A local school district is still recovering from a former principal’s abuse of power at an elementary school that was reported two years ago.
Former principal Kirk Ashton was convicted last year of sexually abusing more than 20 elementary students dating back to around 2014.
The Hilton School District updated families on Wednesday of actions taken since then to prevent any further incidents of child sexual abuse.
In a letter to families, school board president Mark Hilburger said that policies related to student and staff relations have been updated. That includes a new rule that states if an employee retaliates against a whistleblower, that’s grounds for dismissal.
Hilburger said in his letter that the district reviewed 1200 pages of court testimony as part of a Road to Recovery Plan. And that there was no indication that any one person understood the “egregious actions” committed by the former principal.
A third-party law firm working with the district concluded that since 2021, training provided to the district by Bivona Child Advocacy Center has been “more than adequate” and will continue to be provided in the future.
The first report of Ashton’s abuse of male students in 2021 surfaced after a Bivona held a training session for students on identifying and preventing child sexual abuse.
Roughly a dozen lawsuits are pending against the district from parents and a former employee over Ashton’s case.
