ABC Unified School District : Protesters Support Teacher Accused of Sex Harassment
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About 200 parents, teachers and students protested the school district’s decision to pursue sexual harassment charges against a longtime district music teacher.
The district suspended teacher Kenneth Haar in February without pay after six girls in his junior high school band class complained of harassment.
“Given the evidence of the case, you can do what’s right. You can reinstate his reputation and put him back in the classroom where the good teachers belong,” Jane Colacecchi-Padilla, one of Haar’s former students, told board members Tuesday.
Haar was accused of touching the students over their clothing. One student said he touched her on her thigh.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and the Sheriff’s Department investigated the complaints in March but decided there was not enough evidence to file charges against Haar.
The district asked the Commission on Professional Competency to conduct an investigative hearing in June to determine if charges should be filed against Haar. The commission recommended that charges not be filed.
The school board voted in closed session Aug. 4 to appeal the commission’s decision in Superior Court. The school district’s attorney, James Baca, said that an appeal was filed because the board felt the hearing was not fair.
Haar has been teaching in the district for 26 years.
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