Abusive Coaches: Lawmaker Says Oregon Could Crack down More

By Beth Slovic
Willemette Week
December 19, 2014

http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-32609-abusive_coaches_lawmaker_says_oregon_could_crack_d.html

This week's edition of WW looks at Central Catholic High School's football team and the hiring practices that allowed the high school to twice hire coaches who faced sexual misconduct allegations at prior schools.

The story noted that Central Catholic is not alone in Oregon in facing challenges when it comes to keeping tabs on coaches. The state doesn't require teaching licenses to coach school sports, for example. That means that the state regulators who discipline teachers at the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission have no jurisdiction over coaches. Meanwhile, the TSPC can discipline teachers even if they don't face criminal charges for abuse.

In 2009, the Legislature enacted a number of changes to state law that attempted to end the practice of "passing the trash" among school districts—that is, keeping quiet about an educator's past when a new school district tries to hire that person.

One component of the 2009 changes affects more than just teachers. It now requires schools to tell a past employee's new employer about "substantiated" claims of abuse, including sexual abuse, by the employee. That rules covers coaches, too.