After substitute's alleged sex crime, school looks at hiring

DUXBURY, Vt. --Officials at Harwood Union Middle and High School are re-examining their policies on hiring substitute teachers after one was charged with sexually assaulting an eighth-grader.

St. Michael's College student Jeremy Mullins, 18, worked occasionally as a substitute at the regional school until March, when school officials learned he had been exchanging inappropriate e-mail messages with a female student.

Last week, Mullins was charged with sexually assaulting the student in his car. The court action prompted the School Board and administrators to discuss the hiring policy.

"Anytime you have something like the allegations we've seen happen at our school, people are concerned," said Scott Mackey, chair of the Harwood School Board. "Schools are a place people need to feel safe."

Superintendent Robert McNamara said he did not believe Harwood's hiring policies were to blame.

"This is a horrible situation," McNamara said. "But any steps that we could take (to prevent such a situation), we did take."

Some School Board members suggested new training for substitutes and increasing their pay, currently $70 per day.

Principal Duane Pierson said he did not believe that Mullins' young age was to blame, either.

"This sort of thing could happen with a 22-year-old, a 24-year-old, a 34-year-old," Pierson said.

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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/