PORTLAND, Ore. — The St. Helens School Board plans to discuss during a Friday board meeting whether to place St. Helens School District Superintendent Scot Stockwell on paid administrative leave in the wake of a teacher sex-abuse case that has left the community reeling and furious.
Two teachers — one current and the other retired — were arrested this week on sex-abuse charges that go back years.
Eric Stearns, a 46-year-old choir teacher at St. Helens High School, was arrested Tuesday after a two-month investigation. Joseph Hogue, the acting police chief in St. Helens, told KGW that police first learned about Stearns from a tip that came into the Safe Oregon tip line. The tip mentioned a TikTok video that alluded to innappropriate behavior by Stearns. Police interviewed people who were involved with the video or commented on the video, and during that investigation, Hogue said the name of another teacher, Mark Collins, came up.
After his arrest Tuesday, Stearns pleaded not guilty Wednesday in court to charges that he sexually abused six different students between 2015 and as late as January 2024. Collins, a former math teacher at the school who is retired, was also arrested. Court documents for Collins list sex abuse charges with three minors between the years 2017 and 2023.
School board members acknowledged Wednesday that they knew Stearns was under police investigation since September. A parent whose child was in Stearns' choir class told KGW that Stearns remained in his position and was teaching up until his arrest Tuesday.
A large group of angry parents, students and other community members showed up at Wednesday night's school board meeting and called for all board members and the superintendent to resign or be fired. Many have also called for the high school principal to be fired.
Community members said accusations made by students and parents were ignored by the school board and school officials for years.
During the police investigation, detectives submitted a subpoena for the personnel files of both Stearns and Collins. Hogue said there were multiple mentions in Stearns' file of inappropriate behavior between 2019 and 2023. "The victims had reported some of this information to the school district, and in many cases, they found that there were records of that," Hogue said.
During Wednesday's meeting, when a parent asked board members if they had anything to say to the parents or victims, the superintendent answered, "we've made statements," prompting a hailstorm of boos.
On Thursday, widespread student-led protests at the high school caused the district to close the high school early. All schools and offices in the district are closed Friday and all events are canceled. The district said it plans to resume its regular school schedule on Monday.
Police said they're still investigating the case but wouldn't reveal if more victims had come forward in the wake of the announcement of the two arrests.
Friday's meeting starts at 4:45 p.m. See the agenda for the meeting here.