By Keyshawn Davis

Following a district-initiated investigation of nine faculty members in Los Rios Community College District’s Prison and Reentry Education Program, the president of the teachers union reported that they have been cleared of wrongdoing.

In an email to union members, Jason Newman, president of the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers wrote, “On July 18, 2024, all nine faculty under investigation were unequivocally exonerated of all charges.”

The district investigated the faculty members for several allegations, including violating  approved curriculum, physically moving letters from the prison to outside of the prison, and misusing faculty email to distribute those letters.

In response to a request for comment about the outcome, Los Rios Chief Strategy and Communications Officer Gabe Ross wrote in an email: “I can confirm that our independent investigation was completed, and it was determined there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by any Los Rios employee. In Los Rios, we have a legal and ethical responsibility to investigate any accusations that could constitute a violation of policy, the law, or both, but we never pre-suppose the outcome of any investigation. That is precisely why we typically use outside investigators to conduct investigations based on all facts available, such as in this case.”

Ross added, “Most importantly, we look forward to continuing classes in our PREP program and returning the focus to the students in this remarkable program and doing everything we can to help them reach their academic goals.”

In his email about the exoneration, Newman said the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers is pleased to have official confirmation of what they already knew was true: PREP faculty had done nothing wrong. 

“We now look forward to restarting the program and encouraging faculty to reenter the prisons. Our faculty want to engage with incarcerated students to help them achieve their dream of living a productive life outside of the system,” Newman wrote. “But our teachers remain concerned about working in the program. The LRCFT will work closely with LRCCD in the next year to ensure our new agreement is followed. Our students and faculty deserve it.” 

While there were frustrations on both sides, Newman wrote that the LRCFT negotiated stronger protections and provisions into the PREP Memorandum of Understanding in order to protect faculty if they were to return to the prisons. According to Newman, an MOU has now been completed that “prioritizes faculty authority over the educational process in the prisons.” 

“This includes clear processes for protecting academic freedom, addressing safety concerns, handling student grievances and assessing complaints,” according to his email. “We insisted on language with specific timelines for reimbursement and compensation payments.”

The new MOU paves the way for classes to return to the prisons.

While glad to be exonerated, Folsom Lake College professor and PREP faculty Josh Fernandez, wrote in an email that he will not be returning to teach at the prison.

“Because of Los Rios’ dangerous incompetence and their continued demonstration of absolute contempt for their students and faculty, I do not feel safe entering a California prison knowing that they are looking for ways to punish and criminalize the very people attempting to make a difference in the world,” he wrote. “I suggest that any faculty hoping to teach in the prison not do so under Los Rios’ guidance, as the district is not equipped to educate incarcerated students using a liberatory framework. If we are working toward human liberation, Los Rios is one of the institutions that is part of the problem, not part of the solution.”

This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. Solving Sacramento is supported by funding from the James Irvine Foundation and James B. McClatchy Foundation. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.