A Look at Sexual-Harassment and Assault Settlements in Schools

At least 26 public-school districts across the U.S. agreed this year to at least $37 million in settlements stemming from allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault of students, teachers or other employees, according to a tally of payouts by The Wall Street Journal.
The 26 settlements were reached in states from California to Connecticut and ranged from $30,000 to $8.25 million. They came during a year of higher-profile incidents involving allegations of sexual misconduct, including assault, by prominent men in politics, media and entertainment.

In 19 of the 26 settlements, the alleged victims were students; the remaining settlements involved suits filed by teachers and administrators. The Journal tally represents a small sampling of the more than 13,000 school districts in the U.S., and it couldn’t be determined whether the number of settlements are up or down this year compared with previous years because there is no central clearinghouse of such cases...

...“That’s the problem—this whole concealment of sexual misconduct in schools, and not being forthcoming of how much this happens,” said Terri Miller, a volunteer president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation, a research group in Las Vegas that focuses on teacher misconduct. “There needs to be a mandated, national clearinghouse, open to the public, to flag people that have committed sexual misconduct against K-12 students. It would include settlements.”...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-look-at-sexual-harassment-and-assault-settlements-in-schools-1514386801