'Passing the trash' a big problem in our school system

The recent indictment of Gary Gregor, a former Santa Fe and Española grade-school teacher, has brought his unfortunate professional history around the West back into focus.

Now, again, parents and taxpayers in New Mexico — and maybe elsewhere — are left to wonder how Gregor ever got into the position to commit the numerous counts of child sex abuse that he’s accused of.

In a case handled by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, Gregor faces three counts of rape of a minor, five counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and four counts of kidnapping, in instances involving two victims 12 years old or younger. The alleged crimes took place nearly a decade ago, in the 2007-2008 school year, when Gregor was a teacher at Española’s Fairview Elementary School.

Prior to that, he had a teaching job at Agua Fria Elementary in Santa Fe. Docents at the Museum of International Folk Art said they’d spotted inappropriate behavior by Gregor with girls from his class during a field trip. Subsequent questioning of other Gregor students is said to have shown a pattern of similar behavior before the museum outing. But the Santa Fe district let him go with a “neutral reference” and he ended up with a teaching job in Española.

Last year, the Española schools agreed to a $3.2 million settlement in a lawsuit filed on behalf of one of Gregor’s girl students at Fairview Elementary. The suit accused Gregor of twice asking the fourth-grader to spend the night at his home, giving her gifts like candy and teddy bears and touching her intimately.

There was trouble before Gregor ever got to New Mexico.

In Utah, after he was accused of sexual misconduct with female students, Gregor faced criminal charges, but they were dismissed in 1995. The case started with a parent’s complaint after two girls stayed after school with Gregor for hours, and it turns out there had been more serious earlier complaints.

Gregor moved on to Montana. A still-pending New Mexico lawsuit on behalf of another Fairview Elementary student says that public records show he acknowledged when applying for a New Mexico teaching license that he was fired from his Montana school job for “insubordination” that had to do with a school policy barring after-school activities with students.

Almost all of these details became public — and generated news coverage — in 2011. The fact that Gregor has finally been charged apparently was inspired by national news coverage of so-called “passing the trash.” That’s the practice of school districts getting rid of teachers accused of molestation or other inappropriate behavior but without red flags to keep other districts from giving the same teachers new jobs.

In December, Gregor’s case was cited in a major USA Today investigative reporting series that inspired coverage by other national news media.

The criminal case now underway should provide some answers as to what precisely Gregor was up to, at least for one school year at Española.

Another big question is whether the people in charge of New Mexico schools and child protection services will ever let something like this happen again.

— Albuquerque Journal