Schools must investigate complaints internally

Local school systems are shouldering some of the burden of investigating their teachers, and they could take on more if state budget cuts hold.

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission is charged with certifying the state's teachers and investigating complaints against them. But some of that work is falling on local school officials.

Better training has produced a greater awareness of teachers who engage their students in sexual relationships, leading to more investigations by the standards commission, Deputy Executive Secretary Gary Walker said.

"People are beginning to recognize the signs," Dr. Walker said.

A relationship doesn't develop overnight, he said, so the commission has been concentrating on detecting improprieties before a sexual relationship develops.

With the increase in complaints, the commission must rely on local school systems to perform investigations of lesser offenses, such as procedural issues.

More often, the local system is conducting an investigation and presenting its findings to the commission, which accepts them without performing its own inquiry.

"We're trying to encourage more and more of this," Dr. Walker said. "We're focusing our efforts on the issues that deal with sex, drugs, alcohol and money."

But one of the commission's six investigators is set to retire at the end of the month, Dr. Walker said, and state budget cuts might keep the job vacant.

Having local school systems conduct investigations hasn't affected student safety, he said. But he has made officials aware that filling the position is important.

The PSC has a staff of six investigators; the state has almost 135,000 educators.

Reach Greg Gelpi at (706) 828-3851 or greg.gelpi@augustachronicle.com.