WILMINGTON — The New Hanover County School district is reviewing all employee personnel files, including files kept at individual schools and at the central administration office.
The move, initiated by the administration, was handed down Monday as New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) faces mounting pressure to take action after the third school employee was arrested on felony child sex charges last week. On Monday, the county’s Board of Commissioners joined a chorus of voices calling for the ‘systemic’ problem of predators in the school system to be addressed.
Related: A long hard look at New Hanover County Schools’ arrests, allegations, and administration [Free read]
The Board of Commissioners proposed sending in a task force of investigators from the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office (NHCSO) and the county’s Department of Social Services (DSS), along with support from the county’s mental health and counseling resource — the proposal awaits the Board of Education’s approval, expected later today.
On Tuesday morning, New Hanover County School (NHCS) spokesperson Caress Clegg confirmed that all school principals had been instructed to review all employee files.
“New Hanover County Schools principals have been instructed to review their school level personnel files for all employees, classified and certified,” Clegg wrote, referring not ‘classified’ documents, but to two different categories of NHCS employees.
“This will ensure school-level administrators are familiar with the files of their staff as well as identify potential concerns. A full review of district files will also occur,” Clegg wrote in an email.
[Note: Port City Daily has asked NHCS about the timing of this move; the article will be updated with any additional information.]
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