Nyssa High School instructor resigns

Wednesday, December 28, 2005 12:22 PM PST

JESSICA KELLER ARGUS OBSERVER

NYSSA

A Nyssa High School math teacher and varsity boys basketball coach notified the school district Monday he will resign in the wake of allegations of improper conduct with a female student that surfaced last week.

Matthew Perry was placed on administrative leave Dec. 19. The school board was scheduled to meet in executive session to consider Perry's employment status this week.

Nyssa School District Superintendent Don Grotting said with Perry's resignation, no further action will be taken at the school district level regarding Perry's employment, although he said an investigation by the Malheur County Sheriff's Office into the improper conduct assertions will continue.

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A receptionist for Michael Mahony, Perry's attorney, said the office had no comment regarding the matter.

Grotting said the school district's own investigation into the matter will likely end soon. Grotting said district officials have a few more students they want to conduct follow-up interviews with before closing the probe.

Grotting said, to his knowledge, the improper conduct allegations only involve one female student. Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said last week while he did not know the student's age, the allegations under investigation allegedly occurred when she was not 18.

Grotting said he did not expect the school district to contribute more in the criminal investigation, except to submit more information as requested. Grotting said the school district turned over evidence and other information to law enforcement at the beginning of the investigation.

Grotting said he does expect an investigation by the Teachers Standards and Practices Commission to begin soon. He said he recently submitted the required information and paperwork to the commission and expects to hear back sometime after the first of the year.

Meanwhile, Grotting said, the school district will consider its options in filling Perry's position, which has put officials in a quandary. Perry, who was hired with the district in August 2003, has taught math and coached boys basketball and tennis for the past three years at Nyssa High School.

Grotting said filling Perry's position is a challenge because hiring for math positions is difficult to do, more so because this is the middle of a school year. He said among the options the district is considering is hiring a suitable substitute math teacher to fill Perry's position permanently or hiring a substitute teacher with a math background for the remainder of the year on an emergency basis. Less likely is the possibility of the district hiring math teachers already working for the district to teach one of Perry's classes during their prep hours.

Grotting said, however, coordinating a schedule among various teachers that would cover all the hours necessary and not infringe on any professional development time scheduled, would be very difficult to do.

“While that's still an option, it's probably not the top option right now,” Grotting said.

Another possibility is finding a retired math teacher in the community and hiring them to return and teach on a temporary basis, Grotting said.