(The Center Square) – An Elk Ridge Elementary kindergarten teacher is on administrative leave as the White River School District investigates allegations of inappropriate conduct with a child, police records and interviews show.
The Buckley Police Department report obtained by The Center Square stems from an April 22 incident, in which a mother accused the teacher of kissing her daughter after he asked the girl for permission. The teacher told WRSD a different story when self-reporting it nearly a week after the fact, the report said.
The mother also told police that teacher Dayby Compton engaged in a series of inappropriate behaviors with her six-year-old daughter last fall. Buckley PD initially categorized the report as indecent liberties, which is a felony sex crime, then closed the case after it couldn’t determine whether a crime occurred.
When asked about the case Tuesday, Police Chief Kurt Alfano told The Center Square that he hadn’t reviewed it in detail, and questioned whether it should’ve been labeled an informational report. The officer investigating the mother’s allegations did not interview the teacher, records and interviews show.
Alfano said Buckley PD could reopen the case if new information about Compton comes to light.
“[The mother] stated [that her daughter] told her that Compton kissed her and that the kiss was close to her lips,” according to the police narrative describing the allegations. “[Her daughter] further stated that Compton asked for permission prior to kissing her and instructed her not to disclose the incident.”
The student’s mother did not respond to a request for comment, and The Center Square chose not to identify her or the child, given the sensitive nature of the issue. Compton answered a call from The Center Square on Wednesday, but declined to comment after WRSD told him not to due to the investigation.
According to a Facebook post, Compton began teaching kindergarten at Elk Ridge Elementary in 2022.
Conflicting reports
The Buckley police report regarding the April 22 incident was written by Officer Jack Frazier and signed by Assistant Chief Mike Northam. Northam confirmed during an interview on Wednesday that Frazier did not interview Compton, but said that Buckley PD could reopen the case if other parents come forward.
According to the report, Frazier spoke with the student’s mother at the police station on April 29, after the school had called her about the incident the night before. The mother asked her daughter about it after the call and told Frazier that her child had provided a different story than the one she had allegedly heard.
“The school advised [the mother] that Compton reported [that her daughter] kissed him on the cheek during class and that he addressed the behavior by informing [the child] it was inappropriate,” Frazier wrote in the report, outlining what the student’s mother had told him at the police station on April 29.
“[The mother] stated she was further informed that Compton expressed concerns regarding potential employment repercussions and initially felt uncomfortable reporting the incident to school administration, which he stated was the reason for the delay in reporting the matter,” Frazier continued.
The mother told Frazier that it was allegedly Compton who kissed her daughter, not the other way, and that Compton had allegedly asked the child for permission before telling her not to disclose the matter.
Frazier also wrote that the mother relayed third-party information that had not been independently verified, alleging that Compton had possibly hugged and kissed other female students on the cheek.
The April 22 incident wasn’t the first time that the mother had allegedly complained about him, either.
Prior complaints last fall
The mother told Frazier that last November, she contacted Compton through “school communication” about concerns she had with him braiding her daughter’s hair after the child told her mother about it.
According to the police report, the child also told her mother last fall that Compton had allegedly been hanging her upside down and “tickling her on her bare stomach and upper legs.” He also told the child that she looked beautiful when she wore her hair and dressed in clothes he preferred, the report said.
The mother said she also complained at the time after a classroom volunteer allegedly told her that Compton appeared to show favoritism toward her daughter. Frazier contacted the volunteer after the mother provided their contact information, but was “unable to determine whether a crime occurred.”
“The school acknowledged these concerns and advised me that Mr. Compton would receive additional guidance regarding appropriate professional boundaries and conduct,” the mother wrote in a written statement included with the report outlining the other complaints she made against Compton last fall.
“I was also informed that the behavior previously reported in November, specifically hanging children upside down and tickling them, may still be ongoing,” the mother alleged in that written statement.
The district’s response
Buckley PD inadvertently emailed the police report to The Center Square last Thursday in response to a separate, unrelated records request regarding a former district employee from years ago. The police report was actually meant to go to Sunday Ferris, the district’s executive director of human resources.
Alfano and his department hadn’t yet notified Ferris or WRSD Superintendent Scott Harrison about the mistake when The Center Square asked about it during an interview at the district office on Tuesday.
Ferris and Harrison told The Center Square that WRSD received the police report last Thursday night.
They said the district filed a records request for the report after seeing social media posts a few weeks ago that alleged more than WRSD was aware of last fall. Ferris and Harrison said WRSD didn’t notify police first because the incidents they had heard about didn’t reach the level of a reportable offense.
State law requires school employees who have knowledge or reasonable cause to believe a student is a victim of physical or sexual abuse or misconduct to report it to law enforcement within 48 hours.
It’s unclear from the report whether the mother told WRSD about her daughter’s conflicting account.
When it comes to Buckley PD, Alfano said they need to prove criminal intent in allegations like this.
“We’d likely reach out to the school district and see if they’re familiar with the incident,” Alfano said.
“If we were comfortable enough that they have vetted that the allegations don’t meet criteria for reporting to police, then we wouldn’t necessarily contact the teacher at all,” Alfano explained Tuesday.
Ferris and Harrison agreed to answer some questions at the district office on Tuesday but elected to respond to most of the inquiries in writing by the next day. They responded via email on Wednesday, confirming that Compton is on administrative leave, but said they are otherwise unable to comment.
“Because this is an ongoing personnel matter, we are limited in the information we can provide and are not able to comment on specific allegations, details of the investigation, or confidential personnel information. We are committed to cooperating fully with the appropriate processes and to handling the matter with care, professionalism, and respect for all involved,” Ferris wrote in her Wednesday email.
She did not directly respond to a question about whether the district notified other parents about the concerns alleged against Compton, or about the corrective guidance he allegedly received last fall.
Ferris confirmed that Compton hasn’t been teaching since the district received the report on Thursday.
“The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority. Should additional information become appropriate for release following the conclusion of the investigation, we will communicate accordingly,” Ferris concluded in her email responding to The Center Square’s inquiry.
The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and its investigation wing, the Office of Professional Practices, did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment before publishing.
The Center Square also sent Ferris a summary in advance of what the article would include from the interview at the district office on Tuesday. When asked to address or correct anything that she thought was inaccurate, Ferris declined, citing the investigation, but said the summary included “inadequacies.”
“There are inadequacies in the narrative you shared, but given the fact that this is an open investigation, we are unable to comment,” Ferris wrote in the email.
She did not respond to The Center Square’s follow-up, asking her again to address anything that she believed was inaccurate or to expand on any “inadequacies,” which she did not directly identify.
