Coweta Commission Candidate Tim Ryan Faces Third School District Controversy

Three seventh-grade students and a school employee reported that Coweta County Commission candidate Tim Ryan placed a student’s sandwich in his groin area before removing it and eating it in front of students, according to Atlanta Public Schools personnel records obtained by The Citizen.

The newly obtained Atlanta records surface as Ryan seeks the Republican nomination for the Coweta County Commission in a runoff against Dakota Caldwell.

The February 2020 incident is the first time Atlanta Public Schools has surfaced in Ryan’s employment history. Previously reported records from Gwinnett County Public Schools and Coweta County Schools documented separate complaints and disciplinary concerns involving Ryan. In Gwinnett, Ryan was permanently barred from returning to one middle school campus following student complaints. In Coweta, records documented student complaints, parent concerns, disciplinary actions, and Ryan’s eventual resignation.

According to an Office of Employee Relations report dated Feb. 19, 2020, a school employee reported witnessing Ryan take a student’s sandwich and place it in his groin area before eating it.

Assistant Principal Dominique Merriweather wrote that office clerk Ms. Reed reported seeing Ryan take the sandwich from a student and “proceed to place the student’s sandwich in his groin area.”

“After doing this,” Merriweather wrote, “Ms. Reed shared that Mr. Ryan then took the sandwich out of his pants and proceeded to eat the sandwich in front of the visibly upset student.”

Reed separately described the incident in an email to Principal Gail Johnson.

“This afternoon I witnessed something very disturbing,” Reed wrote. “As I was walking down the stairs to the cafeteria, I witnessed Mr. Ryan taking a sandwich from a student and then proceeded to stuff the sandwich down his pants in his groin area.”

“The student was visibly upset,” Reed continued. “Mr. Ryan then took the sandwich out of his pants and proceeded to eat the sandwich himself.”

Three seventh-grade students also submitted written statements on the day of the incident.

One student wrote, “I had just got a sandwich from my friend and my teacher took it. When he took it he put inside his pants near his groin (penis) area. Then he pulled it out and proceeded to eat in front of my face.”

A second student wrote, “Mr. Ryan tooked [sic] X sandwich and put under his penis area, then took it out and ate it.”

A third student wrote that Ryan “put the sandwhich [sic] in his pants in his penis” before later eating it in front of the student who became upset.

Principal Gail Johnson sought Ryan’s account of the incident the same day.

“I received a report that you took a student’s sandwich from him at the end of lunch today and put it down your pants and then proceeded to eat it,” Johnson wrote. “Would you kindly provide me a statement regarding any possible interaction you had that would have resulted in this report being made?”

Ryan disputed a central allegation.

“The sandwich did not belong to the student X,” Ryan wrote. “It was another students who has given it to me several times before as he throws it away almost every day.”

“I did not put it in my pants it went under my shirt–sleight of hand,” Ryan continued.

Ryan also wrote that the student “did not mind one bit” and questioned the complaint process, writing that “anonymous reports such as this seem very familiar to me.”

The incident report indicates Ryan received verbal notification regarding the complaint on Feb. 19, 2020.

Personnel records further show Atlanta Public Schools accepted Ryan’s resignation effective March 6, 2020, approximately two weeks after the incident and months before the end of the school year.

Ryan had been hired by Atlanta Public Schools in August 2019. His resignation became effective roughly seven months into his tenure and nearly three months before the completion of his first school year with the district.

The Atlanta records do not contain a final determination regarding the complaint. They do document reports from three seventh-grade students, an adult employee who stated she witnessed the incident, an administrative investigation, Ryan’s written response, and his resignation shortly afterward.

The Atlanta records are the third set of school district records reviewed by The Citizen documenting complaints or administrative concerns involving Ryan. Previously reported records from Gwinnett County Public Schools and Coweta County Schools documented separate incidents that also drew administrative scrutiny.

For voters evaluating Ryan’s candidacy for the Coweta County Commission, the Atlanta records add a third school district where official records documented concerns regarding his conduct around students.