The state of Pennsylvania goes to great lengths to make sure teachers are solid citizens, and for good reason: We trust them with our children.
Teachers must go through a battery of background checks and earn their license to teach - and if they want to continue to teach, they need to keep their noses clean. Breaking the law could result in the revocation of a teacher's license and an end to their livelihood.
To make sure teachers don't break the law, the state requires them to notify their school districts within 72 hours if they have been charged with a crime, and the state Department of Education has a system in place to make sure teachers do just that.
But last year, that system failed in at least one Lancaster County school district, and the state Department of Education has yet to provide a clear answer as to why.
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In November 2022, Charles Graydus, 69, of Caernarvon Township, Berks County, exposed himself to a waxing parlor employee, masturbating in front of her before his appointment was finished.
Police charged Graydus, an Octorara Area School District career and technology teacher and Future Farmers of America adviser, with indecent exposure, open lewdness and disorderly conduct on Jan. 24, 2023.
The next week, Graydus was still teaching at Octorara Junior/Senior High School. And the next week. And the next month. And the next four months. In fact, he finished out the year and retired.
It took 617 days - more than a full school year - for Octorara Area School District to report to staff and parents that a longtime teacher had been charged with sex crimes.
District Superintendent Steven Leever announced the charges to the district on Oct. 1, the day before Graydus was sentenced to probation for the crimes following an August jury trial.
"Certainly, this news is concerning and upsetting, and comes with a lot of emotion and questions," Leever wrote in his message to the district. "Had we learned of an arrest like this while a teacher was employed with us, we would have immediately removed them from the classroom pending an investigation and/or outcome in the case."
The district didn't know about Graydus' crime because he did not self-report it, which is hardly a surprise.
What is surprising is that the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which is responsible for tracking bad actors in the state's teacher population, failed to notify the district that one of its teachers had been arrested.
How does that happen?
The Watchdog put that question, and several others, to the Education Department, which said only that "a system upgrade has been made" following the Octorara failure.
What does that mean? What is a system upgrade? Who made it? Does this "upgrade" specifically address the cause or causes of the lapse in detection and communication of teacher arrests? And what exactly was the problem in the first place?
Still no answer from the taxpayer-funded Department of Education.
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When a person is arrested and charged with a crime, police log information about that arrest into the Pennsylvania Justice Network database, commonly known as JNET.
The JNET system flags any teachers who are charged (teacher licenses are a public record) and alerts someone at the Education Department. Pennsylvania State Police did not immediately respond to a request for information about whether that alert is communicated electronically or person-to-person.
The Education Department then notifies school districts of the arrest and updates the teacher's information on its Teacher Information Management System, an online resource for school administrators.
Leever told The Watchdog that, despite the Education Department's obligation to track teacher arrests and notify school districts, Octorara Area School District learned about Graydus' charges only from internal sources, filing its own report to the state discipline board before the Department of Education reached out to the district.
The Education Department sent the district a letter admitting its notification system failed, but said nothing about what went wrong. Which begs the question: How long has the system been failing, and have other bad actors been allowed to continue teaching in classrooms around the state?
The Watchdog reached out to the Education Department looking for answers, and what came back was wholly unsatisfying.
Via email, the department said its Teacher Information Management System had the nondescript "system update" in October (after LNP - LancasterOnline reporting brought the issue to light) and that the department had asked school districts to "update their contact information."
The department skirted questions about its failing system while insisting it "prioritizes student safety."
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Leever tried to defend the Education Department.
"I don't know if it's fair to lay it at the feet of the Education Department and say, 'Hey, you guys didn't inform us,' " Leever said.
Graydus did not report himself, as state law requires. But why would he? There is little incentive to do so. A teacher convicted of a crime is liable to lose their job, license and retirement benefits, including pension. And then there's the simple matter of trying to save face.
"I wouldn't say there's incentives for them to do it," Leever said. "There's some punishments if they don't, and it ends up being something egregious."
A career administrator, Leever understands communication between agencies and departments can be complicated, leading to errors and delays.
"I have a lot of empathy to everybody along the way," Leever said. "Except for somebody who did something that they were found guilty of and didn't tell us."
The Watchdog also understands the public administration of justice is not flawless and there are lots of humans along the way who can make mistakes. That's normal.
But those folks need to own their mistakes publicly and inform the people who are affected by those mistakes about the specific measures put in place to prevent them from happening again.
The Department of Education keeps a list of educators and substitutes who have had their licenses revoked in the past 20 years. That list, last updated Sept. 30, includes 115 teachers who lost their teacher certification this year.
The Watchdog continues to wonder whether that number should be higher.