A former Santa Clara City councilman, who resigned after allegations of sexual harassment, has now been placed on leave from his teaching job.
Dominic Caserta is a social studies teacher at Santa Clara High School.
The school says an investigation is now underway.
Caserta had been running for a Santa Clara County Supervisor position before the allegations surfaced.
At least 10 police reports have been filed against him by students and campaign staff.
He has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Here is the full statement from the Santa Clara Unified School District:
Dear Santa Clara Unified community,
To address rumors and clarify the status of the district’s process in investigating current sexual harassment allegations, the district is confirming that Santa Clara High School social studies teacher Dominic Caserta has been placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of an investigation by an independent investigator.
“We are aware of our community’s questions and concerns, and we take student and staff safety very seriously,” said Dr. Stan Rose, Superintendent. “We have been challenged to immediately and directly respond to these questions and concerns due to confidentiality and due process laws and policies which apply to all of our certificated employees,” he continued.
“We are appalled and disappointed with these allegations,” said Dr. Rose. “We are committed to ensuring that each allegation is thoroughly investigated. We take each and every claim seriously,” he continued.
The district is also reviewing its sexual harassment reporting process for students and staff, ensuring that the process is widely available and accessible, has established wellness coordinators at each of its school sites, and is appointing the Stand Up and Stop Sexual Harassment Task Force to identify areas of improvement of harassment reporting, processes and education for the District community, as well as ways to engage stakeholders in developing solutions around harassment. The school site wellness coordinators are licensed counselors or social workers who provide students with support and guidance when facing any types of challenges, including sexual harassment.
“We want to assure our community that the safety of our students and employees is our highest priority and that we will thoroughly investigate any and all sexual harassment complaints,” said Dr. Rose. “We encourage students and staff who have sexual harassment concerns to talk to a trusted adult, their school’s wellness coordinator, another teacher, supervisor, or they may contact Andrew Lucia, Assistant Superintendent, School Support and District Development at (408) 423-2008 or alucia@scusd.net.”
The district will also continue to keep students, staff, parents, and the community apprised of ways in which the district will continue to strengthen our approaches to recognizing, responding to, and reporting sexual harassment. You can find additional resources regarding sexual assault and harassment at the District website.
Sincerely,Santa Clara Unified School District
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