What’s Happening in Idaho Schools: A Growing Pattern of Sexual Misconduct and System Failures

Recently, I shared some videos of a first grade teacher on social media and asked the simple question: “What would you do if you found out this was your son’s first-grade teacher in Idaho?” People were shocked to realize this situation is real, and it occurred in a Magic Valley school district.

A school employee/parent of a student in the class discovered the videos and followed the proper reporting chain: first to district administration on October 1, then to the superintendent on October 2, and finally to the school board on October 6. Instead of appreciation, she was removed from all her school work shifts on October 2, the very day she escalated her concern.

The district’s response to the teacher with the videos was very different. Meeting minutes show he was placed on paid administrative leave for failing to disclose online content, then transferred from the elementary school to a high school in the district, where he remains employed today. This appears to conflict with Idaho’s Code of Ethics for Professional Educators, which prohibits sexualized online activity and conduct that harms students or impairs professional duties. Idaho Code 33-1208 authorizes disciplinary action when these standards are violated.

A complaint has been filed with the Idaho Professional Standards Commission (PSC), which has the authority to investigate, hold hearings, issue reprimands or suspensions, and recommend certificate revocation. Parents deserve full transparency as this process moves forward.

Idaho is facing a growing crisis of sexual misconduct and grooming-related behavior within its school system, highlighted by rising reports, multi-million-dollar settlements, and a record number of educator disciplinary actions. Across the state, families and whistleblowers have described a troubling pattern: warning signs ignored, complaints minimized, problem employees quietly transferred rather than removed, and parents left fighting for accountability alone.

These are not isolated incidents but symptoms of systemic failures in oversight, reporting, and enforcement within our public education system. Idaho children are being placed at risk, communities and taxpayers are bearing the financial consequences, and the demand for transparency, stronger safeguards, and real consequences has never been more urgent.

What should we do about the wolves in our schools? Public education exhausts over 60% (k-12 & higher ed) of Idaho’s annual budget and this is one of the black eyes the public sees. If public education in Idaho can’t police itself and its members on straight forward ethical issues like this, then it’s time for Idaho to start the frank conversation about the value of public education and its future.

In Liberty,

Rep. Heather Scott

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