Teacher hired during molest investigation

School district officials said Thursday that they were reviewing their policies after a teacher managed to get hired at a middle school in Richmond in the midst of an investigation into whether he had sexually abused students from a charter school that had fired him.

Ronald Guinto, 32, a seventh-grade English and science teacher at Mira Vista Elementary School since his hiring on Dec. 6, was arrested Wednesday on campus before class began, said Richmond police Capt. Mark Gagan.

Guinto, a Vallejo resident, was booked at Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of 11 counts of lewd acts with a child under 14, two counts of forced oral copulation and one count of assault with intent to commit sodomy, Gagan said. Guinto’s bail was set at $1.4 million as prosecutors reviewed the case.

He was fired in the fall from Making Waves Academy, an independent charter school in Richmond, when allegations first surfaced that he had molested several boys ages 11 to 13 in offcampus incidents, Gagan said.

Guinto’s arrest this week was “accelerated” after police learned Tuesday night that he had been hired by the West Contra Costa County Unified School District, Gagan said.

Guinto had initially been vetted by the district by way of fingerprint and background checks in 2009 when he applied to become a substitute teacher, said district spokesman Marin Trujillo.

When he applied for the job at Mira Vista Elementary, Guinto listed Making Waves Academy on his resume, but district officials didn’t call the academy because he was considered a candidate in good standing, Trujillo said. Guinto was not listed in California’s Megan’s Law database of sex offenders.

“Were we irresponsible and reckless? I would disagree with that.” Charles Ramsey, West Contra Costa Unified school board president

Still, “We’ll definitely revisit our protocol for hiring a substitute who turns into a permanent position,” Trujillo said. “That’s something we’ll be looking into.”

Charles Ramsey, president of the school board, said the district had cleared Guinto for hire based on the information available at the time.

“Were we irresponsible and reckless? I would disagree with that,” Ramsey said. “Could we do a better job? Of course.”

Guinto is on paid administrative leave.

In a statement, Making Waves Academy officials said, “Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our students. To our knowledge, the alleged misconduct took place outside of Making Waves Academy. We brought the allegations to the police’s attention and notified our community as soon as they came to light.”