The East Bay Times is excoriating the Mt. Diablo Unified School District over its court battle to block release of an investigative report of teacher Joseph Martin later convicted of molesting students. After two and a half years, a judge forced the district to release the report after the district squandered $359,000 of the public’s money on legal expenses. “They [the school district] have a responsibility to provide public documents, and there are consequences if they don’t. If officials don’t understand the importance of transparency, they should quit,” writes the Times. The Times still wants to know why, when the allegations surfaced, the officials did not notify the police as required by law . (East Bay Times, May 20, 2016)
The Martin incident and other cases of child abuse in the schools prompted Governor Jerry Brown to sign a law in 2014 requiring all teachers and school employees to take an annual course on child abuse. Contra Costa Times reports of school employee failure to report abuse led to the legislation. (Contra Costa Times, September 30, 2014, by Matthias Gafni)