We pulled this post from the April 27 Morning Report. Stay up to date with the latest news with our daily newsletter. Subscribe here.
More than five years ago Voice of San Diego revealed that repeated student complaints of unwanted touching by La Jolla High physics teacher Martin Teachworth went largely ignored by San Diego Unified.
Documents obtained by Voice showed that despite investigations confirming allegations against Teachworth, which one official concluded “rose to level of criminal prosecution,” the district allowed him to continue to teach.
In 2020, four former La Jolla High students sued San Diego Unified and Teachworth, alleging he’d assaulted them and that the district had been negligent and failed to provide a safe school environment. The district announced in a statement Wednesday that the students had resolved their claims.
In the statement, the district wrote the efforts of Loxie Gant – one of Teachworth’s victims and a source for Voice’s coverage – had helped spur the convening of a task force to “review its policies and procedures for handling allegations of sexual assault.”
Voice named Gant its 2017 Voice of the Year, with former education reporter Ashly McGlone writing “La Jolla High School physics teacher Martin Teachworth’s classroom behavior made female students uncomfortable for years, and Loxie Gant brought what had long been an open secret at the school into the light of day.”
How hard is it to do the right thing? The system failed these students because the adults in the room failed to act, care, or hold people accountable. The hollow statement issued from San Diego Unified adds to the frustration and lack of accountability by the District. They couldn’t even state they were sorry.