NORMAL - It's often board policy to suspend a teacher for a first offense, rather than fire him, Unit 5 Superintendent Gary Niehaus said Thursday, and the district is evaluating its hiring and screening policies because of the Jon White abuse case.

The question arose after testimony in the sentencing hearing of White, a former Unit 5 teacher who continued teaching at Colene Hoose Elementary for a year after pornographic material was found on his school computer. White has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children in Champaign and McLean counties.

The Unit 5 district plans to change how it screens its potential future teachers and to reorganize human resources staffing, changes substantially prompted by White's case.

John Pye, the district's assistant superintendent of operations and human resources, testified Thursday in a Champaign County courtroom that White was suspended with pay for five days and told to seek counseling after the porn was discovered.

Niehaus, who talked to The Pantagraph late Thursday afternoon, said the district can determine if a computer user accidentally or intentionally visits a pornography site. Filters alert personnel if a pornographic site is repeatedly accessed, he said.

School board president Jay Reece said that most businesses have an "inappropriate use of technology" policy under which viewing pornography at work would fall. It isn't necessarily illegal, but is inappropriate, he said.

It's a different matter if it was illegal content such as child pornography being viewed, in which case the police would be notified, he said.

The district also is evaluating its human resources staffing and procedures and has hired a consultant, he said. Plans would redistribute staff workload in some areas, including human resources.

The district also is meeting with the Unit 5 Education Association and others about its hiring and screening of teachers.

The goal is to prevent a similar situation, said Jon Butler, the teachers' union president. "Discussions are ongoing," he said.

The public knows almost all teachers are doing a great job, Butler said, but cases such as White's are "an unfortunate reality."

Hoose PTO President Tammy Kemp could not be reached for comment.