Los Rios Prison and Reentry Education Program teaching staff cleared of misconduct after investigation

By Keyshawn Davis, Solving Sacramento

Following a district-initiated investigation of nine faculty members of the Los Rios Community College District Prison and reintegration education programThe head of the teachers' union reported that they had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

In an email to union members, Jason Newman, president of the The Los Rios College Teachers Association wrote: “On July 18, 2024, all nine faculty members investigated were unequivocally acquitted of all charges.”

The district investigated the faculty members on several charges, including violating the approved curriculum, physically transporting letters from the prison to outside the prison, and misusing faculty email to distribute those letters.

In response to a request for comment on the outcome, Gabe Ross, Los Rios' chief strategy and communications officer, wrote in an email: “I can confirm that our independent investigation has been completed and found that there is no evidence of wrongdoing by any Los Rios employee. At Los Rios, we have a legal and ethical responsibility to investigate any allegations that may be a violation of policy, the law, or both, but we never presume the outcome of an investigation. This is precisely why we typically engage outside investigators to conduct investigations based on all available facts, as in this case.”

Ross added, “Most importantly, we look forward to resuming instruction in our PREP program and refocusing on the students of this remarkable program and doing everything we can to help them achieve their academic goals.”

In his exoneration email, Newman said the Los Rios College teachers' union was pleased to have officially confirmed what it already knew to be true: PREP teachers had done nothing wrong.

“We now look forward to resuming the program and encouraging faculty to return to prisons. Our faculty want to work with incarcerated students to help them achieve their dream of a productive life outside the system,” Newman wrote. “But our faculty remain concerned about working in the program. The LRCFT will work closely with the LRCCD over the next year to ensure our new agreement is honored. Our students and faculty deserve it.”

Although there were frustrations on both sides, Newman wrote that the LRCFT negotiated stronger safeguards and provisions in the PREP Memorandum of Understanding to protect teachers should they return to prisons. According to Newman, an MOU has now been finalized that “prioritizes the authority of teachers over the educational process in prisons.”

“This includes clear processes for protecting academic freedom, addressing safety concerns, handling student complaints, and adjudicating grievances,” his email said. “We insisted on language with specific timelines for refunds and compensation payments.”

(From left to right) Kalinda Jones, Josh Fernandez and Veronica Lopez at Sacramento City College.Keyshawn Davis for the Sacramento solution