A social media photo of former Lakeland teacher Alex Mendoza, who has been accused of sexually abusing a student in a lawsuit.
By Dan Murphy
Families in the Lakeland School District who had children that attend Walter Panas High School from 2015-2023 are absorbing the sex allegations made against former teacher Alex Mendoza by a former student.
In a lawsuit filed this year, the student alleges that when she was 16 and 17 years old, Medoza abused her by having sex with her in school on numerous occasions.
We highlight this story again because there are reports that Mendoza was having sex with others students at Panas. Some of the students may not be willing to come forward and be forced to tell what happened to them, but the matter is being investigated by the Westchester County Police and the Westchester District Attorney.
Mendoza, through his attorney, denies the allegations, but he resigned his Panas teaching post shortly after the school district was made aware of the allegations. Why Mendoza resigned if he did not commit the allegations is not clear.
Many parents are wondering why Mendoza was able to move on from Lakeland and continue teaching. Mendoza taught summer school in the Greenburgh-North Castle school district, and then taught in the Woodbury-Monroe School District this fall until Woodbury was made aware of the allegations against Mendoza by LoHud.com reporter David Mackay-Wilson.
The Lakeland School District said that they reported Mendoza to the NYS Education Department in April. But State law protects accused teachers from revocation of their teaching license until a review proceeding is concluded.
But according to the State Education Department professional discipline of teachers in New York State is divided between employment—the responsibility of a local school district—and certification—the responsibility of the State Education Department (SED).
SED understands that the Lakeland Central School District (Lakeland) received allegations in May 2023 that a certified teacher it employed had sex with a minor student. Local school districts are responsible for ensuring that inappropriate behavior is addressed and reported to appropriate oversight agencies, including law enforcement. In this respect, unreported resignations involving child abuse in an education setting are prohibited by Education Law § 1133.
Sexual contact with a child unquestionably raises a substantial question of
moral character. This means that the superintendent of a school district with knowledge thereof must report such allegations to SED pursuant to part 83 of the Commissioner’s regulations. SED does not confirm or deny the existence of part 83 complaints until an investigation is closed, as knowledge of its existence may compromise the investigation. SED cannot publicly release any information on a part 83 investigation while pending.
Educators have a property interest in their teaching certificates. Thus, SED generally lacks the authority to revoke an educator’s teaching certificate prior to a hearing and a final, adverse determination.
And that is the dilemma in the case of Mendoza. SED cannot act until a hearing is conducted by the Lakeland School District. But Mendoza resigned before that hearing could take place. This enabled Mendoza to move onto two other jobs.
Current law reflects the balance the Legislature has struck between teachers’ due process rights and public safety. If the Legislature wishes to authorize interim revocation proceedings, it should amend the Education Law and provide resources to SED’s OSPRA unit staff to implement it.
State Senator and Education Committe Chair Shelley Mayer said “I am very troubled that despite being aware of the allegations against Alex Mendoza for 6 months, SED is not able to suspend his teaching certification at this stage of the process. While teachers deserve due process, our highest responsibility is to the children who were put in harm’s way when Mendoza returned to the classroom. I have spoken with Commissioner Betty Rosa and look forward to working with the State Education Department and my colleagues to amend existing law to ensure that SED has clear authority to temporarily suspend a teacher’s certification in these extreme circumstances.”
State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said, “The Department supports legislative reform that would explicitly authorize the Commissioner of Education to suspend the teaching certificates of certified individuals where the Department receives corroborated evidence that a certificate holder engaged in violent or sexual conduct.”
Any changes to the current law would be reviewed by the New York State United Teachers union.
As the Mendoza allegations have been exposed, allegations have been made by a school district resident about three other teachers in the district having been engaged in inappropriate behavior. We will not print the names of the teachers who have been accused until accusations are made public, but there has not been a public denial, or rebuke of the accuser, Anthony Cassone.
Cassone did mention Mendoza in his social media before the lawsuit was filed or before any media reports about Mendoza’s conduct.
