Our view: Rock Hill school district needs better personnel policy

Kenneth Williams might not have been free to sexually exploit underage students at Northwestern High School, as police have accused, if his personnel records had been shared by his superiors in the district. That clearly should prompt the district to review and upgrade its policy regarding employee records, particularly those who have been formally reprimanded.

Williams, 31, an assistant principal at Northwestern, stands accused of multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor and distribution of obscene material to a person younger than 18. The alleged criminal misconduct involves accusations of sexual relationship with two female Northwestern students.

Williams was arrested by Rock Hill police in late April and then again in early May.

But inklings of Williams’ behavior surfaced years ago, in 2013, when Rock Hill High Principal Ozzie Ahl reprimanded him for inappropriate contact by way of social media and in school with students. Williams, hired in 2008, was a physical education teacher at Rock Hill High when he received the June 2013 letter of reprimand from Ahl.

The letter warned Williams that further inappropriate interaction with students could result in his termination.

That incident might have set off alarm bells when Williams was being considered for another job in the district. But the letter of reprimand was not forwarded to Northwestern Principal James Blake, who was considering Williams for a promotion to assistant principal, and Ahl apparently didn’t warn his fellow principal about Williams in a phone reference check.

In May 2015, a second letter of reprimand was issued to Williams by Blake, regarding an investigation into incidents of inappropriate messaging to a female student via Snapchat. This letter also warned that similar behavior in the future could result in termination.

It is unknown to what degree Blake was aware of Williams’ misconduct at Rock Hill High, if at all. If he had been fully apprised, he might have thought twice about hiring and then promoting Williams.

More importantly, if effective personnel procedures had been in place, Williams might not have been in a position to sexually harass students.

School employees can make mistakes and bad decisions that shouldn’t necessarily end their careers. But if a pattern of aberrant behavior develops, school administrators need to know about it.

The letter of reprimand at Rock Hill High should have been a big red flag for anyone thinking about hiring or promoting Williams. They then could have been on the lookout for similar behavior.

Surely the district could establish a central clearinghouse for personnel records, perhaps under the oversight of the Human Resources Department, that could oversee records, track incidents of serious misconduct and warn administrators about possible problems.

The district needs to know if there are potential predators in our schools who could victimize vulnerable students. Williams went far too long without adequate scrutiny, and that should not be permitted to happen again.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Our view: Rock Hill school district needs better personnel policy."