UPDATE: This story has been updated to clarify allegations against James Brown. A teacher and multiple parents testified that students saw Brown using a school shower, but an ethics panel declared that it “was not clear from the evidence what students saw.”
The Professional Standards Commission (PSC) revoked one teaching certificate and suspended two others during its regular meeting Thursday.
The commission is a volunteer board that enforces the state’s code of ethics and has the authority to approve, suspend and revoke teaching and administrative certificates as well as to require ethics training.
This week, the PSC revoked the certificate for a teacher convicted of grooming a child, and retroactively suspended two certificates for teachers who abandoned their contracts.
Idaho Education News also caught up on an April hearing, when the commission required ethics training for a former superintendent.
Justin Zierke – Bonneville School District
On Thursday, the PSC revoked the certificate of a former middle school drama teacher in Idaho Falls who enticed and groomed a 13-year-old student.
Justin Zierke engaged in “personal, non-school-related communications” with the student and encouraged her to “visit him alone outside of school hours,” according to the PSC complaint. While alone with the student, Zierke made “inappropriate physical contact,” including hugging and holding hands, the complaint says.
After a subsequent arrest by Bonneville County authorities, Zierke pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor injury to children, East Idaho News reported. Last week, a Bonneville County judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail followed by two years of supervisory probation as part of a plea agreement.
East Idaho News reported that Zierke and the student said they loved each other, according to court documents, but a sheriff’s office investigation found no sexually explicit messages shared between the two or discussion of sex acts.
Zierke resigned from his position at Black Canyon Middle School last year.
James Brown – Hagerman School District
During a previous meeting in April, the PSC issued a reprimand letter and required ethics courses for James Brown, former superintendent in Hagerman. Brown was disciplined for using a shower in a school facility, despite the risk that he could have been seen naked by students.
A teacher and three parents testified during an April PSC hearing that students witnessed Brown using the shower during the 2023-24 school year. One student told the teacher that “it was disturbing” and that they “stopped an after-school activity to avoid having to use the locker room,” according to a summary of the hearing.
The PSC hearing panel declared that it “was not clear from the evidence what students saw,” but “there was a possibility that his actions could be detrimental,” and “the risk was enough.”
Brown, who asked ethics commissioners to dismiss the complaint, told the PSC that the Hagerman Junior/Senior High School gymnasium and locker room facilities were open to the community, the hearing summary said. And he “immediately stopped” using the facilities after he learned there was a complaint.
The Hagerman school board later adopted a policy restricting access to the athletic facilities.
The Gooding County sheriff’s office investigated the incident but did not file charges.
Brown is no longer Hagerman’s superintendent. EdNews previously reported that he was replaced last year.
Amanda Jorgenson and Jennifer Fisher – Post Falls School District
The PSC Thursday suspended the certificates of two former Post Falls School District teachers for violating the terms of their contracts.
Amanda Jorgenson and Jennifer Fisher both signed contracts to work for Post Falls through the 2024-25 school year, according to separate complaints. Jorgenson and Fisher attempted to resign in August, but the school board rejected their resignation letters.
The PSC retroactively suspended Jorgenson and Fisher’s teaching certificates through June 1, 2025.
