'ETHS Could Have Done Better' Handling Coach Allegations: Supt

EVANSTON, IL — The outgoing superintendent of Evanston Township High School said his administration "could have done better" in its handling of complaints of misconduct by a coach who was later arrested in Indiana and charged with child seduction for allegedly groping a female student.

Eric Witherspoon, who announced in September that his contract would not be extended, acknowledged for the first time that girls at ETHS had lodged multiple complaints alleging inappropriate conduct and remarks by the school's suspended color guard coach, 63-year-old Lorenzo Medrano.

"We cannot respond publicly to personnel allegations, but I can speak to the process that was followed," Witherspoon said at Monday's board meeting.

Witherspoon did not mention Medrano, who was arrested in La Porte County, Indiana, on Sept. 15, by name. Nor did he acknowledge that the district's two chief human resources officials were placed on paid administrative leave without explanation on Oct. 6.

But the superintendent did confirm last month's Evanston Patch report that revealed that Medrano had been investigated and cleared to return to school property by the two on-leave staffers — Chief Human Resources Officer Toya Campbell, the district's second-highest compensated employee after Witherspoon, and Yolanda Hardy, her assistant.

"At that point, there was a determination made," Witherspoon said. "I can't go into all the personnel issues that were handled at that time, but the employee did return for a summer camp here on the property in the summer."

No ETHS employees ever contacted Evanston police about the complaints about Medrano, which included allegations the color guard instructor and marching band assistant had inappropriately touched girls, offered to give them rides home in his car, and walked in on them while they were changing clothes.

The superintendent said administrators took action and put Medrano on leave as soon as they learned of his September arrest from news reports in Indiana.

No board members addressed the matter at Monday's meeting.

District spokespeople have not responded to questions about the handling of the investigation, including how many female students formally complained about the coach.

At last month's meeting, student board representative Barbara Tomardze said something definitely went wrong with the handling of complaints about Medrano.

"I understand this is your reputation — this is school's reputation — but these are our lives," Tomardze told board members. "We want to make sure nobody's put into danger because of the protection of other employees at ETHS."

At the time, Tomardze said ETHS administrators had not said anything about Medrano and the allegations against him. Students, she said, were left with the message that they cannot come forward to disclose allegations of assault, harassment or abuse at school.

"We are reviewing how it was handled and we're reviewing what processes could be put in place to make sure that we modify or even improve how that was handled," Witherspoon said Monday. "In my opinion, I believe that ETHS could have done better and that's why we're looking at the processes to make sure that there are some additional things put in place."

Witherspoon did not specify how his administration could have done better or what changes, if any, have been put in place since then.

"Without going into all the personnel details," the superintendent said. "I can just assure you that this is being closely re-examined and will have an impact on what we do going forward."

Related:

• ETHS Defrauded Of Over $48,000 In 'Hack' That Exposed More Than 1,100 Identities
• Student Board Representative Criticizes Handling Of Complaints About Color Guard Coach
• Arrested Coach Faced Complaints But Cleared Of Wrongdoing At ETHS
• Senior Human Resources Staff Put On Leave At Evanston Township High School
• ETHS Employee Charged With Child Seduction At Northwest Indiana School
• New Allegations Added To ETHS Security Guard Sex Assault Lawsuit

Medrano is one of several ETHS staff members to be accused of sexual misconduct involving students in recent years.

In January 2019, the school board agreed to settle several lawsuits that accused the district of failing to protect students from sexual abuse and harassment by former drama teacher Bruce Siewerth, who taught at ETHS from 1965 to 1999. As part of the settlement, the district promised to allocate $10,000 a year for 10 years to support district-sponsored programs to address sexual assault awareness, reporting and prevention.

Then in February 2019, former security guard Michael Haywood was arrested and charged with criminal sexual assault of a person in authority after prosecutors said he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student. He pleaded guilty in February 2021 in exchange for a sentence of two years of probation and a lifetime of sex offender registration.

Court records show district officials have settled a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by a former ETHS student that alleged that administrators knew or should have known about "widespread, frequent, ongoing and readily apparent" sexual abuse by Haywood and another security guard who was never criminally charged. Evanston Patch has requested information showing how much money was paid to settle the suit out of court, which district officials have yet to publicly reveal.

In an open letter to the Evanston community earlier this year, the mother of one of the students abused by the security guard said she had known three students sexually assaulted by faculty members during her time attending the school decades earlier.

"ETHS and its employees have hidden, dismissed and swept under the rug decades of unlawful sexual conduct between minor students and Evanston Township district employees. I was once proud to call myself an alum of ETHS, but now my memories are marred," Sophia Sterling said.

According to Sterling's suit, there was an "open and notorious" shouted public confrontation between Haywood and a student right around the corner from Witherspoon's office in which the girl screamed, "You're sleeping with someone else," and "You're supposed to love me."