A federal investigation into John Adams Elementary School teacher Justin Coleman could last as long as a year, Superintendent Morton Sherman told the city’s top elected school officials Thursday. 

Federal authorities charged the fourth grade dual languages instructor with receipt of child pornography following a raid of his Falls Church home in April. Between the search of his home and subsequent arrest, Coleman arrived for work at the West End school. Administrators only learned of the investigation after city police alerted them a sore spot for local officials in the days that followed.

Now school staff are talking directly with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, Sherman said.     

We should not expect any fast action or frequent reports from ICE, but [we] are in regular contact with ICE, he told the board.

Sherman spoke again with parents and teachers Wednesday evening, the second community meeting he’s held since Coleman’s arrest. While the school largely has returned to normal, he pledged to continue helping the John Adams community heal in anyway possible.