LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles City Council members Bernard Parks and Janice Hahn Wednesday asked for a briefing by Los Angeles Unified School District officials on an assistant principal charged with molesting students.

Two weeks ago, middle school assistant principal Steve Thomas Rooney, 39, was ordered to stand trial on 13 felony sex-related counts involving three teenage girls who testified they met him at two schools where he worked, including one who claims he impregnated her during a consensual sexual relationship.

Rooney, who faces three counts of forcible lewd acts upon a child, six counts of lewd acts upon a child and four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail pending arraignment Thursday at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse.

"We're going to figure out some sort of a protocol, system and transparency so that never again do our kids have to worry about when they're sent to the principal's office for bad behavior, that in fact the principal's office is where the bad behavior exists," Hahn said.

The council's request came on the same day that LAUSD officials said that more than 20 employees have been removed from school in the past year because of inappropriate sexual conduct accusations that involved children. School officials said 25 teachers and employees were removed from schools during the past year.

"This is not out of the ordinary for school districts all over the nation," said LAUSD Deputy Superintendent Ray Cortines. "These things happen.

"They made a major mistake, as far as I'm concerned, by not reporting it. But when I asked counsel, 'What should I do with these individuals?' I was told they should be returned to their schools. The same day that I made the decision to return them, the district attorney proffered charges against them after they were already returned to their schools."

Hahn represents the area around Markham Middle School, where Rooney was sent after he was investigated for allegedly having sex with an underage student at another LAUSD campus. Two of the alleged victims attended Markham, and the other was a student at Foshay Learning Center.

The council members sent a letter to LAUSD Board of Education President Monica Garcia, requesting that district officials appear before the council to provide information on the allegations.

The case raised the ire of Markham parents, who criticized the LAUSD after learning that Rooney had previously been investigated for allegedly having sex with an underage student while he worked at Fremont High School and pulling a gun on her stepfather. No charges were filed in that case.

After Rooney's arrest, school district officials sent a letter to parents of Markham students saying the district had put him on leave from his job.

"It appears as though L.A. Unified has failed to invest this case thoroughly," said Parks, a former Los Angeles police chief who represents the area around Foshay Learning Center. "We ask the school district to come into City Council, if need be in closed session, to explain to us what are the circumstances so we're better able to explain to our public what is going on."

"I'm not saying the superintendent was responsible here, but I am saying someone was responsible," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Rooney was first arrested in connection with a 13-year-old girl who claims he had sex with her March 1. Charges were subsequently added in connection with the two others, one of whom testified at a May 1 hearing that she met Rooney around 2005, while she was a 15-year-old student at Foshay, and had a sexual relationship with him that lasted about 1 1/2 years.

The now-18-year-old woman said Rooney knew how old she was, and that he was a teacher who later became the dean of students at the school. She testified that she learned in September 2006 that she was pregnant with Rooney's baby, but suffered a miscarriage.

She said she initially spoke with police in early 2007 about her relationship with Rooney, but recanted after speaking with a dean at the school because she was still in love with him.

The 13-year-old testified that Rooney repeatedly told her he loved her, took her on a motorcycle to his apartment March 1 and ignored her protests that she didn't want to have sex. She said their alleged sexual encounter "was not consensual" and that she was initially afraid to tell her parents what happened.

The third alleged victim, who is 15, testified that Rooney grabbed her buttocks in his office on one occasion and her breasts on another occasion. In another instance, Rooney kissed her breasts, the teen said.