A department spokesman clarified Thursday that the Ohio Department of Education has not referred four whistle-blower teachers to child protection officials for failing to immediately report suspected child endangerment or neglect issues at a charter school in Dayton.
The four former teachers, who worked at Horizon Science Academy Dayton from 2004 to 2013, alleged at the July 15 state school board meeting that sexual games were played by students and condoned by other educators, and surveillance footage captured students having oral sex at a school function.
The teacher-testimonies were coordinated by ProgressOhio, a liberal policy research group, and promoted on a blog for the Ohio Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union.
On July 17, ODE spokesman John Charlton reportedly told Gongwer News Service: “We would like to remind educators that they do have a responsibility as mandatory reporters [of suspected abuse] and certainly we hope that the educators that testified were not withholding information for this political event that they pulled at the board meeting.”
On July 19, the Columbus Dispatch ran a story titled “State turns in four charter school teachers”.
“That is not true,” Charlton said Thursday of reports that ODE is directly investigating the teachers. “I just want to be clear that we informed the appropriate agencies about the testimony.”
Charlton said ODE notified the Childrens’ Services Board and Dayton police of the teachers’ testimony. He did reiterate that laws regarding mandatory reporting of child safety issues are “very clear.”
The teachers union and Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy in Education, which successfully brought the landmark DeRolph school funding lawsuit that resulted in an overhaul of funding, were highly critical of the department’s reaction.
Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, demanded ODE Superintendent Richard Ross’ resignation.
Meanwhile, the Columbus Dispatch has reported that charter school opponents were actively tweaking Charlton on social media. One advocate tweeted that Charlton thinks “charter schools are OK – no matter what shenanigans take place,” and he responded: “Guys, it’s after 5 on Friday. Take a break from the muckraking and enjoy the weekend. Maybe you can get laid. LOL.”
He told the Dispatch he was trying to have fun, on his personal account, but has since removed the tweet at the request of his supervisor.