Redwood City Teacher Removed After Investigation Reveals Prior Harassment Findings
A KQED and ProPublica investigation found the middle school math teacher had been deemed unfit to teach in 2019, yet retained his credentials and moved to California.
The Redwood City School District in California has replaced middle school math teacher Jason Agan with a substitute for the remainder of the academic year. This decision follows new complaints of inappropriate student contact and a joint investigation by KQED and ProPublica that revealed Agan had previously been fired for sexual harassment. The news outlets found that Agan had been accused of inappropriately touching students at two previous jobs, yet remained in the classroom until the recent allegations.
An independent panel in 2019 deemed Agan unfit to teach after he was dismissed from Angelo Rodriguez High School in the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District. Records obtained by the investigators showed that at least 11 students and one parent submitted written complaints regarding his behaviour, including allegations that he massaged students' necks and shoulders and made comments about female students' clothing. Despite this determination, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing allowed Agan to retain his teaching licence.
Agan subsequently taught at Ephraim Williams College Prep Middle School in Sacramento, part of the Fortune network of charter schools. At this second school, he drew another complaint of unwanted touching, which resulted in a written warning from the network's human resources consultant. He left that position in June 2022 and began teaching at Clifford School in Redwood City in August of the same year. The state’s public database noted a seven-day suspension of his licence in 2021 but provided no specific reason for the sanction, leaving his credentials technically valid for employment.
Following the publication of the investigation, the Redwood City School District launched a third-party review of its hiring practices. Superintendent John Baker informed the Clifford School community that an external investigator had been enlisted to examine procedures. Deputy Superintendent Wendy Kelly had previously stated that the district typically contacts candidates' immediate supervisors and checks the educator licensing database, though she declined to confirm whether officials were aware of Agan's prior disciplinary history.
Parents at Clifford School have filed Title IX complaints and expressed profound alarm at the situation. More than 170 people signed a letter demanding transparency and accountability, with some parents pulling their children from the school. The case has sparked calls for legislative changes to improve the transparency of educator disciplinary records, with state lawmakers and gubernatorial candidates noting the systemic gaps that allow teachers deemed unfit to teach to remain in the profession.
