Ex-teacher received $30,000 settlement

A high school teacher who resigned amid controversy in December received a check for $30,000 in January from the Coeur d’Alene School District.

Jeff Kantola, who taught at Lake City High School, resigned Dec. 5 after being placed on administrative leave in October. One or more parents had complained that Kantola, who is unable to be licensed to treat patients as a chiropractor, was teaching high school students in Coeur d’Alene.

The school district’s expenditures for January include the $30,000 payment to Kantola. The invoice description for the payment is “settlement agreement.”

The Press made a public record request for a copy of the settlement agreement, which was denied. In the denial, school officials cited sections of Idaho public records law that exempt public employees’ personnel records from disclosure.

Superintendent Matt Handelman would not discuss any details of the agreement.

“...based on Idaho Code, the District does not disclose information about former employees beyond the periods of employment, years of service, and education credited to (the employee) during his/her teaching career in the District,” Handelman wrote.

Kantola’s chiropractic license was revoked in 2004 in the state of Washington after he admitted to having sexual relationships with a patient and an employee, and then failed to comply with the terms of a suspension order. That suspension order included a requirement for Kantola to receive treatment for an expected minimum of two years from a therapist experienced in treating sexual problems, and he was not allowed to treat female patients without a female chaperone present.

The Idaho Department of Education issued Kantola a teaching license in 2015, and he was hired by the Coeur d’Alene School District that year. He previously held a teaching license in Tennessee, where he taught for four years.

Prior to Kantola’s resignation, teachers at Lake City High School rallied around Kantola. Many of his fellow educators attended the school board’s November meeting and petitioned the administration and board to keep Kantola on staff. “This teacher is an excellent educator and what is in the past is in the past and has no connection to the classroom or the safety of the students,” Lake City High School music teacher Tim Sandford said to the board in November.