Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
The Salem-Keizer School District has settled a lawsuit brought by two McNary High School graduates who accused former choir teacher Joshua Rist of manipulating and grooming them in high school.
The district will pay each of the women $200,000, according to Nov. 5 settlement agreements the school district provided in response to a public records request from Salem Reporter. Rist is not a party to the agreement.
The women, identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, filed a $10 million lawsuit last September, alleging Rist sought out the teens when they attended McNary and worked to earn their trust with flattery, praise and special access to him, then began steering conversations with them toward sexual topics.
They said his conduct spanned several years, ending in 2020 when Jane Doe 2 graduated high school.
In exchange for the settlement, the women agreed to dismiss the case against the school district and Rist with prejudice, meaning they can’t refile the lawsuit. The school district is not paying their attorney fees, according to the settlement.
The district made the settlement to avoid the cost of future litigation, the agreement said, and “expressly denied” any liability for the women’s allegations.
Marion County Circuit Court records show the case was dismissed Nov. 25. It had been scheduled to go to trial in January.
The settlement was first reported by the Statesman Journal.
The school district is self-insured, meaning it will directly pay the claim, district spokesman Aaron Harada said.
The lawsuit led to Rist’s removal last October from his job as a music teacher at Kalapuya Elementary School and prompted a change to state law extending the period where teachers are legally prohibited from having sexual relationships with students who have graduated high school.
The school district’s human resources department and state teacher licensing commission opened new investigations into Rist’s conduct after another McNary graduate came forward with similar allegations last October.
As of Thursday, Rist remains on paid administrative leave and the district investigation is still open, Harada said. The state Teacher Standards and Practices Commission investigation remains open, said Cristina Edgar, the agency’s director of professional practices.
In a statement Thursday, attorneys for the women said they were pleased with the settlement and the changes their suit prompted.
“While this in no way undoes the harm inflicted upon them, our clients are now able to close this painful chapter and move forward with their lives with a measure of justice done,” said Emily Stebbins and Ryan Jennings of Gatti Law Firm. “They can feel proud that their bravery in coming forward precipitated the long-overdue move by the district to get Joshua Rist out of the classroom and away from children … We hope these overdue but positive outcomes can protect children in the future from going through what our clients endured.”
Rist did not respond to an email from Salem Reporter Thursday seeking comment on the settlement. His attorney, Lowell McKelvey, didn’t respond to a call or email.
Before the lawsuit, Rist faced multiple district investigations and an inquiry from the state’s teacher licensing commission over his conduct with the two students.
He admitted to a “gross neglect of duty” over “inappropriate interactions with two female students,” according to a June 2023 state order that suspended his teaching license for 60 days.
But he remained in the classroom, teaching music at Kalapuya, following district investigations into his conduct in 2022 and 2023.
Parent outcry following the filing of the lawsuit led Superintendent Andrea Castañeda to remove Rist from Kalapuya and again place him on administrative leave. She said after reviewing his file and history with the district that she did not believe he should work in any job where he interacted with students.
Castañeda said at the time the case highlighted a “loophole” in state law where the district had been legally unable to fire a teacher despite years of complaints about inappropriate behavior.
Part of the issue, she said, was that state law previously prohibited sexual relationships between students and educators for 90 days after a student graduated high school. That allowed Rist to groom students inappropriately while he was teaching them, and only pursue more overtly romantic or sexual conversations after they had graduated and were no longer legally considered students, Castañeda said.
At Castañeda’s request, state Rep. Kevin Mannix earlier this year introduced legislation extending that timeline to one year after a student’s graduation. That law passed with bipartisan support and is now in effect.
Previous coverage:
New complaint of ‘inappropriate conduct’ emerges against former McNary choir teacher
Superintendent moves accused music teacher out of classroom
Former McNary students sue choir teacher, alleging grooming, abuse
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: 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.
