Reports of serious misconduct by SA teachers, principals and preschool workers have soared in recent years

Teachers and principals at SA public schools are serving long suspensions as misconduct reports rise – often while still being paid. See the list.

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Reports of serious misconduct by public school teachers are soaring and some educators are being suspended from the classroom for years.

However, the government says it is conducting more investigations and closing cases more quickly after hiring extra staff.

Data released to The Advertiser shows there were 690 reports of alleged serious misconduct by Education Department staff last year, up from 296 in 2022.

It is understood an awareness drive has contributed to the spike and that some reports are found to be false or malicious.

One in five reports made last year resulted in an investigation, compared to a third of reports in 2022.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said his department had added five staff to its Incident Management Division to speed up staff investigations.

It has led to a more than doubling in the number of cases closed.

In the first three months of this year 47 cases were closed, compared to 19 in the first quarter of 2022.

“I don’t want anyone working in our schools who poses a risk,” Mr Boyer said.

“(Investigations) can sometimes be quite complex which is why I won’t ever accept rushing investigations if there are risks as a result.

“However, where we can finalise investigations quickly I expect that to be done – which is why we’ve recruited more staff.”

Education Minister Blair Boyer says his department is investigating more reports of teacher misconduct. Picture: Emma Brasier

Other information released to The Advertiser shows 45 education department staff, including early childhood workers, teachers, school leaders and support officers, were on suspensions as of March 31. Of them, 11 were based in regional SA.

In the longest-running cases, a teacher and a principal had been suspended for almost three years each, or 150 weeks and 149 weeks each.

A snapshot taken at the end of March last year showed 34 educators on suspension including a “corporate” department staff member who had, at that time, been suspended for almost four years (197 weeks).

Details of allegations against the educators have not been released but it is understood common offences include drink driving, drug offences, violence, theft or sexual assault.

The vast majority continue to be paid while on leave.

“If other processes are taking place, such as court cases, it can sometimes lead to a lengthy department suspension while those other processes play out,” Mr Boyer said.

“It is entirely appropriate that staff remain suspended during that period while these processes take place.”

Opposition education spokeswoman Heidi Girolamo said “it’s terrifying to see such a dramatic increase in reports of serious misconduct by teachers in our public schools”.
“The government needs to determine the root cause of this significant increase and review the current screening and recruitment processes to ensure our students are safe,” Ms Girolamo said.