Supt. Bogdanove: A state health services investigative team failed to report to the school an incident that took place off campus, but in a public place

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

An investigative wing of the Oregon Department of Human Services failed to alert Ashland School District that a male employee of TRAILS Outdoor School participated in sexual misconduct toward a minor in 2022, according to ASD officials.

The employee, who has been with the district since 2021, has been placed on paid administrative leave following the district’s recent discovery of the incident toward a minor off campus, according to school district Superintendent Samuel Bogdanove. A public meeting was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday at TRAILS Outdoor School, 158 Walker Ave., for the public to learn more. Bogdanove will be in attendance. The name of the individual who was placed on leave has been withheld. Ashland police are investigating the incident.

“This incident occurred at a public space … to a minor in 2022,” Bogdanove said in a phone interview. “And we’ve only recently got a confirmed report that it is a founded incident of child abuse or sexual abuse or sexual misconduct.”

The incident was confirmed by DHS’s Office of Training, Investigations, and Safety (OTIS), according to Bogdanove, and was known for the last two years but not shared due to an error by OTIS.

“Typically what happens if something like that comes through, it gets cross-reported to the Department of Education, Teacher’s Standards and Practices Commission, law enforcement. There was an error in the process that prevented that from happening the way it should,” Bogdanove told Ashland.news in a phone interview.

Neither Bogdanove nor Ashland Chief of Police Tighe O’Meara could confirm whether an arrest has been made in connection with this incident.

Bogdanove said the incident did not occur at TRAILS Outdoor School, and that the minor in question is not a TRAILS Outdoor School student.

Bogdanove said he is “terribly concerned” regarding the error.

“This is a system where we don’t want to have any gaps,” Bogdanove said.

“It’s shocking and it’s infuriating and it’s hard,” he added later in the interview. “We’re figuring out how to move forward.”

Boganove said that OTIS has showed “tremendous leadership” in acknowledging and resolving the error as well as providing needed information to the district.

“I’m really grateful for their ownership of that and making sure we have the information that we need,” he said. “I do appreciate that they discovered it (the error), they owned it, and they addressed it.”

Bogdanove said the district has primarily been working with OTIS, but also added that he has been in touch with O’Meara regarding the incident, which O’Meara confirmed to Ashland.news in a phone interview.

“It’s being investigated by our criminal investigations division, and it’s ongoing so I’m probably not going to be able to say much about it,” O’Meara said. “I know that we at the police department are appropriately handling the information as it’s presented to us and pursuing the investigation as the situation allows us to.”

Bogdanove said he’s appreciative of support from the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), and anticipated a representative from the organization would attend the meeting Monday night. A representative from the organization met with parents recently regarding resources in light of this incident, according to Bogdanove.

“I’ve also talked with the director over at The Children’s Advocacy Center to look at potential ways that we can support parents and provide additional training to staff,” Bogdanove said. “Additional supports will really vary depending on what’s needed for particular families.”

Bogdanove said individuals can share information through a tip line with SafeOregon by calling or texting 844-472-3367 or by emailing tip@safeoregon.com.

“If somebody suspects child abuse of any kind, they should be calling law enforcement,” Bogdanove said, “but if there are other things they want us to be aware of, they could use the tip line.”

For more information about the tip line, go to imesd.k12.or.us/page/safeoregon/.

Related story: Educational assistant on paid administrative leave after allegation of sexual misconduct belatedly reaches school

Reach Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at hollyd@ashland.news.

Update: Employee started in 2021, as originally posted, not 2020.