Legislators call on NYS Education Dep't to suspend license of teacher accused of sex abuse

State legislators are calling on the state Department of Education to do more to prevent teachers facing allegations of sexual misconduct from moving with impunity to teach in new districts where their past is unknown.

The calls for action in Albany follow a Tax Watch investigation that discovered how a former Lakeland teacher faced with a civil lawsuit was able to land jobs in school districts in Westchester and Orange counties this year, even after Lakeland said it reported the allegations to Albany.

But the state Education Department on Friday said that state rules for investigating allegations concerning "the moral character" of those with teaching certification prevent easy resolution of such cases.

State Sen. Shelley Mayer, D-Yonkers, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said she was "deeply troubled" that the state had failed to take action against Alex Mendoza, six months after the Education Department became aware of allegations that Mendoza had sexually abused a student.

"It's unacceptable it would take six months to determine this, and deeply concerning that there has not been an interim suspension of his license pending the review," Mayer said. "What if you are a parent of a special education student, these allegations were made known to State Ed, and the teacher kept getting jobs?"

More: Lakeland teacher resigned after sex abuse allegations, then got hired in Monroe-Woodbury

Lakeland officials said Thursday they reported the allegations about Mendoza to the state Department of Education’s Office of Professional Accountability in late April. That came after the lawyer for a former student informed the district a civil lawsuit was forthcoming, alleging that Mendoza sexually abused the student from 2015-2017 on the grounds of Walter Panas High School.

Six months later, the state has yet to suspend Mendoza’s teaching license. In July, he was nearly hired to teach summer school at the Greenburgh-North Castle special act district in Dobbs Ferry. And by September, he was teaching special education students at the Monroe-Woodbury district in Orange County.

Mendoza was removed from Monroe-Woodbury classrooms in early October after Tax Watch informed Monroe-Woodbury about the allegations.

What can the state do?

The state Department of Education's inquiry into the allegations remains shrouded in state confidentiality restrictions.

An Education Department spokesperson initially declined to provide any details about the Part 83 proceeding that could lead to the suspension or revocation of Mendoza's state license.

But after legislators criticized the department on Thursday for failing to suspend Mendoza's certification, Keshia Clukey, the Education Department's assistant commissioner for public affairs, provided further information. She said that state law protects accused teachers from revocation of their teaching license until a review proceeding is concluded, as outlined in Part 83 in the regulations of the state Education Commissioner.

Clukey said educators have a "property interest" in their teaching certificates.

"Thus, SED generally lacks the authority to revoke an educator's teaching certificate prior to a hearing and a final, adverse determination," she said.

That means school districts looking to fill a staff vacancy can't expect the state to raise any red flags about an accused teacher while a Part 83 review proceeding is ongoing.

A teacher such as Mendoza, who is accused in the civil suit of raping a student, is free to continue in the classroom unless local school officials learn of the accusations from other sources, as they did in Monroe-Woodbury.

In the case of Mendoza, it appears that allegations that he had sex with a student for two years — in a teacher's office, in his classroom, and in the student's car — did not affect his Part 83 review.

Legislators: Something needs to be done

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, said the state should have suspended Mendoza’s license, based on the seriousness of the allegations.

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“It’s outrageous that an alleged sexual predator was allowed back in the classroom,” she said. “He should have been suspended. The state needs to make sure someone like him gets taken out of the classroom where he isn’t near kids. Shame on us for not doing more to protect the children.”

State Sen. Pete Harckham, D-Lewisboro, whose district includes the sprawling Lakeland district, said the state needs to intervene when allegations as serious as those against Mendoza become known to state regulators.

“It really appears that the system failed here,” said Harckham. “The first priority has to be protecting kids. When there’s a serious allegation that involves inappropriate contact with a minor, that’s got to be a red flag. That person should not be allowed to work with students. Whoever is accused of a heinous act has a right to due process to defend themselves. But the first priority should be protecting students.”

Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg, D-Ossining, whose district includes Lakeland, said the state needs to strike a better balance between the due process rights of the accused and the need to protect vulnerable school children.

"The fact that this teacher sought employment in another district points out a need for much improved scrutiny in school hiring processes where there are vulnerable populations," she said. "We need to make sure our schools are safe spaces. That said, we also have due process in place, with the principle of innocent until proven guilty."

Frances Wills, who represents Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess and Orange counties on the state Board of Regents, declined to comment on state regulations that allow those accused of rape to continue working in classrooms while their case slogs through the Part 83 process in Albany.

“There’s an investigation happening, and the laws sometimes don’t conform to what we believe should be done,” said Wills, the former superintendent at Putnam Valley and Briarcliff Manor. “If this occurred, I can only say that any child in school should not be faced with this kind of situation. It’s horrible and will be traumatizing to that child forever.”

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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government accountability. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Accused HV sex abuse teacher should have license suspended, say pols