Idaho School Superintendent Showered Naked In Front Of Jr. High Boys Multiple Times — Parents, Teachers Upset As Admin Takes No Action
Apparantly, this isn’t illegal. But it should be.
(Gooding, Idaho) — Parents and teachers in Gooding County Idaho are absolutely livid about what many consider to be inappropriate behavior on the part of Hagerman Joint School District Superintendent Dr. Jim Brown.
According to a Gooding County Sheriff’s report, “Dr. Brown was naked in the shower while several members of the Jr. High Football team were in the locker room. This happened around the month of October, 2023.”
The report was written by Gooding County Sheriff’s deputy Britny Damron and published anonymously on Facebook.
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Deputy Damron conducted several interviews with students, and parents, and even Dr. Brown himself who all confirmed that Dr. Brown was using the boy’s locker room at the time the Jr. Varsity basketball players were returning from practice.
“On Tuesday October 10, 2023 I […] was contacted by a parent who wishes to remain anonymous of one of the children on the JR. High Football team at Hagerman JR. High. This parent was concerned that Dr. Brown was using the showers when the boys were in the locker room and believes it is inappropriate for an adult to be in the showers when the kids are coming in to change.”
One interviewee said that Dr. Brown “does not wrap a towel around himself when he leaves the shower” and that he was engaging in conversation with the students “while he is using the shower.”
“[Redacted] stated that Dr. Brown has showered in the locker room at least twice that he knows of when they are getting done with Jr. High football practice. [Redacted] did not see him, but was in the locker room when Dr. Brown was showering. [Redacted] stated that he felt very uncomfortable with Dr. Brown in there and he stated that one of the times Dr. Brown was trying to engage in conversations with the boys while he was showering. [Redacted] stated he was asking how practice went and how their day was going.”
Another interview conducted with three students states that “Dr. Brown has used the shower in the locker room about seven times, but it happened twice the first week of October 2023.”
The three students all said they “are uncomfortable” with the idea of Dr. Brown being in there at the same time they are.
The Idaho Tribune reached out to Dr. Brown seeking comment about the allegations, but we received no response.
A Plea For Help
Several concerned parents at Hagerman Joint School District reached out to the Tribune after local news outlets dismissed the parents allegations. Another parent at the district who wishes to remain anonymous told our reporters that her son:
“… came home and told me, ‘mom, I don't feel good about what Dr. Brown told me.’ And I'm like, ‘what did he tell you?’ And he said, ‘well, he told me not to tell you.’ And I'm like, ‘Hey, I've taught you when an adult especially tells you not to tell your mom, you should probably tell your mom.’ And then he told me and said that it had happened at least seven times. And right when he went to bed, I called the cops.”
According to parents at the district, Dr. Brown was placed on administrative leave in October when these allegations were first made, but Brown came back to the district after the Gooding County Prosecuting Attorney declined to press charges.
After the Sheriff’s report was made public, the School District released a statement calling the allegations in the Sheriff’s report “misinformation” saying “the District wants to stress that nothing improper or illegal has transpired. It is the focus of our District to enrich and educate our students as they are the future. Community support for the students and the staff is imperative for our District.”
In response to community backlash to this tone-deaf statement, the District has since edited their comment which now pays lip-service to the idea that the district will “further review school district policies to help prevent future related concerns.”
Local parents, teachers at the district, and legislators aren’t convinced.
One teacher at Hagerman Joint School District spoke with Tribune reporters under the condition of anonymity said “I think there should be a lot of heads on the table. I mean school board, other teachers that knew. Mm-Hmm. I'm done. The [District’s] website is a joke. You can go to the board minutes, and they just repost the agenda instead of the actual minutes.”
“The school actually denied the Times news, public records request, and told her there was nothing <laugh>. And I'm like, well, there have been at least two special meetings of the board.”
Idaho State Senator Glenneda Zuiderveld (R-Jerome) has vowed to draft legislation that would protect children from being exposed to naked, adult staff members, in Idaho’s public schools.
