Fixing what is broken

At what point do seemingly isolated incidents involving the endangerment of students in the Teaneck public school system become a cause for community concern about the system itself? With three troubling high profile stories alleging wrongdoing and negligence by adults entrusted with the care of Teaneck's youth swirling in the media in recent weeks, it may be time to stop viewing these three unfortunate episodes as misfortunes that have befallen Teaneck and start asking what is being done by officials to fix a school system that is developing a very poor reputation for protecting the welfare of youngsters.

The three events in question are, of course, the ongoing criminal proceedings against former Teaneck High School Principal Joseph White, the tragic story of the death of a local teenager on an allegedly poorly supervised THS-sponsored trip to Africa this spring, and the shocking charges that an acclaimed middle school teacher repeatedly engaged in sexual activity with a student for several years, on school grounds and elsewhere. While a presumption of innocence certainly applies, this is quite a lot for a district of only about 4,000 students to be dealing with at one time. Is it mere coincidence, or is there a systemic problem?

On Friday, Bergen County prosecutor John L. Molinelli was quoted in The Record in conjunction with a story about the various charges filed against teacher James Darden. While his ominous comments may have been directed only at the circumstances surrounding this particular case, they apply nearly as well for the others.

"I have to wonder about security in the building and how something like this can take place as frequently as it did over such a long period of time the way it did," Molinelli said at a news conference. "It concerns me, and I hope tonight it concerns some school board members in Teaneck -- at least I hope so."

Any district can be victimized by a lone sicko or a freak mishap on a trip. What does it say about those in charge when the Teaneck schools is suffering through three very public investigations into such incidents at once? Are we just extremely unlucky, or is nobody watching over the employees in the Teaneck public schools?

The apparent complacency voiced by Superintendent John Czeterko in response to the Darden case does not provide much reassurance that officials feel they have anything when it comes to ensuring student safety, or even any indication that the district may be failing in its responsibilities to students and parents alike.

"We value teachers who stay after school," Czeterko told The Record about Darden. "He was a valued and trusted employee. If he violated that trust, we're stunned."

There are many reasons underlying the dented confidence in the public school system. Some are demographic, and are almost completely beyond the control of the district. Others are financial, for which the district can bear no more than partial responsibility. Still others are created by the proliferation of incidents such as these. The question is, can anything be done to reassure the community that the schools remain a safe place for our children, and if so, will those things be done?

Update: See this piece from Tuesday's Record detailing some new measures to be put in place in response to the Darden case.

Update #2: There is more on the district's efforts to calm the community in Wednesday's Record, including an account of a meeting for middle school parents.