High school students walk out of classes over handling of Washington teacher’s alleged sexual misconduct case
Despite being arrested in early December 2024, Shadbreon Gatson’s charges have been dropped and an investigation continues while he remains on administrative leave
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Around 200 students at the Hudson Bay High School in Washington have staged a walkout over the handling of an alleged sexual misconduct case involving one of their teachers.
Shadbreon Gatson was arrested on December 20, 2024, and charged with sexual misconduct with a minor after a former student came forward to allege that she was victimized by Gatson in 2013 – she had been a 13-year-old student at the time while Gatson, had been a 31-year-old English teacher, according to Clark County Jail records seen by KGW8.
The teacher at Hudson Bay High School and the victim’s inappropriate sexual relations reportedly proliferated on and off-site – an experience that has left her traumatized years later – and forced her to finally bring the allegations to light on December 2, 2024.
However, prosecutors dropped his charge in late December because the statute of limitations expired and as of Tuesday, Gatson remains on administrative leave.
That decision appears to have upset students, who marched down to the Vancouver Public Schools district headquarters Monday in an act of protest, reported Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Two additional employees, who worked as administrators at the time have also been placed on leave, the outlet noted.
Gatson – who has also been alleged to have been involved in misconduct in 2013, 2014, 2017, and now possibly 2024 – allegedly started having a sexual relationship with the underage girl when he assigned her to sit in detention in his classroom.
A custodian claimed to have caught Gaston having sexual intercourse with a student in the band room of the school in June 2013, accoridng to reports.
After hearing noises “from two different people”, the witness flicked the lights on in the storage room and saw Gaston “immediately come out without shoes and an untucked shirt.” The English teacher’s keys and wallet were reportedly visible on the floor along with his shoes, read the school’s review documents and reported by KPIC4.
Despite conducting multiple interviews, his behavior was written off and it was concluded that nothing inappropriate had happened between Gatson and the girl, reports noted
The documents state that the custodian reported the incident to school officials, former assistant principal and now current Valerie Seeley, and former principal William Oman – who have opted to go on administrative leave for the duration of the investigation, reported KPTV.
Oman signed off a letter of admonishment to Gaston for the 2013 incident citing the “exercising [of] poor judgment and boundaries with a female student”, read the documents.
In October 2017, Gatson was alleged to have “failed to maintain an employee-student boundary with two students” after he had two female students in his classroom “during instructional time” who were not on his classroom roster.
In that letter, a section read: “Your behavior is particularly troubling, given you were previously directed to maintain appropriate employee-student boundaries by Valerie Seeley in November 2014” – highlighting another alleged incident a year after the alleged interaction with the young female in June 2013.
Prosecutors say that more informants have since come forward with another allegation involving a student in 2024.
It was also revealed that Gatson received a letter of direction as far back as 2009 on “how to interact with female students”, reported KGW8.
Gatson did not appear on Clark County records as of Tuesday.
The Independent contacted the Vancouver Police Department, Clark County officials, and the Hudson Bay High School for comment.