Former Football coach Adam Kennybrew from Roosevelt High School was put on a paid leave in April 2017 following several sexual harassment allegations. As of September, Kennybrew was the subject of another investigation, but it is unclear if it related to the reports of harassment.
PPS spokesperson Harry Esteve has said that the investigation is unrelated to his first offense— but no one in PPS has since commented on what it is about or given details.
According to the investigation, Kennybrew initiated unwanted physical contact, used inappropriate language, and sent explicit and inappropriate text messages to female employees at Roosevelt High School. All of this was said to be a reoccurring issue.
Although he was suspended from his primary job at Roosevelt, he was able to continue a part-time job there as a testing coordinator and a second part-time job at the district’s central athletic department. He continues to deny the accusations, but was found to have sent at least one inappropriate text to a fellow staff member.
Though explicit messages to a co-worker were found, it isn’t clear how many he may have initially sent. In an interview with Willamette Week, Lisa Greenfield, a lawyer hired by PPS, stated that, “The Kennybrew investigation was poorly planned and executed.” It is possible that some of the evidence against Kennybrew was not found, due to the disorganization of the investigation. A claim from one staff member stated that there were complaints that had not been looked into from several months before the investigation surrounding Kennybrew’s behavior. PPS is looking into how to change its procedures around complaints due to the many complications and poor outcome surrounding the case.
During his suspension, Kennybrew was invited to coach Central Catholic High School’s football team. In that decision, Central Catholic claimed that Kennybrew underwent the regular background check that it takes to work in the high school. Even with that, it was reported by Willamette Week that after attempting to contact the administration, Principal John Garrow wrote back that they had also decided to put him on paid leave, awaiting the results of PPS’s investigations.
While the school did not share the information of the case with their students regarding Kennybrew, it has become ‘common knowledge.’ The students of Roosevelt are quick to criticize the ex-coach. “It’s a continuing issue and he needs to learn from his mistakes,” commented Roosevelt student and football player Ahliah Nordstrom. “There is no excuse for assault, especially if it’s reoccurring.”
Kennybrew is still under investigation and continues to work at Roosevelt as a testing coordinator.
