still Remain

A number of parents and others connected to the school system still have concerns in the wake of the release of the recommendations.

Dan Habib, a Concord parent active in many of the public meetings during the past few months, said the report "falls pitifully short of what our community needs" in order to heal.

"Yes, it is full of good recommendations for changing culture and policies in the CSD going forward," he said in an email. "But it does NOTHING to answer the central questions our community has been asking since last April. How did Howie Leung stay in close contact with students at Concord High for at least 3 months after students and staff made serious allegations of sexual (and other) misconduct? Did any school board members have knowledge of allegations against Leung during the internal CHS investigation? Why were concerns by a middle school student about Leung ignored back in 2014 – concerns that might have prevented the victimization of one or more students? Why were Sica and Forsten put on leave?"

Habib said if the board thought the report satisfied the Concord community's "pressing right-to-know" what happened and why, "then this is just another example of poor communication and judgment by the board."

Kate Frey-Goble agreed.

"While the recommendations in this abridged version of the report are excellent and provide a glide path for true culture change, it falls very short in providing the information needed for this community to truly heal," she said in a note to Patch. "We need to understand the complete picture of how such colossal failures in student safety occurred over the years in our schools and how leadership will ensure events like this will never happen again."

Frey-Goble, whose daughter, Ana Goble, was suspended from Rundlett Middle School five years by then-School Superintendent Chris Rath Sica, who was principal at the school in 2014, for raising concerns she had about Leung's behavior, said the recommendations vindicate her daughter's decision speak out about it.

"We are pleased that the document affirms what we already knew - that Ana did the right thing by voicing her concerns about Leung’s behavior and that the way she was treated by school leaders after the fact was abhorrent and completely against policy and best practice," she said. "Even though this experience has been difficult, we continue to be very proud of her."

Amanda Grady-Sexton, an at-large Concord City Councilor, added, "The recommendations within this report are generic model policies, and a simple Google search of 'best practices' could have yielded the same results. Model policies are great - when they are followed."

Darlene Gildersleeve, of Protect Concord Students Now, a group calling for the firing of Forsten, Sica, and Donna Palley, the former assistant superintendent offering superintendent services to the district, said without oversight, it would be difficult for the board or the district to regain the trust of the community.

"Any recommendations in the report, as well as implementation, must be overseen by an independent compliance officer, similar to what St. Paul's School has done," she said in an email. "Without frequent independent audits over a number of years to ensure compliance it will be very hard to regain any public trust."

Concord NH Patch is updating this post in real time. Refresh for more updates.

Concord School District Post-Howie Leung Recommendations by Nh Patch on Scribd

PREVIOUS PATCH COVERAGE:

• Education Department Revokes Accused Rapist's Teaching Credential
• Concord High School Basketball Coach Abruptly Resigns
• Concord High Principal Did Not Influence Investigation: Attorney
• Embattled Concord Principal Led Staff Remotely While On Leave
• Concord School District Is Burning Through Its FY20 Legal Funding
• Bow High School Coach Suspended, Targeted By Anonymous Mailer
• Concord City Council Issues Statement About Leung Case, Schools
• Former Rundlett Assistant Principal Not Credentialed For 12 Years
• Leung Report Release Could Be Embarrassing, Humiliating: Attorney
• Parents To Concord School Board: Fire Assistant Superintendent
• Mom Accuses Concord Teacher Of Trying To Groom Daughter In 2011
• Concord School District To Conduct Full Staff Credentialing Audit
• Second Concord School Employee Found Not To Be Credentialed
• Credentialing Of Concord's Acting School Super Could Take Months
• Concord Police Chief Says He'd Like To See School Investigation
• Acting Concord School Superintendent Not Credentialed With NH DOE
• Concord Superintendent Forsten, Principal Sica Placed On Leave
• Concord Board Of Education Considering Personnel 'Next Steps'
• Concord Board Of Education Members Eyeing Investigative Report
• Parents, Students Vent About Issues With Concord School District
• Concord School Board To Update Public About Investigation Tuesday
• Concord School Superintendent: Letter To Staff 'A Serious Error'
• Petition To Remove Officials From Concord Schools Cracks 2,000
• Concord School Board Holds Emergency Meeting Sunday With Counsel
• Online Petition Launched To Have Concord School Officials Removed
• Concord Superintendent Lashes Out At Media Coverage Of District
• Concord School Board To Revise 'Professional Expectations' Policy
• Concord High School Principal Takes A Leave Of Absence
• Labrie's Former Counsel Not Hired To Probe Teacher Rape Case
• Concord School Board Opens New Investigation Into Leung Rape Case
• How A Distinguished Concord Teacher Became A Student Rape Suspect
• Students Saw Concord Teacher Kiss, Hug Another Student: Docs
• Should The Concord School District Have Responded Faster To Case?
• NH Teacher Held Without Bail After Bay State Arraignment
• Concord Teacher Accused Of Raping Student In Newton, MA
• Distinguished Educators for 2012

Got a news tip? Send it to Tony Schinella at tony.schinella@patch.com.

View more videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/tonyschinella.