• BOE wants time limits in inquiries of alleged misconduct (Premium story)

The Department of Education has placed 43 employees on leave pending the outcome of the respective investigations of cases of alleged misconduct.

The state Department of Education updated Board of Education members Tuesday on its investigation into employee misconduct, Hawaii News Now reported.

Officials say 43 of the department’s 22,000 workers are on department-directed leave or leave pending investigation. Of those, 28 are teachers. Twelve of the cases started more than a year ago.

Some board members were critical that the department’s investigations were taking so long.

"There should be a guideline. There should be a policy. There can always be exemptions requested from a policy or from guidelines," said Darrel Galera, executive director of the Education Institute of Hawaii. "There is usually some kind of timeline that serves as a guideline."

However, Barbara Krieg, assistant superintendent for the Office of Human Resources, said each investigation is unique, with no set amount of time working in all cases.

"We’re always looking at how we can improve the process to minimize the amount of time that any employee is out on leave, to make sure that investigations are being done as quickly as possible, but also as thoroughly and appropriately as possible," she said.

DOE officials say they have closed 15 cases since late June. Half of the current investigations involve allegations of inappropriate conduct toward students.