The Morning Report
Get the news and information you need to take on the day.
San Diego Unified Trustee Kevin Beiser remains on paid administrative leave from his teaching position in the Sweetwater Union High School District after four men accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment in March.
Sweetwater resumed classes after summer break this month, but Beiser is still not in the classroom.
Beiser had been a math teacher at Castle Park Middle School. A long-term substitute took his place after Voice of San Diego reported the allegations against him.
He remains on paid leave, but he is no longer assigned to any school campus, rather than simply being replaced by a substitute as he was last school year.
“He is still an employee, but he is not assigned to any campus right now,” said Manny Rubio, a spokesman for Sweetwater.
It leaves Beiser in limbo. He remains a Sweetwater employee and is being paid, but he is not assigned to teach anywhere while a firm investigates the allegations on the district’s behalf.
None of the accusations against Beiser includes inappropriate behavior with students or minors. All four of the men who’ve accused him of harassment and abuse were political professionals or aspiring candidates who met Beiser in Democratic political circles.
In June, two of Beiser’s accusers said they spoke with an investigator brought in to look into the allegations for Sweetwater. One of them, Patrick McFarland, is a substitute teacher in Sweetwater who is now also running for San Diego Unified’s school board against Trustee Richard Barrera.
The other accuser who spoke to an investigator is a former Beiser campaign manager who filed a civil suit against his former boss over the alleged misbehavior.
That case is moving forward as well.
There is a settlement conference scheduled for Sept. 13, according to the San Diego Superior Court’s Registrar of Actions.
Dan Gilleon, the attorney representing Beiser’s former campaign manager, said he is optimistic the two sides will reach a settlement agreement soon.
Beiser, who has not spoken publicly about the allegations beyond an initial response declaring his innocence, did not reply to a request for comment.