High school teacher's background under review

A Lake City High School science teacher is on administrative leave after the parent of a student reported concern about the teacher’s professional background.

State of Washington Department of Health records show Jeff Kantola, who is in his second year teaching at Lake City, was a chiropractor licensed in that state until 2004, when his license was revoked, two years after it was suspended.

At the time of his suspension in 2002, he was charged with violating Washington law regarding professional conduct by license holders, specifically for having a sexual relationship with a patient and another sexual relationship with an employee. The details of those relationships are outlined in a stipulated agreement signed by Kantola in 2002.

Laura Rumpler, the Coeur d’Alene School District’s communications director, said because the situation is a personnel matter, the district is limited in what information it can release.

“But what I can share is that our district has been responsive to the parent who brought forward concerns regarding Mr. Kantola’s previous profession as a chiropractor and a licensure revocation in the state of Washington,” Rumpler said. “We have placed Mr. Kantola on leave while we complete a thorough review of this situation as it is our duty to review matters such as these to ensure that our students and our staff are supported in emotionally and physically safe learning environments.”

A parent who contacted The Press last weekend sent a photo of Kantola’s framed chiropractic degree on display at Lake City High.

The parent, who wished to remain anonymous to protect her student’s identity, said Kantola requires students to call him “Dr. Kantola.” Last weekend, the high school’s website listed him on his teacher page as “Dr. Jeff Kantola.” By Thursday, the “Dr.” title was scrubbed from the teacher page.

The parent also said 14 complaints were lodged against Kantola at Lake City last year. The school district could not confirm this, but when asked how many total complaints were made against teachers at the high school last year, school officials said just two.

Kantola is the only instructor teaching honors biology, meaning students who want to maintain a high grade point average must take his class, the parent said.

“We are not this desperate for teachers,” the parent said. “We don’t want people like this teaching our kids.”

Kantola declined to comment.

“Due to the sensitive nature of this situation, and the emotional impact that reliving this particular incident will have on innocent people, I am choosing to refrain from comment at this time,” Kantola wrote, in an email message to The Press. “The people who have done nothing wrong, including my minor children, are the ones that will suffer the most from this, and I desire to protect them.”

Rumpler said Kantola gave the school district permission to release information about his application.

The Idaho Department of Education issued Kantola a teaching license in 2015. He previously held a teaching license in Tennessee, where he taught for four years.

“During the hiring process of Mr. Kantola, our human resources department received confirmation from the State Department of Education that he passed the required FBI background check,” Rumpler said. “He self-disclosed on his application that he had a chiropractic license suspension and our hiring officials followed through with reference checks, receiving a positive reference from the school district in Tennessee where he had been previously employed.”

Additional Washington State Health Department records show Kantola’s chiropractic license was revoked in 2004 after he failed to comply with the terms of his suspension. For his license to be restored from a five-year suspension, he was required to pay a $5,000 fine and within 12 months, complete a continuing education program focused on maintaining appropriate physician/patient boundaries. He did not complete those requirements.

The parent who contacted The Press said the school district is offering students the option to take the biology course online at no cost to the parents. She expressed concern that the school district is not alerting other parents so they can decide whether their children should remain in Kantola’s class.

Rumpler said the district is researching potential options which may include taking the course from another teacher or taking the course online.

“Administrators are still researching this and communicating with the one parent who has communicated their concern and the need to explore options for their student,” Rumpler said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a correction. Kantola teaches honors biology, not AP biology and he taught in Tennessee for four years.