Jay police Chief Joseph Sage speaks Thursday night at the Regional School Unit 73 directors meeting at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay. He urged anyone with information regarding the recent arrest of a teacher on child exploitation charges to share it and encouraged fostering an atmosphere where young people feel safe to come forward. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

JAY — School officials, the police chief, parents and a student addressed dozens of community members Thursday about the recent arrest of a Spruce Mountain High School art teacher charged with sexually exploiting a minor, saying more needs to be done to protect students.

Police Chief Joseph Sage attended the meeting of Regional School Unit 73 directors from Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls to give details about his investigation, so far.

Jan Barlow, 47 of Auburn, an art teacher at the high school, was arrested March 8 and charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and tampering with an informant, witness, juror or victim, according to Sage. Bail of $5,000 was set for Barlow on Monday and Barlow resigned Tuesday.

A closed door session lasting about 20 minutes was held at the beginning of the meeting.

“Understandably, people have been upset with what is going on,” Superintendent Scott Albert said. “The safety and well-being of our students is our No. 1 concern. We received a parental complaint. Following protocol that staff person was put on paid administrative leave for an investigation starting on Thursday, Feb. 27.”

The Jay Police Department was notified, along with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Department of Education certification department, he said. “We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement on this matter. The staff person was arrested seven school days after the complaint was made and resigned late Tuesday afternoon, March 11, nine school days after the complaint.”

The Policy Committee will review policies and language in contracts will be seriously looked at in the future, Albert added.

Board Chairperson Don Emery of Livermore Falls said, “I fully understand the deep concerns and passions that surround safety and well-being of our students. Protecting our children from harm, including any potential threats, such as child predators, is something that every single one of us truly cares deeply about. We are here to listen as a school board and take your input seriously. It is our collective responsibility as parents, teachers and community members to ensure that our children are protected and that the appropriate actions are taken when needed.”

“I have lived in this community my entire life,” Tanya DiMillo of Jay said. “I am concerned. We have a lot of good teachers in this district and I feel like they’re being drowned out by the bad ones. This is why I have an issue with unions. Julie and Rob Taylor, I know are very strong support of it and if every teacher in this district were like Julie and Rob, I would not have any problems. We need to empower the good staff to stand up and say ‘enough is enough.'”

DiMillo said the administration needs to act on these situations. “If a co-worker is doing something wrong or just not doing their job, speak up,” she said. “I do not believe that not one adult in this building didn’t know what was going on with what seemed to be many girls over the years. So I would like to figure out how we empower our good teachers to feel comfortable speaking up and coming forward and having something done about it.”

Mellette Pepin of Jay said she took her child out of the district two years ago. “Somebody knew something about this before,” she said. Former students are posting about their experiences on Facebook, she added.

Police chief speaks

Sage said he was there as a member of the Police Department and a parent.

“In dealing with this very tragic event, first let me say I commend the school for its handling of this matter,” he said. “Principal Plourde immediately brought it to our school resource officer’s attention the very moment he was made aware of the matter. From then, a very quick response happened from the school district to remove this subject from having a contact with children. Secondly, I would like to say that the school does a phenomenal job with its use of wisdom and discretion.”

A parent wants to know in these cases, Sage said. “But as an investigator, I understand that in the day of digital media and social media, everything that people know is automatically uploaded for the whole world to see. As an investigator, that’s a flaw, because if that had happened and we were not able to get the evidence that we needed for a successful prosecution, we would be victimizing the victims in this tragic circumstance even worse. I encourage everybody here to foster an atmosphere and a culture where these young people can come forth and have the confidence to know that when they do disclose these matters, they’re not going to be vilified.”

As the only person with all the facts in this case, Sage stressed there’s no indication anybody else knew what was going on. “That’s because, out of their own words, they were too ashamed to tell anybody, and that’s a problem. I think that we have created a culture where young people don’t feel comfortable coming forward and disclosing some things, and I think that we as adults and as parents in this room have an obligation to these children to make sure that we change that culture. Remember that there is only one villain in this story and that person was arrested last week and hopefully will be successfully prosecuted.”

Sage thanked everyone who took the quick and necessary actions to get the best case resolution. He encouraged anybody with information to come forward. “Know that you will be supported, that we will encourage you every step of the way and that we will also do everything we can to protect you,” he added.

Student Alana Wing said, “School is supposed to be a safe place.”

She referred to rumors circulating that the teacher had exhibited similar behavior previously. “If this is true,” she said, “then I feel like there should be more precautions taken. What about the current students? How are students supposed to be safe? The bullying is not controlled. So I guess I’m just asking what’s being done to prevent this, because if students are openly talking about it at school, I am sure some teachers have overheard.”

Wing said she is happy to be graduating soon, but she is very concerned for future students. “We need to start being there for our students,” she said, “being transparent about issues that go on because certain situations affect students for their entire lives. Your students need a lot more support.”

Changes needed

Changes need to be made in the district, difficult conversations are needed, Director Roger Moulton of Livermore Falls said. He cited union contracts as the issue.

“I want to compromise with our educators,” he said. “Ninety-eight percent of our educators are fantastic in this district. I think we do better than many districts around us with the percentage of just fantastic people we have. It’s no secret that the other 2% is absolutely awful, should no longer work in our district.”

Staff members that belong to the union are more protected, Moulton said. “Nowhere in any realm of any possibility should adults be more protected than children and that union contract gives them that protection. I would like us to install a student survey on exit of every year. They can be anonymous surveys, but there needs to be something put in our contract with language that says, if these surveys get a low enough score, these employees need to be brought to the board for review, with the possibility of terminating them. Let’s have a serious discussion about how to level the playing field legally between students and teachers. Right now, as it exists, we do not protect our students more than the teachers.”

Moulton said he hoped the board and Albert would have those difficult conversations and stand strong for students. “Again, they are the most important people and protecting them first is the first priority.”