Redlands Unified School District announces arrest of former employee

Press Release --- Thursday, November 09, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. 

REDLANDS, Calif. – The Redlands Unified School District (RUSD) received notice of the arrest of former employee, Joel Koonce, stemming from allegations of sexual abuse.

As part of the District’s uniform hiring practices, the fingerprints of Mr. Koonce were cleared through the Department of Justice and reference checks were conducted prior to his hire date in September of 2016. His tenure at RUSD concluded in November of 2017 while he was still a probationary employee.

In October of 2017, a mandated report was made against Mr. Koonce to both Child Protective Services (CPS) and the Redlands Police Department (RPD) by another employee. He was subsequently placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Based on the totality of concerns, the District determined that there was a loss of confidence in him as a teacher and therefore, chose to act swiftly by exercising its right not to re-elect Mr. Koonce for the following school year.

In the abundance of caution, the District took further steps to submit notice to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) in November of 2017.

In light of information that continued to surface beyond Mr. Koonce’s tenure with the District, mandated reports were filed by District employees with CPS and the RPD in July of 2018 and as recently as October of 2018.

While the investigation of Mr. Koonce is active and ongoing, RUSD is imploring anyone who may have information to contact Detective Elyzabeth Green at (909) 335-4714.

For more news and notifications about the Redlands Unified School District, visit our website at www.redlandsusd.net and follow @RedlandsUSD on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

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 Recent incidents involving REV High School

Press Release --- Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.

REDLANDS, CA – Over the last 24 hours, there have been two separate reported incidents involving Redlands East Valley (REV) High School. These events have led to the arrest and apprehension of two individuals by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

One incident occurred on the morning of Friday, September 21 and involved a teacher who lit materials on fire at the REV campus. This incident had no direct correlation to the instructional program and compromised the safety of our students.

Thanks in large part to the swift response and action of the School Resource Officer (SRO) on staff, the situation was promptly investigated and the individual involved was arrested.

School staff, administration and Deputy SRO David McDermott of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department worked together to extinguish the fire. Thankfully, no students were injured. The teacher was subsequently booked for arson and the investigation is ongoing.

On the evening of Friday, September 21, a student from REV vandalized the Redlands High School campus. This student was also apprehended and arrested by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

 The Redlands Unified District wishes to commend the promptness of our local law enforcement officers in these matters. As outlined in the RUSD 2025 vision, learning in safe and secure environments and maintaining collaborative community partnerships are top priorities for the District. Evidenced by these events, both our local law enforcement and our District have the shared goal and vision to ensure the safety and well-being of our students and staff.

For more news and notifications about the Redlands Unified School District, visit our website at www.redlandsusd.net and follow @RedlandsUSD on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

For a PDF version of this press release, please click here. 

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