Report 2016-103 Recommendation 4 Responses

Report 2016-103: Los Angeles Unified School District: It Can Do More to Reduce the Impacts of Removing Teachers From Classrooms Because of Alleged Misconduct (Release Date: October 2016)

Recommendation #4 To: Los Angeles Unified School District

To minimize the number of reassignment investigations unnecessarily referred to its Investigation Team, by April 2017 LAUSD should revise its policy to allow local administrators, in certain circumstances and with sufficient justification, to request small, specific additional amounts of time to complete their initial investigations and possibly avoid formal reassignments. When it grants additional time to a local administrator, LAUSD should continue to closely monitor the local administrator's activities until its preliminary investigation is complete.

1-Year Agency Response

The revised bulletin with all of the audit recommendations was issued on July 17, 2017. A final copy will be forwarded to the CSA. The policy remains LAUSD official policy.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

LAUSD's updated reassignment policy bulletin, which was issued in July 2017, allows local administrators to request up to two additional days to complete the initial investigation into teacher misconduct in cases where extenuating circumstances arise.

6-Month Agency Response

The recently revised bulletin and training for administrators reflects the flexibility of local decision makers to take and additional 2 days beyond the previous 5-day requirement to conduct and complete preliminary inquiries. The training has been underway for some time and the formal issuance of the revised bulletin will take place on or before July 1, 2017.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

LAUSD has amended its policy to allow local administrators to request up to two additional days to complete the initial investigation into teacher misconduct in cases where extenuating circumstances arise. In all other cases, the initial investigation period remains limited to five days. LAUSD plans for this revised policy to become effective July 1, 2017

60-Day Agency Response

The LAUSD agrees that this recommendation makes sense. It is important to allow sufficient time at the outset so that the correct decision is made regarding formal reassignment. The LAUSD is aware that formal reassignment presents expense and may greatly impact employee morale, even if the employee remains in paid status through formal investigation. Allowing more time for administrators to make the best initial decision will certainly minimize the likelihood that employees are unnecessarily removed from the classroom. The LAUSD has met with administrators and concluded that, on a case-by-case basis, more than 5 days will be allowed in order to ensure local administrators have ample time to make the correct decision as to whether to reassign an employee. The upcoming revised bulletin and training materials will be amended accordingly.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2016-103

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.