Should The Concord School District Have Responded Faster To Case?

CONCORD, NH — The investigation of Concord special education teacher Primo "Howie" Long and whether or not he raped or had inappropriate relationships with students has raised the issue of if the Concord School District acted as quickly as it could to remove him from interacting with students. Students reported seeing Leung kissing a student and putting his arm around her on Dec. 7, 2018. The district initiated an investigation and found that the student in question was 18 years old. Later, officials also found other evidence which led to at least one other student who was not of age.

The age of consent in New Hampshire is 16. State law — RSA 632-A — also states that an adult is guilty of felonious sexual assault if the adult is in a position of authority over a victim aged 13 to 17. There have been cases in the state against teachers since the student-teacher relationship can be a form of influence, with one having authority over the other — even though the statute does not specifically ban teachers from having relations with students.

Code Of Ethics, Code Of Conduct

The New Hampshire State Board of Education approved new ethics and conduct codes for certified public educators in 2018 based on legislation and work that had been performed by officials for a number of years. Certified educators — teachers, administrators, counselors, and specialists — hold themselves to high standards. But during the last few years, educator misconduct cases have increased significantly.

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• Part 1: How A Distinguished Concord Teacher Became A Student Rape Suspect
• Part 2: Students Saw Concord Teacher Kiss, Hug Another Student: Docs

The Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics focus on four main principles for educators to follow — responsibility to students, to the education profession and educational professionals, to the school community and ethical use of technology. Within the codes, there are procedures, too, requiring anyone who is a certified educator in the state to follow the principles to the best of their ability.

Ed. Rule 510.01 requires educators to exemplify honesty and integrity in the course of the professional practice of teaching while Ed. Rule 510.02 requires educators to protect students from conditions which are harmful to their health and safety — including any sexual act with or from any student, harassment, or soliciting or encouraging participation in a romantic or sexual relationship whether written, verbal or physical with a student or prior student up to 10 months after graduation or departure from a school.

Ed. Rule 510.03 notes that credentialed members should communicate responsibly among members of the community while maintaining professional boundaries.

Ed. Rule 510.04 focuses on appropriate uses of technology including the ban of engaging in any activities or inappropriate communication by electronic media, including communication that is covert in nature, with a student or former student up to 10 months where it could be reasonably interpreted as sexual or romantic in nature.

Credentialed educators are also required to report any suspected violation of the code of conduct in the following manner: principals report to superintendents to administrators and then they report conduct to the New Hampshire Department of Education.

Forsten told the Concord Monitor in early April that it was her duty, under the Code of Ethics, to report any potential Code of Conduct violation to the education department.

In the Leung case, Forsten’s meetings with the education department, despite finding no criminal behavior in its investigation, should have been submitted to the department upon the first student accusation in December 2018, according to officials.

Police Express Concern

Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood, in an interview in early May, told the Concord Monitor that he wished the department was contacted earlier in the process, especially in light of everything that was discovered. The department, he noted, had a formal agreement with the district, signed in 2016, by both Osgood and Forsten. It requires school officials to report all forms of sexual assault and harassment cases to the department.

A number of parents and residents criticized the board and the district for not acting more quickly in the Leung case. One letter writer to the Monitor called the situation outrageous and added that it further compromised the safety of students due to the district’s failure to report the situation. Other commenters on Facebook questioned the fact that Leung was able to stay on as a teacher months after the kissing and hugging allegation surfaced.

School Board President Responds

The criticism prompted Jennifer Patterson, president of the Concord School Board, to issue a letter to the public May 17.

In it, Patterson called the concerns "reasonable and understandable," but added that due to confidentiality protections, there was limited information that could be released about the incident. However, she did give the public a cursory view of what had been done. Patterson called the investigation by the district "extensive," and added that while it did reveal "certain behaviors that need to be (and were) addressed, it did not disclose any actions that were illegal" in the state or that required reporting to the Concord Police Department, since there is an agreement between the two organizations to work together when it comes to criminal incidents in the school system. She said the criminal accusations against Leung were discovered by police after the district reported its findings to the education department and not by the district during its investigation.

"Throughout this difficult process, the district has focused on preventing any further harm to students while protecting the confidentiality of both students and faculty," she noted. "Now, with the benefit of hindsight, it is understandable to question whether more could have been done sooner."

The school board has also been meeting to discuss its sexual harassment and other policies in order to ensure future incidents do not occur in the district.

Leung is currently being held in isolation at the Middlesex County House of Corrections in Billerica, Massachusetts, unable to raise $50,000 cash bail.