SCHOOLS

North Salem teacher resigns after state concludes he sexually abused students

This article was updated on May 8 with details about Ball’s resignation agreement.

A North Salem High School teacher and former basketball coach has resigned from the Salem-Keizer School District after a state investigation found he sexually abused two students.

Trever Ball’s last day with the district will be June 14, 2024, according to the school board’s May 7 meeting agenda. He has been on paid administrative leave pending investigations into the abuse allegations since June 1, 2023, and will remain on leave until his last day, district spokesman Aaron Harada said.

His annual salary is $95,107.

A state Department of Human Services investigation closed March 26 found Ball sexually abused two students and placed two others under “threat of harm,” according to agency spokeswoman Lisa Morawski. Threat of harm means putting a child under “substantial risk of harm to child’s health or welfare,” according to the agency’s investigation manual.

Details of child abuse investigations are generally confidential under state law.

Previous complaints against Ball dating back to 2021 were insufficient for the department to open an investigation, and the state Teacher Standards and Practices Commission dismissed complaints against him in 2021 and 2023.

Ball is appealing the results of the new state investigation and denied he abused anyone.

“As a father of two beautiful children, a husband for 24 years, health care professional for 15 years, and an educator of young adults for 22 years, I stand by the investigative bodies that have found no basis for discipline,” he said in an email Monday to Salem Reporter.

He said he chose to resign after “two years of living in limbo” which has been hard on him and his family.

“My resignation should not be viewed as an admission of guilt. I have appealed the DHS finding and look forward to an opportunity to defend myself,” he said.

The school district made no payment to Ball in exchange for his resignation beyond agreeing to continue paying his salary until his last day, according to a copy of the resignation agreement the district provided to Salem Reporter.

The resignation agreement says the district’s human resources director will only confirm Ball’s dates of employment, positions held and his resignation date in response to inquiries from potential employers who do not serve children. The agreement has no restrictions on what the district can say to school employers or other entities serving children or vulnerable populations.

Ball was the target of a student protest last June as hundreds of North and South students walked out of class to call attention to allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior from girls on the Vikings basketball team.

Raychel Vipperman, one of the student organizers of that protest, called his resignation a “small win.”

“It still sickens me the amount of time it took for (the district) to put effort into this or even care about it,” she said in a text message Monday. “I’m glad the allegations are being ‘founded.’ It blows my mind how he even got the option to resign and has the potential to keep teaching and having access to children in another district.”

Students said they had filed complaints in December 2021 that resulted in no action. Ball was placed on administrative leave then and returned to duty in March 2022 after the end of the basketball season.

The school district again placed Ball on leave June 1, 2023, following renewed attention and new complaints from students.

DHS opened a new investigation in early June based on student allegations as described in a Salem Reporter article on the protest.

The state teacher licensing agency also opened a new investigation into Ball last summer. The commission dismissed the complaint at its Oct. 20, 2023, meeting, said Melissa Goff, the commission’s interim executive director. She provided no details on the decision.

Salem police also investigated Ball last summer, forwarding their findings to Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson’s office, police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick said. The office closed the case citing “insufficient evidence for prosecution,” said Deputy District Attorney Brendan Murphy. The note on the case said: “The facts reported do not support charging a sex crime, where intent of the defendant would be at issue.”

The Department of Human Services uses a lower standard of evidence than the standard required for criminal prosecution.

Ball graduated from Western Oregon University in 2001, according to his online portfolio. The school district hired him in 2004, Harada said. While working as a behavioral specialist at Judson Middle School in 2016, he was promoted to head coach of the Crosshill Christian girls basketball team, according to a profile from the Statesman Journal at the time. He had previously been the assistant coach for the boys basketball team in the 2013-14 season.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

SUPPORT OUR WORK – We depend on subscribers for resources to report on Salem with care and depth, fairness and accuracy. Subscribe today to get our daily newsletters and more. Click I want to subscribe!

Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.