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Another SLO High School teacher accused of misconduct

December 17, 2023

Ethan McSwain

By KAREN VELIE

A San Luis Obispo High School math teacher was recently placed on administrative leave amid allegations he sent inappropriate text messages to a student, sources said.

Several students informed school staff that Ethan McSwain had allegedly “engaged in inappropriate conversations and behavior.”  On the week of Dec. 7, school officials placed McSwain on leave.

San Luis Coastal Unified School District Director of Human Resources Dan Block did not respond to questions from CalCoastNews regarding McSwain’s work status.

However, the district’s Board of Trustees is scheduled on Tuesday to discuss the possible dismissal or discipline of an employee,  according to the Dec. 19 Board of Trustees agenda.

On Dec. 15, SLO High School Principal Rollin Dickinson sent parents of McSwain’s students a message saying they have a substitute in the classroom “while he is out.” Dickenson says he understands that it can be challenging to have a substitute teacher for multiple days in a row.

“To help with this, during their prep periods, our other math teachers also will be joining the classes as much as possible to engage in the delivery of instruction and the support of learning for our students,” Dickinson wrote. “We are working to bring in, a substitute teacher who was previously a math teacher at our school as well.”

On Dec. 17, Dickinson sent a longer message to parents noting an investigation into alleged misconduct while claiming school officials promptly reacted, “as they always do.”

“It is also important to note that we acted immediately on these reports, as we always do,” Dickinson wrote.

Last month, an 18-year-old woman who recently graduated from  SLO High School filed a lawsuit against the district and a former teacher, contending that Jeff Brandow sexually harassed her and that school administrators failed to take action.

Dickinson’s Dec. 17 message to parents:

“Unfortunately, I need to share a troubling development with you in this message. Recently, our administrative team received reports from a few of our students that a faculty member at our school may have been engaging in inappropriate conversations and behavior.

“We received these reports from students, communicated with their parents, and the faculty member was promptly placed on leave while we look into the matter further.

“Beyond that, there aren’t a lot of specifics I can provide at this time, for a few reasons. Privacy concerns — for both the employee and the students involved — prevent me from sharing many details. In addition, we are still working through our investigative and possible disciplinary process, and that has to be given the space to play out.

“But, there are a few things about this situation that I can share with you — things that make me proud of our school community:

“I am proud of the students who didn’t hesitate to come forward to our staff to report behavior that they felt crossed a line. They felt empowered to share their concerns and trusted that we would hear what they had to say and act on it. That takes courage, and we are grateful for it.

“It is also important to note that we acted immediately on these reports, as we always do. I am proud of our administrators and staff for their unhesitating support for our students. They took seriously what our students had to say.

“And thanks to all of you for making it clearly known that our school and our district do not tolerate inappropriate actions.

“For our school and our district, the safety and security of our students is always our primary focus. We can’t expect our students to be their best, try their hardest, and engage in meaningful learning if they don’t first feel safe and secure.

“Our superintendent, Dr. Prater, will have more to say on this matter in his note to our district community later this week.”

If you have further information about Ethan McSwain or other incidents please contact reporter Karen Velie at (805) 234-1703.

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It is becoming abundantly clear that Supt. Eric Prater has allowed and encouraged a culture without accountability, and now we see SLO Coastal engaging in a PR stunt to try to change the perception they have created.


After the Brandow and McSwain scandals, I personally wrote each and every one of the SLO Coastal Board of Trustees, and not one of them even bothered to respond!


Clearly, the fish rots from the head down, and we need to see change at the trustee and administrative levels, lest these incidents keep repeating themselves.


We used to have discipline and accountability in government, but those ideas have been squashed, sad.


Trustee elections are in 2024, let’s change the culture in SLO Coastal.


5

“It is also important to note that we acted immediately on these reports, as we always do,” the SLOHS tells the local fishwrap. What kind of Orwellian PR is this? No, the reason this one is in the news and not a routine HR matter is because you *don’t*.


And they showed you can indeed fire a teacher. People who say you can’t are just covering for cowardice. What that means is, the “leadership” would rather not bother with the process. But when the heat was on enough they did it.


School board elections are less than a year away.


23

It seems today if you criticize a public school district… school or teacher you get retaliated upon… if my kids were still in school it wouldn’t be a public school… and that’s a pitiful commentary about a publicly financed entity… time for a big change parents… it you won’t do it it will only get worse…


22

My son had this teacher “McSwain” for several semesters, and on one occasion he accused my son of saying inappropriate stuff in class. I don’t know why but he had something against my son. Then some months ago, he made up that my son said a slur in class, on a day he wasn’t even in class. My son was literally crying, saying this wasn’t true. I personally spoke with other students in class and they all agreed that it wasn’t true. I tried to speak with Mr. Dickinson which was really hard to communicate with him. I did receive a call from Ms. Dillinger (vice principal) and she was so rude to me, I explained that my son was not there in class and that he didn’t say, what they where accusing him of. She stated that teacher “McSwain agreed that my son would say something like that”. Weeks later I get a call from Pacific Beach high school saying that my son was being transferred. We had no choice! The only staff member that was helpful and caring to students is Mr Inman (school counselor). Leadership staff doesn’t care. As a mother with a son going to military right after high school, I just wanted to see my son graduate SLO High and I expressed it to them many times. My son is devastated on how the school reacted towards him, even comments that where made to him by leadership staff.


34

Pacific beach high school? Did this occur in San Diego? Where was he transferred?


-16

Pacific Beach high is on Los Osos Valley Rd across from Costco.


16

Ok. Thanks. Didn’t know it existed


3

It used to be modular classroom in a fenced off corner of Emerson School, now SLO City Rec Dept, at the corner of Pacific and Beach Streets and it was just called “Continuation School”, as was everywhere. But you can’t even imply that now, it’s “Pacific Beach High School” in SLO, leading to copperhead’s confusion, or “Paloma Creek High School” in Atascadero, “Liberty High School” in Paso, or “Lopez High School” in AG. I think they all maintain schools another step down as well. Someone who “taught” at one of these said they were just there to see that they were there and the cops would be notified if they were not.


0

Maybe the math teacher had a crush on your sons girlfriend. Go talk to a lawyer. There’s a thing called due process that they appear to have ignored.


9

There is absolutely no way your son would be transferred to Pacific Beach High School based on a single incident like this. You are not telling the whole story. PBHS is a continuation school.


26

The schools repeated statements that it takes action immediately, safety and security of students most important, etc. are clearly calculated to make points in the lawsuit from the earlier incident, Has the school offered to pay for an attorney to represent the teacher?, Where is the union? Who would want to become a teacher when they can be put on leave because a handful of students make an accusation? The school has so little evidence that it is appealing to the public for help! Where is due process? This is woke cancel culture.


-31

I can’t think of any reason that a teacher ever needs to text a student. Before cell phones, a teacher never called a student directly at home, so why text a student directly. That is only ever a recipe for disaster.


78

As a former student leadership advisor (as in Skills USA, FCCLA, FFA), when traveling with 10 -20 students to a State Conference and Competition, I did need to text students. We were not all in the same place together. Some students were competing in different competitions, some were attending workshops, as I was heading a competition. So texting them to see how and what they were doing was very important. “Send me a picture of you all in your workshop”. Safety!

“Officers, we have an officer meeting after school today”. Informative!

Keeping it professional is the key.


14

If you need to text students it should be from a work-only cell phone provided and paid for by your employer and subject to public records requests.


0

According to my child who is a student at SLO High, Mr. McSwain was continuing a habit that got him dismissed from his previous school; Snapchatting with students inappropriately. The problem starts at the top with Dr Prater and the hiring of pedophiles at both SLO High and Morro Bay High and his covering for them even after a lot of evidence has come forward. It wasn’t until there was no chance of coverup did he choose to act. The same reason he used such strong wording in this notice, covering his own ass. It is time for Dr Prater to step down!!!


54

one of the many problems with government employment is the lack of accountability. Almost impossible to fire people so they get more emboldened over time that their actions have no repercussions.


thank God Dr Prater is on the case ????


5

Remember the innocent until proven guilty idea. Ever think that young people make mistakes. Is it possible that what Mr McSwain did was good hearted and that he thought he was helping make a student feel comforted in a tough spot??? Sure, he should have known better, but SLOHS is known for teachers who truly care about their students in a good and positive way. Maybe Mr McSwain cared too much. None of us know the circumstances here and hopefully the truth comes out and he is found to be immature and not a creep. Maybe there is a thought that you can get rid of a bad teacher if you trap them into acting wrong and whoever accused Mr McSwain was just out to get him fired. I’ve heard from my kids’ friends that he isn’t that great of a teacher and that maybe someone plotted to get him in trouble. Then again, maybe he’s a predator and a creep and that he is grooming girls so that he can feel powerful. Who knows, maybe someday we all will know! Brandow on the other hand is a scary predator who should find a way to make right all that he did wrong and he should be held accountable for HIS actions! Prater, Dickinson, Dellinger; they are all doing their best within the constraints of the law and the information that they have at the time. O’Conner on the other hand should be held responsible for the hiring of Brandow, the retention of Brandow, and for all the other damage he did at the school.


-42

The article doesn’t say he is guilty, just that he is accused and now on leave. As to him being “set up”, I am sure the investigation is going to be focused on looking at the text messages. This isn’t one person claiming he said something inappropriate, but mutliple saying it an allegedly via text so there will be more than a he-said she-said situation. As for being immature, tough. If you aren’t mature enough to know what you should and should not say to minors, then don’t work with minors. And given what I assume is a hightened awareness there now that the Brandow story is so prevalent, there is no excuse for not thinking carefully about what you are saying.


44

The article says engaged in inappropriate conversations and behavior and if it is via text there is a written record of the inappropriateness. Cared too much? Really??


37

My kid goes to SLOHS and was waiting for this to happen. He’s known by the students to be a creepster.


32

He (allegedly) liked an attractive girl in his class and asked for her Snapchat account, which is against the school’s policy. I’m not sure of the details. SLOHS has been under a microscope since the Brandow problem so it seems they’re actually following their policy this time around. But Principal Dickenson’s statement that they have “always” acted promptly in these sorts of situations is offbase and offensive to the victims of Brandow and other teachers who have sexually harassed students at SLOHS, like Charlie Deed.


46

JohnnyApple: “SLOHS is known for teachers who truly care about their students in a good and positive way.”


SLOHS Teacher/Coach Charlie Deeds to female student: “You have the best ass I have ever seen. I can’t wait to fuck you.”


SLOHS Principal Leslie O’Connor to the female student who came forward about being sexually harassed by Deeds: “Coach Deeds is close to retirement and it could ruin his life if you came forward, plus the whole senior class would be mad at you.”


SLOHS Teacher/Coach Jeff Brandow to a minor female student: “Looks like it’s a tits out, ass out day”


SLOHS Principal O’Connor and Principal Dickenson and SLCUSD Administration: *crickets* (But also, “Great job, Brandow! Your basketball team won the championship! Let’s give you an award: Coach of the Year!”)


SLOHS Teacher Robert Chomicz follows a minor female student around, commenting on her looks and making her feel uncomfortable. She goes to SLOHS administration, crying, because of the constant sexual harassment by Mr. Chomicz.


SLOHS Principal Dickenson and SLCUSD HR Director Dan Block: “It must be a misunderstanding. Maybe it’s a cultural issue because Chomicz is Polish.”


36

Beautifully said. This school has become disgustingly corrupt. I blame the administration. My kids go here and mr dickenson is just as bad as the teachers put on leave. The teachers don’t give the students any respect they are awful to them. I have been on campus A LOT this year and it’s shocking the things they are getting away with. Its only a matter of time before the next teacher is put on leave. This is not a coincidence. I grew up here and went to slohs. Teachers did not do this. That school needs a whole new administration and fast. I’ll be removing my kids from here now. It’s not a good place to have them. They are not safe. At all. You’ll see.


13

In the 80s, I knew of 2 SLOSH (it was called SLO Senior High then) teachers who were rumored to have had relationships with students.One quit and married the girl. The other stayed in town, but left the district and the relationship. I knew the girl in the second case. Another teacher used to invite students to his house to hang out and watch sports events, but knowingly allowed drinking and weed use, according to friends who went.


1

The fish rots from the head.


2