District ‘focused on the future’ after legal woes plague Beaumont High 29 Aug 2018 Students at Beaumont High School began classes this month, looking ahead to another school year even as administrators and other officials try to put last year’s scandals behind them. Last school year, two teachers were charged with having sexual relations with students, the head football coach resigned after being videotaped punching a student in the stomach, and a lawsuit accused the principal’s son – while dressed as the school Cougars mascot — of injuring a female student during a powderpuff football game. This year, Beaumont High has a new principal after Christina Pierce left for a district-level job in Fontana before the previous school year was complete. And every district employee has received extra training on appropriate staff-student interactions. “We are focused on the future,” Shawn Mitchell, Beaumont Unified’s assistant superintendent of human resources, said in an interview. District officials have been reluctant to talk about the past. Superintendent Terrence Davis agreed to an interview with this news organization in mid-November but backed out on the morning for which it was scheduled. Then, in late November, Davis said Mitchell would answer questions. ... English teacher Samantha Lee Ciotta pleaded guilty May 10 in Riverside County Superior Court to three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger than her. She was sentenced to 180 days in custody, four years’ probation, 90 hours of community service and was required to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet. Ciotta resigned in April. Another English teacher, Christina Jacobson, has pleaded not guilty in San Bernardino County Superior Court to three counts of oral copulation with a minor, two counts of sexual penetration with minor and two counts of contact with a minor to commit a sexual offense. Jacobson resigned last September. Her next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 20. Football coach Wilfred Hasten “Will” Martin resigned after Beaumont police in November recommended felony child-abuse charges for the punch to the student’s stomach. The video showed Martin in a classroom with students, with one standing at the whiteboard. Students were laughing. Martin stood in front of the student, who appeared to be uncomfortable but was also laughing. Suddenly, Martin delivers a jab, and the student doubles over. The District Attorney’s Office has not decided whether to file charges, spokesman John Hall said Aug. 23. Martin had been hired in 2016 even though he had been convicted in 2009 of forgery ... Continue reading... https://www.pe.com/2018/08/29/district-focused-on-the-future-after-legal-woes-plague-beaumont-high/
