Less than a week after Athens High School teacher Isaac Thomas pled guilty to having a sexual relationship with a student, the district superintendent was placed on paid administrative leave after allegations surfaced he failed to report Thomas illicit actions.
The Athens City Schools superintendent was placed on paid administrative leave after being accused of failing multiple times to report a sexual relationship between a teacher and his students that lasted many years, the district board announced Thursday evening.
After a one and a half hour executive session, the board returned — without Superintendent Carl Martin — to announce his removal, a move board members said Martin agreed to.
The removal comes after Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn said last weekend Martin and others “failed to report” rumors and allegations of Isaac Thomas, 35, a social studies teacher at Athens High School, having sexual relationships with his students.
One of those allegations is about a decade old.
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Last Friday, Thomas pled guilty to one count of sexual battery with a student, a relationship that began in December 2013 when the student was 17. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison and released on a $10,000 signature bond.
Blackburn previously said at least two other former students have been identified who allegedly had an illegal sexual relationship with Thomas, but neither wanted to pursue charges against their former teacher.
Chris Gerig, an Athens City Schools board member, said Martin’s leave is pending an investigation conducted by the district’s legal counsel to find what he and others district employees knew about Thomas and when they became aware of the situation.
In Ohio, teachers, administrators and others are mandated to report allegations of sexual assault.
Everyone from district administrators to teachers who worked with Thomas will be reviewed as part of this process, Gerig said. In addition, all district employees will be meeting with Blackburn on Tuesday for a sexual assault prevention training.
“The focus of tonight was to review the allegations and take the action that we took,” Gerig said. “It's important for me to note we've had a terrible failure in our district. A trusted and esteemed member of our district has pled guilty in a betrayal of his trust.”
Several parents and concerned Athens residents showed up to the meeting, pressing the board to bring sexual assault prevention programs to the high school.
“The events of the last two weeks keep me up at night,” said Nikole Morris, the parent of two students in the district, as she implored the board to bring sexual assault training to the high school. “Surely I am not the only one.”
Sarah Fick, the program coordinator for the sexual assault prevention program at the Appalachian Peace and Justice Network, offered her services to the district at the meeting.
“It’s not OK for students and teachers to date,” she said.
Gerig said the district will look into bringing such training into the schools.
Thomas, whose district evaluations showed him to be a trusted and valued member of the Athens High School community, was head of the social studies department and the men’s soccer coach. His resignation from the school district was formally accepted on Thursday. Thomas worked as a teacher at the district since 2001 and as a coach since 1998.
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Blackburn said earlier this week he decided not to pursue charges against those individuals due to statute of limitations and victims not wanting to be involved in the justice process.
“I’m very happy with the school board looking into these matters,” Blackburn said. “I would also say it’s important that we recognize that individuals who are employed at the school made mistakes. the school itself is something athens should be proud of.”
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@WillDrabold
