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Parent urges Arlington schools to notify families after substitute allegedly whispered inappropriate remark to student
Summary
A parent told the Arlington board a substitute teacher allegedly whispered an inappropriate remark to his daughter and said the district should notify families via ParentSquare or similar systems when such incidents occur.
A parent told the Arlington Central School District board during public comment that a substitute teacher allegedly whispered an inappropriate remark to his daughter at a middle school and urged the district to change how it notifies families about similar incidents.
The father said the student reported the incident to a principal and the substitute was removed from the school the same day. "We were told that the gentleman was no longer going to be staffed at any or used in any of the Arlington schools," the parent said during the meeting. The parent added, "We did file a police report ourselves." He asked the board to reconsider the district's practice of not issuing a districtwide notification in cases involving substitutes or internal staffing matters, saying parents might otherwise never know if similar incidents occurred earlier.
The speaker said Human Resources told the family that substitutes have rights and that HR provided limited information to the family. The parent said the district cited two reasons for not notifying families: the incident involved a substitute rather than a full-time teacher, and the matter was an internal staffing issue. "In my opinion, I think that's how you would maybe find out if it had happened before," the parent said, arguing that broader notification might reveal unreported incidents.
Board members and staff replied that public comments should not include identifying details about district personnel or students, and the district clerk offered to have staff contact the parent to follow up. The board did not take formal action on the item during the meeting. School staff and HR procedures were discussed as matters for internal follow-up.
Why this matters: The comment raises questions about how the district balances employee due process, student privacy and family notification in potential misconduct cases. The parent recommended the district review whether and when to send messages via ParentSquare or other official channels so families are informed when an incident may affect multiple students.
