Accused Teacher Seeks Work Out Of State Parents Criticize Indecision On Status Of Paul Mather’s Teaching Certificate

A former Coeur d’Alene teacher accused of sexually molesting five girls may receive a teaching certificate in Arizona, officials there say.

Meanwhile, indecision and backlogged cases are delaying a ruling on whether teacher Paul T. Mather’s Idaho teaching certificate will be revoked.

That Mather may get the chance to teach elsewhere before resolution of the case at Canfield Middle School angers the girls’ parents, who claim the handling of the allegations was botched from the beginning by the Coeur d’Alene School District.

“It makes me have even a lower opinion of the state of Idaho and what they’ve done,” said the mother of one of the 15-year-old girls. “They (the district) just wanted to sweep it under the rug and not have it be their problem. I don’t think they care if he goes somewhere else to teach, they just don’t want to be called on the carpet.”

The Idaho Professional Standards Commission reached a decision on Mather’s certification this month using testimony, tapes and information provided by the school district from prior hearings.

But the commission never made its decision public, claiming it needed two weeks to give Mather notification of its findings. Now, the state agency says it plans to revisit the cloaked decision because of new information.

“We want closure as much as anyone else,” said Roger Hanshew, Idaho’s supervisor of teacher certification. “But if the PSC finds itself in a position where it wants to revisit something it doesn’t have to do it in this public forum.”

Family members acknowledge that Mather has moved to Arizona.

The Arizona Department of Education confirmed that Mather applied for certification and sent in his fingerprints May 12. The required fingerprint check takes six to 12 weeks to clear and only provides an individual’s criminal history, not pending allegations.

Mather admitted having sex with a 16-year-old Post Falls girl in 1989, but the school district chose not to take action when neither the girl nor her parents wanted to press charges. Four years later he was warned not to touch students after another complaint surfaced in the Coeur d’Alene School District.

But after five girls came forward last year alleging Mather fondled their breasts and buttocks, prosecutors pursued sexual abuse charges.

Mather was acquitted in 1st District Court in January.

The school district and its insurance company then paid Mather $47,000 in exchange for his resignation and promise not to sue, then passed the matter along to the professional standards commission for resolution.

If the commission’s investigation finds the allegations against Mather to be well-founded, it can issue a reprimand, or suspend or revoke his teaching certificate. If certification is revoked or suspended, the action would be reported to all 50 states. A reprimand is not reported.

Every notification received from another state is logged into the Arizona Department of Education’s database, regardless of whether that individual has ever taught or applied to teach in the state, said Director of Professional Development Caryn Shoemaker.

The department’s records did not reflect that a case involving Mather was pending in Idaho.

“We’ll be sure to ask some questions about what’s happening in Idaho before we issue one (a teaching certificate),” Shoemaker said.

There are eight pending cases at the office of the Idaho professional standards commission. Supervisor Hanshew, who left Friday for a two-week vacation, said the Mather case will be “one of our first priorities” when he returns to work.

The families of the girls are frustrated that the state hasn’t kept them informed. Two families wrote letters to the commission but received no response.

“I think they have been assured by the attorneys that Mather is more of a threat to them financially than the parents are,” said the mother of one of the girls. “They didn’t even acknowledge that they received our letters. It’s like it’s none of our business.”

The aftermath of the highly publicized and politicized case still plagues many of the families, she said. One student is still undergoing therapy. “Because this decision has not been made yet, they cannot close the door on it.”

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MEMO: See related story under the headline: Teacher’s acquittal ‘complicated things’