Shelby County Schools announces policy changes following sexual misconduct allegations

Parents are calling it "a step in the right direction."

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Nearly a month after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced against a Martha Layne Collins basketball coach, Shelby County Schools is announcing plans for new policies and procedures.

In a letter sent to the community Wednesday evening, Superintendent Dr. Joshua Matthews outlined three key initiatives the district is working to implement- all directly responding to concerns raised by parents and former students at a contentious December school board meeting.

What's being proposed

The district says it's working on three main changes:

1. A new anonymous reporting system: Shelby County Schools already has a tip line, but Matthews says they're adding another option- one that would allow two-way communication while keeping reporters anonymous. Parents, students, and staff would all have access.

2. Third-party investigators for sexual misconduct cases: The district is recommending that outside investigators handle allegations of sexual misconduct and other complex cases going forward.

3. Partnership with law enforcement for prevention education: The district wants to strengthen its partnership with local law enforcement and other experts to provide staff training and age-appropriate education in middle and high schools. The focus, Matthews wrote, would be "safety, prevention, and awareness of alleged student or staff misconduct."

Matthews emphasized these are still recommendations. The district is currently "identifying vendors and solidifying partnerships" before formally presenting the proposals to the school board for consideration.

"We will provide more information as we move forward," he wrote.

Where this comes from

These proposed changes appear to have been inspired by community demands at the December 12th school board meeting.

That night, the room was packed with parents, former students, and staff who came with specific policy suggestions after learning that basketball coach Chris Gaither had remained in the building and on the sidelines for days after a former student filed sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Community members that night called for:

An independent investigation into how allegations have been handled
Closing post-graduation loopholes
Explicitly defining grooming behaviors, and staff and student training on them
Annual public reporting of misconduct investigations

Former student Laura Wills-Coppelman told the board: "Secrecy is what allows abuse to thrive. Choose to act before another student is harmed."

The meeting erupted in frustration when Board Member Joanna Freels told the crowd "we don't ever answer questions." About 40 minutes in, much of the crowd walked out.

The timeline that led here

The community outcry stemmed from how the district handled allegations against Chris Gaither.

Hayley Weddle, a 2014 graduate, filed a written complaint on December 4th detailing what she said was an inappropriate relationship that began when she was 17 and a team manager on Gaither's basketball team. The district opened an investigation the next day.

But five days later, Gaither was still teaching and coaching. When Weddle saw him on the sidelines December 9th, she posted her statement publicly on social media.

"I had tried to go through the appropriate channels, but it did not feel like they were going to do anything," Weddle told me. "It felt like it would be swept under the rug, as it has been before."

Within hours of her post, multiple people contacted the district with additional information. That's when Gaither was suspended- December 10th.

The district confirmed Monday that Gaither is no longer the basketball coach at Martha Layne Collins, though he remains on paid suspension while the investigation continues.

What's still unclear

Matthews' letter doesn't address several questions the community has been asking:

How many people have come forward with allegations?
What is the timeline for concluding the current investigation?
Will there be an independent review of how past allegations were handled?
When will these policy changes actually be implemented?

The letter says the district is "actively addressing issues raised from previous years" but doesn't specify what those issues are or what "addressing" means beyond the three proposed initiatives.

And while the letter mentions third-party investigators for future cases, it doesn't say whether the current investigation into Gaither will be handled by an outside investigator.

What happens next

The district says once they've identified vendors and finalized partnerships, they'll formally present these recommendations to the school board for approval.

There's no timeline for when that might happen.

For the community members who walked out of that December meeting feeling unheard, this letter is a start. But it's still just proposed recommendations- not implemented policies.

And for Hayley Weddle, who says she carried this for a decade before coming forward, she calls this a "really good start." She said she's still interested to hear more about the timeline. She hopes some of that information may be released tonight at a school board meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. in Shelby County.

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