Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said he was "stunned" by results of his audit on the Woodland Hills School District.
The report found that nine behavioral specialists employed by the district between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2016 lacked proper certifications by the state. DePasquale said one of those workers lifted a student by the neck last year — an incident currently under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office.
"That whole situation could have been prevented simply by making sure that the person was qualified to have that job in the first place," DePasquale said.
The audit also revealed the Woodland Hills' policies on weapon detection, gangs and relations between students and police have not been updated in more than 20 years.
"So let me put this in perspective," DePasquale said. "None of the policies on school district safety have been updated since before the shooting at Columbine High School. Think how much the world has changed since Columbine."
His team found the district also has no established protocol for students to report bullying.
The Woodland Hills School District has seen multiple incidents of violence. Last year, five former students filed a suit against the district alleging officials fostered a system of abuse. At least eight boys in the Woodland Hills School District, including Antwon Rose, have been shot since last September.
DePasquale said he's never run an audit that revealed so many unqualified people working in a single district's schools.
