Cascade High teacher accused of assault on student

Published 10:33 pm Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A day after Jake Huizinga resigned as head football coach at Cascade High School, a student accused Huizinga of assaulting him on the school grounds.

The alleged incident prompted investigations by the Everett Police Department and the Everett School District.

Huizinga, who resigned as football coach Dec. 17, continues to teach physical education at the school.

Huizinga acknowledged he was involved in an “event” with a student on the afternoon of Dec. 18 on Cascade’s campus in Everett. It is an “ongoing thing that is being resolved (and) is going through the process,” he said.

Huizinga said the events of Dec. 18 had nothing to do with his resignation, which occurred a day earlier. He declined to comment further. Cascade athletic director Doug Kloke also said Huizinga’s resignation was “in no way connected” to what happened Dec. 18.

The parents of a Cascade student called police Dec. 18 after their son reported that a school faculty member assaulted him earlier in the day, Everett Police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.

The boy told police a teacher grabbed him by the throat about 1 p.m., Goetz said.

When the officer looked at the boy at the family home several hours after the alleged assault, he couldn’t see signs of bruising or other evidence of an assault.

Police forwarded their misdemeanor assault investigation to city prosecutors, who will determine if there’s enough evidence to pursue the matter in court.

The Everett School District continues to investigate the alleged incident, Lynn Evans, the Everett School District’s human resources director, said Wednesday. Evans said the alleged event was “related to the classroom” but said she could not provide details.

Huizinga had coached in the Cascade football program since 1991, including the past eight seasons as the Bruins head coach.

He guided Cascade to Class 4A state playoff appearances in 2005 and 2007. This past fall the team finished 6-4 (3-3 in Wesco North Division games) and did not qualify for the postseason. Cascade also missed the playoffs in 2008 with a record of 5-5 (3-3 in division).

“This has been a carefully thought-out and difficult decision for me to reach, one which I have struggled with for some time,” Huizinga wrote in a resignation e-mail sent to Kloke on Dec. 17. “It is my opinion that Cascade High school needs a new face and new direction, in other words a clean break from (its) current direction and maybe past.”

Huizinga said Wednesday he planned to continue teaching at Cascade, where he taught history and social studies classes for 10 years before focusing on physical-education instruction.

“I intend to stay here. I love the school,” said Huizinga, who previously was a head coach and an assistant coach of the Bruins wrestling team. “This is where I am. I love what I do.”

By resigning as football coach, Huizinga said he hopes to free up time to pursue his interests in athletic training on an individual and group basis outside of his teaching duties.

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Reporters Eric Stevick and Jackson Holtz contributed to this story.