Commission upholds San Luis High School’s termination of Jeff Brandow

September 18, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

Amid sexual misconduct allegations, the San Luis Obsipo Unified School District Board voted unanimously in Aug. 2023 to fire head basketball coach and history teacher Jeff Brandow, an action that was recently upheld by a Commission on Professional Competence.

Rather than directly terminating Brandow, in 2023 the board elected to place the coach on permanent unpaid leave. Brandow then appealed the board’s decision.

Typically, appealed decisions are heard by a Commission on Professional Competence. The three person commission consists of one member selected by the employee, one member selected by the school district, with the third member an administrative law judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings. Brandow’s commission unanimously upheld his termination.

An 18-year-old woman who attended San Luis Obispo High School filed a lawsuit against the school district and Brandow in Nov. 2023, contending that the instructor sexually harassed her and that school administrators knew or should have known that Brandow was unfit work at the school.

During the 2021-2022 school year, as a junior, Jane Doe took Brandow’s history class. Brandow commented on Doe’s breasts and buttocks on a daily basis, according to the suit. Because the student is an alleged victim of sexual harassment, CalCoastNews is referring to her as Jane Doe.

“Towards the end of her junior year, Brandow began targeting Doe with an ultimate intent of engaging in a sexual relationship with her,” the lawsuit says. “He would try and talk to her about sex, asked her to meet up with him at bars, and talked about how they should ‘hang out’ once she graduated from high school. While she was sitting close to Brandow in class, he would regularly tap and rub her legs.”

During the start of Doe’s senior year, Brandow’s alleged sexual harassment became progressively worse with increased physical contact and sexual comments.

At a friend’s birthday party in Oct, 2022, Brandow sent Doe a text message attempting to get her to meet with him. While Doe was showing a friend the text, a fellow student grabbed her phone, read the text out loud to other partygoers, and said publicly, “Yo, he’s getting fired.”

Shortly afterwards, SLO High School administrators learned of the texts and of comments Brandow made to Doe in the classroom regarding “tits and ass.”

School officials interviewed Doe about the alleged sexual misconduct in Oct. 2022, but did not inform the student’s parents.

Brandow was not placed on paid administrative leave until March 2023.

This delay permitted Brandow to remain coach of the varsity basketball team, which he guided to the league championship. The league then named him Coach of the Year.