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Paso Robles teacher on leave after texting, messaging girls

June 21, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

A Lewis Flamson Junior High School math teacher was placed on administrative leave on May 30 amid allegations he sent inappropriate text and online messages to students.

David Hong teaches 7th and 8th grade math. Parents have voiced concerns that he wrote a song about the girls in his class and gave his phone number to students.

Hong has worked for the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District for nearly six years. He allegedly had similar issues at a previous job.

“We have no reason to believe that any students or staff members were physically harmed, and we want to stress that the district takes all matters involving student and staff safety seriously, and a safe school environment is our top priority,” district staff said in a press release. “Out of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved, we are limited in the details we can share at this time.”

If you have further information about David Hong or other incidents please contact reporter Karen Velie at (805) 234-1703.

 


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Transparent CA info:

Mr. Hong was hardly making “fast food wages.” His salary in 2023 was $106,426.12.


And CA Teacher Credential info (also publicly avail online): He’s been credentialed since 2011.

So he’s not underpaid.

He’s not brand new.

There are no excuses for his pervy behavior.

Maybe this time he’ll lose his credential and no more students will have to deal with such a creep.


22

Dave Ramsey’s recent survey of 10,000 millionaires revealed that teachers were in the top 3 professions of this group (engineers and financial professionals being the top two). Boom.


0

Another case of “we have to pay a high compensation so we get quailty people”, yeah right


32

Yeah, but they don’t pay Teachers well, so you kind of prove their point.

Administrators? That is a different matter. They are overpaid. And they are the ones responsible for hiring the guy. Perverts come eager and cheap.


0

So if they triple the pay you think this wouldn’t happen again? Sounds silly doesn’t it.


27

Not to anyone that actually doesnt want this to happen again, at any cost. Better pay obviously means better candidates, with better incentive to not do that kind of thing.

Making fast food wages and dealing with the youth(which can be very challenging) shouldn’t go together.


Got any suggestions on prevention yourself, or just criticizing today?


-24

A proper employment screening and background check including psychological testing, interviews of previous employers & acquaintances, drug testing and other thorough vetting means accessing better candidates. The same screening should be standard for other public employees such as police officers, firefighters, department heads and city managers.


7

And presidential candidates…


2

I disagree. Better pay means more power to defend yourself against allegations.


0

When the wages are so low; who else but the deplorable do we expect to want the jobs? Half of society’s ills are self inflicted and no one wants to admit it, and certainly not spend the money to fix it :/


-42

The wages are not low and the benefits are outstanding. The problem is the previous employer cannot say anything not proven in court or they get sued. Paso will have to make a deal to dump him off on the next district without comment.


43

Unfortunately you are correct, time for some parents to get involved and leave an impression on this creeper.


6

Totally disagree. This conduct is inexcusable at any salary level.


29

1) Hong seems to be exhibiting pervy behavior.

2) “perspective24” thinks teachers are underpaid.


There is zero relation between the two, but “perspective24” seems to see #1 as an opportunity to stump for more money for teachers.


7

Do not link this pervert to not enough pay for teachers. That just cheapens the issue that their are child predators in every occupation. It makes me sick to think that this person could go on to find another job as a teacher. School districts need to be held accountable for who they hire.


8