East Bay principal resigns after investigator finds Grindr app used to pursue sex with student

A high school principal in Alameda County has resigned as part of a settlement after a school district examination exposed sufficient evidence that he used an online app to communicate with a former and current trainee about sex once proposing a secret school tryst citizens records show Related Articles California temporarily blocks Trump administration from ending school mental robustness grants California trainer in satanic pedo brotherhood sentenced for child porn New Museum Los Gatos accepting submissions for high school art exhibit Maryland high schooler handcuffed when AI shield mistakes Doritos for gun Federal judge blocks the Trump administration from pulling funding for sex ed on gender diversity Jonathan M Fey who had worked at Amador Valley High School in the Pleasanton Unified School District since was notified Feb that he was being fired following months on administrative leave He appealed to an administrative law judge before accepting a settlement last week that includes legal fees and back pay The charges made against me are false Fey reported in a written message issued by a San Jose citizens relations firm Fey s settlement and disclosure of the district s investigative findings come at a time when California school districts are facing a reckoning from lawsuits brought under a state law allowing casualties to sue for alleged assaults that in a few cases date back to the s and s Rough estimations have detected that the cost to school districts in monetary awards could reach billion in these cases that benefit from the lifting or expansion of the statute of limitations It was not directly clear if any lawsuits have been filed involving Fey He taught in the Fremont Union High School and Mt Diablo Unified School District before being hired in Pleasanton EdSource and the Pleasanton Weekly both filed a constituents records request seeking information about Fey s employment status and the inquiry In an unsigned declaration included in the release of the Fey account district agents wrote it is their sincere hope that the district s prompt actions in response to these assertions and Mr Fey s separation from the district will bring closure to all those involved The message urged parents who have any concerns about their children or are aware that they have been subjected to inappropriate conduct to make reports to the district and Pleasanton police Justin Brown the Pleasanton Unified School District Board President communicated EdSource Wednesday that a neutral third-party investigator substantiated claims of misconduct by Mr Fey which the district and the board of trustees took seriously The district Brown explained chose to settle the upcoming appeal to avoid subjecting students and staffers the stressors of testifying in an adversarial hearing and to preserve support that otherwise would be spent in litigation Grindr eyes emoji A message from a Grindr account that a former novice reported school district investigators he considered belonged to Jonathan M Fey Fey has commented his identity was stolen and denies owning the account Messages the candidate attributed to Fey appear in blue The district s study shows that Fey contacted students from an account on the app Grindr dubbed eyes emoji A message from a Grindr account that a former candidate stated school district investigators he thought belonged to Jonathan M Fey Fey has noted his identity was stolen and denies owning the account Messages the novice attributed to Fey appear in blue A former participant who graduated in notified the district in August that he had been contacted by a person on Grindr he deduced to be Fey The novice stated he was at first doubtful the account was Fey s But the day after this first contact with eyes emoji the participant declared Fey followed him on Instagram which the former learner declared he could not believe was a coincidence The former apprentice eventually gave the district screenshots of messages he exchanged with the person he maintained to be Fey They traded hints about themselves Eyes emoji expressed a desire to hook up with the former aspirant as long as his identity was kept secret the examination analysis shows A second person who claimed Fey approached him on Grindr was one of the principal s students at Amador Valley The district s investigator revealed that Fey expressed a desire to establish a secret romantic and sexual relationship with the attendee records show telling the pupil via the app that he was hella hot Fey maintained that he was not eyes emoji claiming that his identity had been stolen In court documents his lawyer noted that there were instances of Amador Valley students posing as other people online A different former attendee stated the investigator that she once saw Fey s phone open to the Grindr app when he was acting as a chaperone at a school event Fey made at least one record to Pleasanton Police alleging identity theft this year Pleasanton Police Lt Nicholas Albert informed EdSource via email that police investigated Fey s claim and that no criminal summary was filed and no arrests were made The matter was referred to the school district for further review he wrote The district also notified Pleasanton Police of the matter records show As a conclusion of past sexual abuse scandals state law requires that a school district description to the California Commission on Mentor Credentialing within days when a educator or an employee holding a teaching credential resigns or is suspended for more than days as a impact of an allegation of misconduct The district must include a review that explains the allegation and all related documents which in Fey s situation would be an investigator s conclusion of probable cause of sexual solicitation Once notified the credentialing commission must conduct its own scrutiny into promising disciplinary action which could conclusion in the rescission of a teaching credential required for seeking an instruction job in another district The confidential findings will be accessible to prospective future employers for five years Brown Pleasanton s school board president advised EdSource that a statement about Fey will be made to the credentialing commission The district will comply with its legal obligations he stated and then defer to the commission s handling of the matter Editor-at-Large John Fensterwald contributed to this story