Sequoia Union High School District’s superintendent recommended in a closed meeting Wednesday that the school board consider firing a Carlmont High School vice principal for having inappropriate relationships with former male students, according to a source close to the district’s administration.
The recommendation emerged from an ongoing investigation triggered by a Change.org petition launched in May demanding that Vice Principal Jennifer Cho be held “accountable for her actions” with students at the Belmont campus over the past decade, the source said. To date, 5,400 people have signed the petition.
In a statement sent to this news organization Wednesday on behalf of the school district, San Mateo County chief deputy counsel Claire Cunningham did not address Cho’s job status, but said: “Given the persistence of these rumors and the volume of comments on the Change.org petition, (Superintendent Mary) Streshly determined it was important to conduct a more vigorous investigation to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the concerns raised by former students on the Change.org petition.
“This investigation is not yet completed, in large part because of the difficulties in contacting witnesses and scheduling interviews due to the impacts of COVID-19. If anyone has relevant information to share, we urge them to contact the District right away to be included in the investigation.”
On Thursday afternoon, Streshly sent out an email to the Carlmont High staff citing the same reason for stepping up the investigation.
“As superintendent, my top priority is to create an environment where our students and staff feel safe and protected by the District’s leadership,” Streshly wrote. Near the end of the message, she added: “I understand that Carlmont is a close community, and I further recognize that the story that ran this morning is creating a multitude of feelings within every sector of the Carlmont family.”
Cho was removed from her position at Carlmont in late May and reassigned to the district office before being placed on administrative leave pending the investigation’s outcome, the source said.
Cho’s attorney, Shannon DeNatale Boyd, has denied that her client had any “sexual or otherwise romantic relationship with any student.”
“The District has not completed its investigation, thus the validity of your alleged statement on behalf of the Superintendent is questionable at best,” Boyd said in an email Wednesday night, responding to a question about the possibility of termination.
Belmont police also investigated the allegations, but Cunningham said they no longer are. Belmont police Lt. Peter Lotti could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but in an interview two months ago he said police began their investigation when the petition went online and as yet had not found any evidence that Cho engaged in sexual activities with Carlmont students.
Cho was investigated for similar allegations in 2017 after a former Carlmont coach reported her allegedly flirtatious behavior with student athletes. Cho was placed on leave then and subsequently reinstated after the investigation found she had exchanged inappropriate text and social media messages with students but didn’t uncover anything more serious, according to the administration source.
The former coach said in an interview he overheard athletes talking about Cho in locker rooms and eventually decided in May 2017 to convey what he heard to district administration and Child Protective Services.
While retrieving reports and emails associated with the earlier investigation in response to this news organization’s public records request, district officials discovered that Cho had been using district email while on administrative leave to correspond with one of the former students, who now attends an out-of-state university, according to the source.
Those emails suggest she was paying some of his expenses and helping with his homework, the source said.
Cunningham confirmed she is aware of those emails, but would not comment on their content.
In addition to the Change.org petition, students, parents and some teachers also are criticizing administrators at Carlmont High — which serves 2,000-plus students from Belmont, San Carlos, East Palo Alto, Redwood City and San Mateo — for allowing Cho to continue working despite persistent complaints about her behavior.
Petition organizers provided the Bay Area News Group with text messages exchanged between Cho and some students as well as a couple of Snapchat posts showing her in revealing bathing suits as evidence of her inappropriate conduct. Some of the messages were also part of the 2017 investigation. The messages contain no direct evidence of Cho having engaged in a sexual relationship, and no student has publicly claimed having had an inappropriate relationship with Cho.
The Change.org petition was organized by Dylan Wain, a 2017-19 Carlmont student who said Cho’s conduct with boys has been common knowledge for years in the school community.
“Many students feel angered and uncomfortable that this behavior is tolerated by the school, let alone the principal,” Wain said in an interview.
In a statement written on the high school’s Facebook page June 29, Carlmont Principal Ralph Crame said he would assist both the district and the police in their investigations. “Although I am limited in what I can say, and I know this has led to frustration, I want you to know that I am listening,” Crame said in the post. “The safety of our students will always be my top priority.”
