Ex-San Jose State coach suspended from current job

The Plumas Unified School District has suspended Quincy High School’s assistant principal and athletic director, Jason Hawkins, to investigate “potential misconduct” since he joined the school in 2018.

The suspension follows an EdSource report that Hawkins sexually and racially harassed players when he coached San Jose State’s baseball team in 2017.

Plumas Superintendent William Roderick, in a statement, said Hawkins was put on leave while “the District investigates allegations of potential misconduct by Mr. Hawkins during his employment with the Plumas Unified School District. As with all personnel matters, the details are confidential and cannot be shared at this time.”

He did not say when Hawkins was suspended, but he had told EdSource on Tuesday that Hawkins was working that day.

Hawkins did not respond to a phone message and an email Friday. His school email account generated an auto reply that he was out of the office.

While he was at San Jose State in 2017, investigators found that Hawkins sexually and racially harassed players and his coaching staff with raunchy sex jokes told during team “story time,” referred to a Black player with an offensive racial slur, used a slur to refer to Asian players and made derogatory comments about other racial groups and women.

San Jose State placed Hawkins on administrative leave in late 2017 following completion of an investigation that found he had used sexual and racial language to harass his players and staff.  Hawkins resigned in early 2018 before a decision on how to discipline him was reached by university officials.

A separate investigation found that the baseball team had violated NCAA rules during Hawkin’s tenure. The university was fined $5,000 and placed on two years probation. The press release announcing Hawkins’ resignation did not give a reason for his departure.

San Jose State officials confirmed that the Plumas district made no inquiry about Hawkins and no request for a recommendation when he was hired in 2018.