Colleagues suspicious of teacher

Co-workers of a teacher who had sex with students had twice raised concerns about her close relationship with students before the police were alerted, investigations reveal.

The former teacher in her 30s, who cannot be named, was sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment at the Blenheim District Court on Tuesday for sexual relations with two students aged under 16.

She had pleaded guilty to seven charges of having sexual connections with young people and two charges of exposing young people to indecent material, between May and December last year.

But an independent investigation commissioned by the school board found the woman’s co-workers were worried months before the scale of the misconduct came to light.

Lawyer Mike Hardy-jones was hired by the board for an external review, about 10 days after the school board was notified of the allegations on May 8, the board chairman said in a letter to parents on Wednesday.

He interviewed staff, and reviewed documents and forensic IT analysis. Hardy-jones found the woman’s co-workers had first raised concerns about her ‘‘closeness with students’’ in November last year. But when staff discussed this with her, she had provided ‘‘plausible reasons’’, such as the counselling or tutoring of a student, he said.

A staff member raised ‘‘a more serious concern’’ with a senior staff member in mid-february this year but no further action was taken.

‘‘The senior staff member told about the concern did not fully understand the nature of it. A technological issue compounded this, as changes in the school’s IT system meant a notification of a written statement was not received,’’ the letter said.

The board and principal were unaware of the concerns until May. At that stage, Oranga Tamariki, the police, the Ministry of Education and the Teaching Council were immediately notified, and the woman was placed on leave. She later resigned, before police laid charges in July.

At the sentencing on Tuesday, the court heard how the woman befriended a student during preparations for a school production. They ended up having sex in the back seat of her car at parks in Blenheim at lunchtimes.

A second student later joined them. During her 12 years at the school, she had formed sexual

relationships with ‘‘a number of students’’, who tended to be from more vulnerable families, and were usually involved in sport, the summary said.

Judge Tony Zohrab said the woman had ‘‘seriously compromised her obligations’’ in a role where parents trusted her with their children.

He also refused final name suppression but the woman’s lawyers said they would appeal the decision, so interim suppression was continued.

The board chairman said after sentencing that the teacher’s actions had a wide-ranging impact. ‘‘Everyone associated with the college is appalled and devastated by the offending and the impact that this has had on students and their families.’’

The board had wanted to update the school earlier but legal advice warned against it in case new information or speculation caused a mistrial, he said.

But the board said staff had not taken action quickly enough, although they did take further actions which led to the offending coming to light in May.

The external review recommended a series of changes to prevent similar offending, focused on encouraging clear reporting of concerns. ‘‘There must never again be a situation where the seriousness of the message is not understood,’’ the review said.

‘‘There must be a new culture developed within the college whereby staff feel comfortable discussing concerns with the principal direct.

‘‘We are very confident that should the serious concerns arise in future, staff would be very clear on the actions to be taken.’’

Pastoral support for students and families would extend even after students left the school, the chairman said.