Huron Schools ends employee investigation

HURON — During Monday's public meeting, Huron school board members and district leaders announced that an investigation into employee interactions with students has ended. And, by the end of this week, they intend to release the report and its findings. Officials kept their announcement brief and vague, not directly referencing an employee and/or singling out a specific situation. Earlier this year, the board of education approved bringing on Venice Solutions Group. The group's hiring and subsequent investigation appear to relate to former district school resource Officer Keith Lobsinger, who still works for Huron police, but the district did not confirm the connection in a follow-up email the Register sent. At Monday's meeting, the board entered into an executive session — a portion of the meeting behind closed doors — for about 30 minutes. Once officials came out, board member Stacy Hinners read a statement announcing the conclusion of the investigation. The district's statement: Earlier this year, Huron City School Board of Education engaged a firm called Venice Solutions Group to independently investigate multiple complaints made to the district about certain employee interactions with students. Venice delivered its final report to the board this past weekend. The report, with legally required redactions, will be posted on the district's website by the end of the week. We thank everyone who raised concerns and cooperated with the investigation. Student safety is this board's top priority. We are committed to a culture where concerns involving student safety are reported without fear of retaliation and where the community trusts that those concerns are taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and addressed appropriately. The board acted on the evidence available. • In some instances, alleged victims could not be identified, denied allegations or declined to participate. In some instances, former employees refused to cooperate. • In some cases, individuals fully cooperated, and we thank them for it. Administrators will take all appropriate action based on the evidence, and if new information emerges, we will re-evaluate. For now, this investigation is closed. Student safety through training, communication and consistent enforcement of professional standards and policy. Before ending the meeting, district superintendent James Tatman reiterated that the redacted report should be completed by the end of the week. Once it is, the report will be uploaded to "BoardDoc," the platform the district uses to organize its meetings, agendas and policies. He said the report will also be added to the main district website once it is available.