We have all learned more than we wanted to know about the scandal at Penn State. The real bottom line for me is that the school officials did not carry out their responsibilities to report what they had been told to police and other authorities. Because of the Penn State coaching staff’s failure to report what Mike McQueary told Joe Paterno he saw, more children fell victim to the activities of Jerry Sandusky.
The International Business Times reported yesterday that Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary has been placed on administrative leave indefinitely. The article explains the awkward situation the school is in regarding Mr. McQueary:
Interim coach Tom Bradley said on Thursday that the decision wasn’t up to him whether McQueary would coach, but CBS Sports’ Gregg Doyel posited that Penn State might be retaining the coach in order to not open itself up to a whistleblower lawsuit. The alluded to complexities to firing McQueary are that the coach could be protected under the whistleblower laws and the school could be found liable of violating those laws if they dismissed the coach.
It seems as if a lot of people dropped the ball in this situation. Meanwhile, the Sun Gazette reported today that the Jerry Sandusky scandal may include the Keystone Central School District.
The article at the Sun Gazette reports that after a parent of a student at the Central Mountain High School reported in 2009 that her son was sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky, she was discouraged from pursuing the matter:
* Several reputable sources say the guidance office talked to the victim and his mother, then discouraged them from contacting Children and Youth.
* Those same sources said when the family questioned that outcome, they were told by a Keystone administrator (Karen Probst) that Sandusky was a “great man” and they should go home and think about it before taking further action.
* The district only took action after the family, frustrated with the school’s response, went directly to Children and Youth Services with its complaint, and after C&Y officials told the district Sandusky should be banned from contact with students and barred from school property.
Only after the family acted, did the school take any action to protect its students. That is truly sad.
