Houston ISD trustees voiced concern Wednesday about why it took a year for district police to arrest three employees accused of inappropriately touching children, but said Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan deserves time to review the cases.

In separate interviews, four trustees said they are troubled by an unexplained gap between the disclosure of sexual misconduct allegations and the arrest of three men by HISD police in the past week. One of the accused educators switched schools within the district and continued to teach for nearly six months before his arrest Monday.

The three men were accused of fondling elementary-age girls at separate schools in January or February 2019. Arrest reports for all three men outline interviews conducted with the girls in early 2019, but document no additional evidence obtained after April 2019.

A Harris County District Attorney’s office spokesman said Wednesday that prosecutors filed charges “as soon as HISD police brought us the evidence.”

“It does raise concerns, the fact that it did take so long, but I don’t know exactly what the investigation entailed or why it took a different turn,” said HISD Trustee Pat Allen, whose district includes two schools named in the investigations.

In a statement Tuesday evening, HISD administrators said they are “reviewing steps taken in each of the recent cases involving student allegations of inappropriate conduct.” The statement did not outline the process for evaluating the cases or a timeline for completing the review.

“The district is examining its processes and protocols to ensure the educational environment remains a safe place for our students,” the statement read.

District officials on Wednesday rejected a request to interview Lathan and HISD Police Chief Paul Cordova. They also did not respond to several questions about the cases.

Related: Questions persist after 3rd Houston ISD staffer arrested on year-old child indecency allegations

Trustees said they plan to ensure accountability in the district’s 220-employee police department, which devotes about a dozen officers to investigating crimes committed on school grounds.

For now, though, board members said it is too early to demand answers from Lathan. HISD Trustee Wanda Adams said Lathan canceled events Tuesday and Wednesday to huddle with district leaders about the cases.

“I’m sure she’ll get it to us as soon as possible,” Adams said. “I think everybody has the same questions, and the community deserves answers to those questions.”

The scrutiny of HISD’s police department began this week after the three current and former staffers each were arrested within a 72-hour period on felony charges of indecency with a child.

In all three cases, girls attending HISD schools told police officers and forensic investigators that their male teachers inappropriately touched them in classrooms. According to arrest reports, a kindergartner said Foster Elementary School teacher James Bradley molested her on multiple occasions, a 9-year-old accused Cunningham Elementary School substitute teacher Qamrul Haque of touching her chest while she sat at her desk, and a 10-year-old reported that Kashmere Gardens Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Raymon Williams rubbed her body in front of other students.

Haque and Williams never returned to the district after police learned of the allegations.

Bradley, however, re-entered the classroom for the 2019-20 school year, assigned to Lockhart Elementary School after an administrative investigation “was unable to substantiate the allegations,” district officials said Tuesday. HISD officials did not respond to a question about why administrators could not substantiate the allegations but district police sought criminal charges.

Michael Lewis, president of Lockhart’s parent-teacher organization, said some families are angry about Bradley’s presence at their school, home to 580 students near Texas Southern University’s southern boundary. Other parents, however, remain confused or willing to offer Bradley a presumption of innocence, he said.

“The information is still fresh because it just happened (Tuesday) as far as people becoming aware of it,” said Lewis, the father of two children at Lockhart. “As information continues to come down the pipeline, my opinion will continue to be formed about it.”

Related: HISD teachers free on bond after child indecency arrests

It was unknown Wednesday whether Haque and Williams sought or received employment in any other schools.

Williams is not under investigation by the State Board for Educator Certification and has not been disciplined by the agency. Texas law mandates that districts report employees who are fired or resign when there is evidence of sexual contact with a student.

HISD officials have not responded to questions about whether they reported Williams to the state board. District staff would not have been required to report Haque because he was not a certified teacher.

HISD Trustee Anne Sung said board members have a role in ensuring the district uses proper practices and protocols in cases involving child sexual abuse allegations.

“Even if all those things are in place, you still have bad things happen,” Sung said. “But you’re looking to see if the system is in place to catch those things as soon as possible. I do expect the superintendent to give her report on this, what went wrong and what we’re doing about it.”

jacob.carpenter@chron.com