Menlo Park City School District Superintendent Responds to Arrest of Former Employee for Sex Crime

Dear Parents,  

I have some highly distressing news to share.  Yesterday at the close of the business day, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department informed me that a press release was issued to all media sources that a former District employee, Yung-Chi Chu, was arrested. The Press Release reports that Mr. Chu is charged with “12 counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14; 1 count of sending harmful matter with the intent of seducing a minor, and 1 count of contacting a minor with intent to commit a sexual offense.” 

I have been advised by the Sheriff’s Department that the 10 year-old victim was not a student of our District. Mr. Chu, employed by the District in November 2007 as a computer technician, submitted his resignation on March 2, 2011, during a disciplinary investigation of misconduct. Upon the discovery that he had violated District policy unrelated to this investigation, I placed him on administrative leave, and directed Director of Technology Jim Bowlby to confiscate all of his equipment, disable his accounts and access to our computer systems and escort him off campus. 

This action, which is customary in such cases, was taken to enable the District to investigate any additional misconduct. Following a more thorough investigation and upon my consultation with our attorney, the District took no further action except to accept Mr. Chu’s resignation. Certainly, the alleged criminal behavior that has led to his arrest was not discovered in our investigation.   This arrest of a former employee, who worked in the District for 3 ½ years, is as shocking to you as parents as it is to me. All employees in the District are fingerprinted by the Department of Justice to determine any criminal behavior. Thereafter the District is informed of any arrests or indictments of employees. Mr. Chu had no criminal record before and during his employment.

Mr. Chu was assigned to the Teacher Educational Resource Center for part of his day and provided services to both Encinal and Laurel Schools for the remainder of the day. Computer technicians assist teachers and other employees in the classrooms, libraries and the offices. They are not assigned duties that would require them to be alone with children without the presence of a credentialed teacher.

The District has been fully cooperative with the Sheriff’s Department in the ongoing investigation. 

The San Mateo Sheriff’s Office has requested that anyone who believes they have information concerning this investigation contact Detective Sergeant Bryan Raffaelii at (650) 363-4058 or telephone the Sheriff’s Anonymous Tip Line at (800) 547-2700.  I would also appreciate you contacting your principal or me if you have observed, or your children have reported to you, any inappropriate behavior of Mr. Chu during his employment in the District.  This matter is clearly of great concern to all of us, educators and parents alike. It should remind us to reinforce the lessons we teach our children on how to handle difficult interactions with adults and the importance of open communication with us.  

Respectfully,

Ken Ranella Superintendent