Report Faults Charter School

Leaders of an Orange charter school overlooked repeated warnings about a teacher arrested this month and should have its operating license revoked immediately, an investigation has concluded.

The report by Orange Unified School District officials, which was made public late Thursday at a school board meeting, paints a critical portrait of Santiago Middle School administrators for failing to investigate the teacher after parents and district officials had raised suspicions about her behavior and her relationships with teenage boys.

School officials disputed the claims Friday, calling the report “inaccurate” and “incomplete.”

Sarah Bench-Salorio was arrested Jan. 4 on suspicion of having sex with two 13-year-old students. She has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, she faces up to 46 years in prison.

Two days after the arrest, Orange Unified began investigating whether student safety was at risk and if the school’s charter, which allows it considerable independence from the district, should be revoked.

In the district’s report, Supt. Robert French identifies several instances when Santiago administrators were apparently cautioned about Bench-Salorio.

In October 2003, the report said, a district official passed on to Santiago’s principal a parent’s complaint about Bench-Salorio’s revealing bathing suit and “physical horseplay” with a group of students at a pool party.

The report also cited a letter the teacher wrote in August 2004 to newly hired principal Mary Henry requesting that a certain boy be placed in her class. The letter indicates that Henry had expressed concerns to Bench-Salorio about her “personal relationship” with the student.

The boy is one of the two students whom Bench-Salorio is accused of having sex with over several months. The report also includes a series of sexually explicit computer messages from the teacher to the boy that district officials uncovered.

In another warning contained in the report, the mother of a student complained twice to Santiago officials about Bench-Salorio’s behavior toward her son and demanded that he be removed from one of her classes.

Despite the warnings, French said in the report, school officials failed to thoroughly investigate Bench-Salorio.

On Friday, Henry dismissed the idea that she or others at the school should have responded more forcefully.

“Based on what we knew,” she said, “it never gave me reason to suspect that she might have been involved in this.”

French and other district officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

District trustees have scheduled a meeting Monday to further discuss the situation and will hold a public hearing Feb. 1. They are expected to vote on whether to revoke the charter at a Feb. 10 meeting.