Teachers with history of problems have moved district to district. Will KY make changes?

Eric Smart was investigated and disciplined for sexual harassment in 2009 when he was a high profile researcher at the University of Kentucky.

Two years later, he resigned amid federal and UK investigations into falsified data at his laboratory and become a teacher at Bourbon County High School.

Smart is still teaching at Bourbon County High School despite complaints from at least two students who allege Smart repeatedly made inappropriate comments, tried to look up a student’s skirt and repeatedly called one student a “b---h.”

Jason Earlywine, a physical education and health teacher, was disciplined for sending a student more than 1,700 voice or text messages in 2011 and 2012 and for other inappropriate conduct while a teacher at Paris Independent School District.

He eventually left the district and got a job at West Jessamine High School in 2019. Students said in the first several months on the job that Earlywine made inappropriate comments to female students, including asking whether one was wearing underwear, according to Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB) documents.

Earlywine was terminated from Jessamine County School District in part for lying about his previous disciplinary history at Paris Independent. In October, EPSB revoked Earlywine’s license for three years.

He could still teach again if he finishes training on appropriate boundaries between teachers and students.

Kentucky has few safeguards in place to keep problematic teachers with a history of sexual misconduct or questionable behavior from moving from school to school.

Toni Konz Tatman, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education, said Kentucky does not require “applicants to provide a statement disclosing any allegations, investigations, resignations or terminations for sexual abuse or misconduct with a student or minor.” But, prospective employers can file an open records request for documents like a personnel file from the applicant’s previous district, she said.

Perspective employees also must undergo a criminal background check and must be checked through the state’s abuse registry, which shows if the Cabinet for Health and Human Services, which investigates child abuse allegations, has substantiated an allegation of abuse against a prospective employee.

Other states do more

Other states have made it much more difficult for problematic teachers with prior histories of sexual misconduct to move from school district to school district.

Eleven states and Washington D.C. have enacted laws that mandate tougher screening for teachers, according to Mass Kids, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that has monitored teacher sexual misconduct legislation.

Of those 11 states:

• Six state and D.C. have standardized screening for applicants that includes whether the educator has had past substantiated investigations for sexual misconduct and whether they were disciplined.

• Eight states and D.C. require school administrators contact the applicant’s previous school district to inquire about previous investigations involving sexual misconduct.

• Eight states require an applicant to sign a release allowing prior employers to share information about prior sexual misconduct and releasing that employer from any liability for sharing that information.

• Seven states have passed laws that exempt school districts from civil lawsuits for sharing information about an applicant’s prior employment history, including sexual misconduct.

• Eight states prohibit nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs. A nondisclosure agreement prohibits all parties from discussing misconduct.

Some school districts ask applicants if they have had prior disciplinary actions, said Jim Flynn, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents.

Other questions that are frequently asked on school applications, but not required by law, include:

• Have you ever had a charge of child abuse against you substantiated?

• Have you ever been convicted of any offense for physical or sexual abuse of a child?

• Have you ever been involuntarily terminated or asked to resign, or resigned in lieu of termination from employment of another district?

When Earlywine applied at West Jessamine High School, he was asked on his application if he had been subject to disciplinary action that resulted in his suspension. Earlywine was suspended for two years while at Paris Independent but was later reinstated, according to records obtained through an Open Records Act request.

Earlywine has vehemently denied the allegations against him and said he did not believe his suspension was a disciplinary action.

Smart, too, was asked about prior disciplinary actions when he applied at Bourbon County High School.

However, Earlywine and Smart’s prior problems at Paris Independent and UK were highlighted in media stories. A Google search would have alerted would-be employers of their past problems.

Little movement for change

A September Herald-Leader investigation found that over a five-year period, the top reason the majority of teachers voluntarily gave up their licenses or had them revoked or suspended was due to sexual misconduct.

Kentucky requires teachers to receive training on sexual harassment but has no requirement that they undergo training on sexual abuse or appropriate boundaries between teachers and students. According to Mass Kids, 33 states and the District of Columbia mandate that training.

Still, there appears to be little movement in Frankfort to make changes.

Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, is chairman of the Senate Education Committee. Wise said no one has approached him to ask for changes in the law.

“No one from the legislature, from KDE or from any of the K-12 education groups have brought that issue to my attention at this time for the upcoming session,” Wise said.

The Education Professional Standards Board, which oversees teacher licenses, has not yet discussed the Herald-Leader series, education officials said.

“While the board has not had the opportunity to talk about the (Herald-Leader) series yet, the Kentucky Department of Education will support the EPSB in protecting the integrity of the profession and safety of students by reviewing processes and consequences in addition to other potential employment, civil, and criminal consequences,” said Tatman, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education.

Lu S. Young, the chairwoman of the statewide education board, said the board has grave concerns about teacher sexual misconduct but said any proposed changes should come from the EPSB.

“Educator sexual misconduct harms students, represents an egregious breach of trust and dishonors the profession,” Young said. “Any proposed changes to licensure or investigations of educator misconduct would be under the purview of the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB), not the Kentucky Board of Education. However, the board remains committed to protecting the children entrusted to our public school system and we are always willing to consider policy changes that can better serve them.”