It’s been almost three years since the school district concluded investigations of Vashon High School teachers Kara Sears and John Rees,who in the fall of 2022 were separately accused of grooming students for intimate relationships that took place shortly after the students graduated from high school.

In the wake of those investigations and the subsequent resignations of both teachers, the district announced a partnership with the Vashon DOVE Project, the island’s nonprofit agency providing advocacy and education for those affected by domestic violence and interpersonal harm.

With DOVE, the district formed a work group made up of DOVE and district staff as well as community members to help chart a path forward for the district.

Now, that work group has been reinvigorated under the leadership of Interim Superintendent Jo Moccia and DOVE Project Executive Director Heidi Jackson — resulting in an update to the community on the district’s accountability plan and actions to better ensure student safety since 2023.

The accountability plan — as described in an email to school district families on Dec. 12 — is aimed at “supporting students and preventing adult-to-student boundary breaches” to “ensure such breaches never happen again.”

Jackson, in a phone interview, detailed numerous meetings of the work group and actions taken by the school district in 2023 and 2024 to tighten its policies and procedures and make culture shifts to better support students and prevent adult-to-student boundary breaches.

But Jackson also said that regular meetings of the work group had been suspended in 2024, and a planned 2025 update to the broader community had not been made under the leadership of former superintendent, Slade McSheehy, who resigned last May.

Despite this, the district has made significant progress in its goal to foster a culture of safety for students. The DOVE Project’s increased presence in the school district has been a part of this effort, she said.

“We’re there every week,” she said, detailing programs in which DOVE Project staff members interact directly with students and teachers.

She also praised Interim Superintendent Moccia for her eagerness to rejuvenate the work group and encourage the release of DOVE’s accountability report to the community.

Administrators and teachers in the schools, she said, have also worked hard to ensure student safety since 2023.

“I think the staff wants to do everything they can — they really are committed to making long-term changes in the safety of the kids,” she said.

School Board Chair Juniper Rogneby lauded the changes described in DOVE’s update to the community, but said the work would be ongoing.

“Culture shift is not a one-and-done,” she said. “It’s an ongoing endeavor and it’s important that everyone in the district is fully invested in that work.”

Moccia, in an interview, concurred. Recalling the hard lessons of the 2022-23 teacher investigations, Moccia said, “The entire situation is a concern for the district, and one that we are mitigating against ever happening again,” recalling the hard lessons of the 2022-23 teacher investigations.

Highlights of DOVE’s December report to the community included:

• At the start of the 2025-26 school year, all building-level staff underwent a review regarding the prevention of boundary invasions. This review included several required online instructional modules. Notable improvements have additionally been made in staff training for teachers, coaches, substitutes, and bus drivers, according to the report.

• In the fall of 2023, 2024, and in the spring of 2025, DOVE also partnered with the school district to conduct in-person training and discussion sessions during staff professional development days. Additionally, the report said, “reporting procedures and best practices are reviewed regularly during scheduled staff meetings throughout the year.”

• An additional series of lessons, called “Adulting 101” will soon be piloted to provide education to graduating seniors about healthy relationships, consent and college life, according to the report.

• During the 24-25 school year, a more robust anonymous reporting tool, “StopIT,” was introduced in the school district. According to DOVE’s report, all district families received information about the new system, and all students in grades 6-12 learned about the tool during their homeroom classrooms. Additionally, the report said all students in grades 6-9 were surveyed using the “Check Yourself Survey” — a self-reporting process that helps staff identify and support students who may be struggling for various reasons.

• The safety curriculum at Chautauqua Elementary School now also teaches students to recognize unsafe situations and respond appropriately by seeking help from trusted adults at home and school, the report said, adding that “students are encouraged to act as powerful bystanders who take safe, constructive action when they see something unsafe.”

In the report, Jackson again said she has observed important cultural shifts in the district.

“The concept of ‘see something, say something,’ is gaining prominence and safety concerns are being reported at much higher rates,” she said. But she also said the work to repair harm and support student safety will continue.

The work group will meet again in the late spring of 2026 to assess the impact of the new procedures and to discuss potential adjustments for the 2026-27 school year, Jackson said.