ST. HELENS, Ore. — On his first full day on the job as acting superintendent of the St. Helens School District, Dr. Steve Webb read a prepared two-page statement addressing the ongoing fallout after two educators were arrested and charged with sex abuse of minors earlier this month and the district's failure to investigate several concerns by students that had reported inappropriate conduct of a teacher with a student.
This comes as the principal of St. Helens High School has been charged with two felony counts of criminal mistreatment and four misdemeanor counts of official misconduct.
"I understand that the community of St. Helens is hurting, anxious, and, in many cases, angry," Webb said, reading his statement. "Many of you are outraged that the system failed to protect this community's children and that some adults allegedly failed to act when informed of misconduct."
St. Helens police notified the district in mid-October they were investigating Eric Stearns, a choir teacher at the high school, and Mark Collins, a retired math teacher, after reports of sex abuse came to light following a Tik Tok video creator's post about a different incident involving another teacher at the high school years prior. Stearns continued teaching up until his arrest on Nov. 12.
"I think they failed a lot of children," Andrea, a parent of two students in the district, said. "The children are scared. Fortunately, we had a lot of strong children that came out and told their story and finally got heard. I think it's absolutely, yeah, things need to change."
"The district has significant work ahead to repair relationships and rebuild trust. Healing this pain will take time, decisive action, transparent communication and community engagement," Webb said Tuesday.
Webb promised the district would continue to open an investigation, handled by an outside agency, looking into the district policies regarding policy implementation on mandatory reporting, suspected misconduct harassment reporting, staff ethics and related areas. He said the investigation would evaluate district training processes and assess the culture of these policies.
Webb said the investigation will start Dec. 2 and said once it's complete, the findings will be shared with the public.
"My kids need to have a safe environment to learn, so if this superintendent can't handle that and make it happen, then they need to go," Andrea said,
Webb said he will also move to appoint an acting high school principal at St. Helens High School as soon as possible, filling the spot left vacant after current principal Dr. Katy Wagner was placed on leave. Wagner, as of Tuesday evening, has been indicted, facing criminal charges in the scandal.
"To provide stable, clear leadership for students and families who have faced a whirlwind of rumors and partial information," Webb offered transparency throughout the process and said he plans to hold community listening sessions and hold weekly updates.
"Today is my first day on the job, and like you, I have many questions. I ask for your patience as I navigate this challenging situation," he said.