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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Scandals Hit Robertson H.S. - Again
By Phil Parker
Journal Northern Bureau
SANTA FE — Two women employed by Las Vegas, N.M.,'s beleaguered Robertson High School — the cheerleading coach and a counselor — have been suspended following allegations of inappropriate behavior with students.
Las Vegas City Schools Superintendant Rick Romero confirmed on Monday that Robertson cheerleading coach Krystle King, the daughter of Robertson principal Eddie King, and Amadee Duran, a counselor at the school, have both been suspended.
Romero said King is alleged to have behaved inappropriately but isn't accused of inappropriate contact with students. Duran is being investigated for inappropriate contact, but Romero would not elaborate on what that meant.
The allegations, which are being investigated by Las Vegas police, follow a series of cases over the past 18 months in which Robertson staff members and students have been accused of sexual improprieties.
Also, a Robertson coach was fired recently after he was charged with disorderly conduct after a shouting match with students from West Las Vegas High School in a McDonald's restroom.
King, who is on contract with the school, has been suspended while Duran, as an employee of the district, was placed on administrative leave.
Romero said the district is investigating and won't make a decision on either woman's future at Robertson until the investigations are completed.
Romero said both cases have been referred to the police.
Las Vegas Police Chief Gary Gold said officers began their investigation Monday, but like Romero, he would not elaborate on what the women are accused of.
"All I can classify it right now is (as) teacher misconduct," he said.
Principal Eddie King, who could not be reached for comment, succeeded Richard Lopez, who resigned in May after he was placed on leave following accusations that he had sexually harassed a woman who applied for a teaching position.
Phillip Vigil, president of the district school board, said the scandals that have hit the school recently are isolated incidents, and he does not believe they reflect a culture at the school that tolerates inappropriate behavior.
Earlier this month, former Robertson teacher and golf coach Jay Quintana, 49, was arrested and charged with 14 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor in a case involving one of his ex-players.
The allegations, including that Quintana had sex with the student at the school and elsewhere starting when she was 15, had surfaced about a year ago in a tort claim notice. Quintana was recommended for firing this fall and then resigned before going through with an appeal.
Quintana's lawyer has denied that Quintana, who is married to associate superintendent LeeEtte Quintana, had a sexual relationship with the woman, now 21, when she was a Robertson student and says the accusations are motivated by the prospect for a civil suit seeking monetary damages.
Last year, six Robertson football players were charged with rape and other offenses after they were accused of sodomizing teammates with a broomstick at a preseason training camp. Two have pleaded guilty, and the cases of the other four are proceeding toward trial. The 2008 Cardinals coaching staff resigned after the accusations surfaced.
Superintendent Romero, along with coaches and the Robertson athletic director, were charged with failing to report the alleged football team rapes quickly to police, but those charges have been dropped.
The district has training to prevent the kind of sexual offenses Robertson employees have been accused of since last year, Vigil said.
"These are adults," he said. "They make their own decisions ... I don't know what they were thinking." Vigil added he didn't know if the various charges were true.
"I don't think any of them are connected to the other, anyway," he said of the different cases.
"The football players were kids," he added. "That's a different kind of issue."
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