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Plano ISD parents deserve answers
By Bill Conrad -- I'm Just a Bill
I imagine many parents of students at Hunt Elementary were shocked Friday morning when they read The Dallas Morning News' article about how Todd Allen Reich was under investigation in 2010 for inappropriate physical contact with a student.
Reich, you may remember, was charged in October 2012 with two counts each of indecency with a child and improper relationship with a student. At that time, Plano ISD held a horribly ineffective "public" meeting where Superintendent Richard Matkin left the building without answering any questions, leaving stunned parents to talk among themselves and wonder what, if anything, Matkin was hiding.
The district tried to remedy the situation by posting answers to parents' questions on its website. Two of the questions asked whether complaints had ever been made against Reich relating to indecency with a child or inappropriate touching. The district said no to both, but open records released last week indicate the district knew otherwise.
However, notes written on a 2009-2010 Plano ISD calendar and included in the documents admit the touching was "inappropriate," but that Reich should not lose his job. The same document, which is not dated or signed, calls the email a "bad choice" and said Reich is not to have any further physical or email contact with the student. The conclusion of the investigation is that while Reich did touch the student in violation of district policy, it was not a violation of state law and that Child Protective Services did not need to be contacted.
Before anyone gives Plano ISD too much credit for finally coming clean and being completely open with parents, let me draw the curtain back a little bit.
On Nov. 1, 2012, The Plano Star Courier sent an open records request seeking any documents relating to an investigation of Reich in late-2009 or early-2010, as well as any emails associated with the investigation. Plano ISD claimed those documents were confidential and not subject to open records requests and asked Attorney General Greg Abbott for a ruling.
Fast forward to late-January and we received a letter from Abbott's office saying Plano ISD lost its appeal to keep the records secret. That letter was followed by one dated Feb. 20 from Plano ISD's general counsel saying we would have our documents within a week. We received them March 8.
To be clear, Plano ISD doesn't owe the media anything other than to do what is required by state law. In this case, even with the delays, the district did just that.
That being said, parents of students in the district shouldn't have to rely on the attorney general to get answers when their child's teacher is arrested and charged with four second-degree felonies. When parents ask about allegations of sexual abuse by a district employee, it is best not to hide behind the Public Information Act. The district had to know that when the truth came out -- and they had to know it would -- things were going to look even worse for them.
Only a few people know if Reich is guilty. His attorney claims his client is innocent, and it will be up to the state of Texas to prove its case in a court of law. What I do know is that there is the perception Plano ISD is hiding things and that makes the district look bad.
If Plano ISD was not truthful about Reich being investigated previously -- as it is now clear they weren't truthful -- what else are they hiding? Since it appears they don't release the truth until the attorney general's office forces them to, I would guess they will soon be getting a flood of open records requests from parents, media and anyone else interested in finding out what is really going on in Plano ISD.
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