Surprising, Yet Not Really

We found out tonight that the athletic director at Wawasee High School was put on administrative leave.  We weren't completely surprised as there were allegations against him over the years for inappropriate behavior with women of all ages including high school students.  In the past year it had become the talk on social media and recently there was a petition to have him removed.  Although we were not a fan of his due to the negative way he treated Doug while he was coaching soccer or the difficult time he gave Meg when she wanted to transfer to Bethany, none of us in the Heinisch home had any direct knowledge of his inappropriate behavior.  The fact that over forty young women came forward to file a complaint dating back to the time that Brett was in high school made us suspect that there probably was some truth in the stories circulating.

As Doug and I talked about the situation what kept coming to mind was the amount of scandal that has occurred over the last decade at Wawasee High School.  We easily compiled a list of ten other teachers, coaches or staff who had resigned or been removed due to immorality starting in Brett's sophomore year in high school.

    Band Director - Fired for an inappropriate relationship with a parent of a band student. 

    High School Principal - Fired for an inappropriate relationship with a guidance counselor

    High School Spanish Teacher - Fired when she was arrested for helping her fiance cover up an

            embezzlement scheme

    High School Art Teacher - Arrested and fired for having marijuana in his glove compartment on 

            school property (it was discovered by the auto trade students when he asked them to change 

            his oil)

    High School Assistant Athletic Director - Demoted for making a burner account to anonymously

            criticize coaches and staff of the Wawasee school system 

    High School Principal - Resigned over allegations of inappropriate relationship with a student

    High School Football Coach - Resigned due to discovery that he was aware of a website his players                 were using to share naked pictures of classmates and did nothing to stop it

    High School Tennis Coach - Resigned due to inappropriate contact with several players

    High School Athletic Event Supervisor - Asked not to return because of inappropriate contact with

               high school girls

    High School Math Teacher - Resigned due to asking high school girls to share nude pictures with him

It's a tragedy that students had to endure this type of behavior while trying to navigate the tough years of high school.  As I read through the statements on the petition of those who were Cal and Brett's age giving their reasoning for signing the petition, I noticed that several had asked for the resignation of those who did not act sooner on the allegations regarding the athletic director.  I don't know if that is the answer, but with the amount of immoral behavior that has occurred in the halls of Wawasee High School, I could see why they might have felt that way.  

By the end of the night we decided just to be thankful that we had the means and ability to move Meg and Cameron to Bethany Christian High School where the biggest complaints have been "My Spanish teacher only talks to me in Spanish." or "I can't believe that Michael made us read two novels in the summer."  We couldn't ask for a more supportive environment for our children to learn and grow.