VENTURA : Accused Teacher’s Hearing Postponed

Hoping to get more evidence against a Ventura High football coach accused of sexual misconduct, Ventura school officials have temporarily halted a hearing on the matter to get a former student’s written statement.

The administrative hearing that will decide whether school officials may fire Bret Taylor, a Balboa Middle School history teacher and part-time high school coach, recessed Friday and will resume Oct. 31.

During the recess, Ventura Unified School District representatives will fly to Florida to take a deposition from a girl who was a student at Ventura High when Taylor was a substitute teacher there.

Classmates of the girl have told school officials that the girl told them she had sex with Taylor. But the girl has said only that Taylor once picked her up at her friend’s house and drove her to the beach, where he put a hand on her leg.

Even if the girl does not corroborate her classmates’ account, school officials believe they have enough evidence against the 28-year-old teacher to fire him, said Mary Jo McGrath, attorney for the school district.

The district suspended Taylor in July on allegations that he had sex with two Ventura High students and kissed and dated others. Although Taylor has admitted kissing two girls, the allegations that he had sex with students are based only on other youths’ testimony.

One of the girls whom Taylor has admitted kissing testified during the administrative hearing that Taylor kissed her repeatedly--at times on his bed--while she was at his home one day, McGrath said. One kiss lasted more than 20 minutes, the attorney said.

Taylor declined to discuss the case. His attorney could not be reached for comment.