Former teacher sues Boise district, saying she was scapegoated over sexual abuse cases

BOISE (Idaho Education News) — A former teacher has sued the Boise School District, saying she was made the “fall guy” over a series of sexual abuse complaints.

Marianne Baker is seeking at least $10,000 from the district. She says district officials forced her to resign from her special education job at Valley View Elementary School after she reported concerns about Gavin Snow, a paraprofessional who worked for Baker at Valley View.

The district has agreed to $7 million in civil settlements to Boise parents who accused Snow of sexual abuse.

“(Baker) was made the ‘fall guy’ for the district’s shortcomings and negligent hiring of Gavin Snow,” according to the Oct. 1 lawsuit. “Marianne was stripped of her professional passion and has suffered immense reputational damage that will follow her for the rest of her life.”

District spokesman Dan Hollar declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday, because the case is “the subject of ongoing litigation.”

The lawsuit presents a timeline of Baker’s final months with the Boise district:

• December 2024: On three occasions, Baker observes Snow had his phone in the bathroom while helping special education students — in violation of Baker’s policy for paraprofessionals. “Marianne assumed Gavin was being insubordinate by texting during working hours,” the lawsuit says.
• Jan. 6-7, 2025: Noting a change in Snow’s demeanor, Baker seeks to file a report with then-Valley View Principal Rick Jordan and other officials.
• Jan. 7, 2025: School counselor Paula Perry announces a new no-phones-in-bathrooms policy. After the meeting, Snow follows Baker into an empty staff room. Fearing for her safety, Baker leaves the room. “It was at that point that Marianne knew Gavin had done something nefarious and/or illegal with the children of her class,” the lawsuit says.
• Jan. 10, 2025: Jordan and a top district official tell Baker she had done the right thing by reporting Snow, the lawsuit says, “because the detectives had found child pornography on Gavin’s phone and computer at home.” About an hour after this conversation, Baker learns that Snow had taken his own life as Boise police tried to arrest him on child sexual abuse charges.
• Feb. 21, 2025: The district tells Baker that she is being placed on administrative leave for failing to report child abuse, abandonment or neglect.
• May 8, 2025: Boise Education Association leaders Lara Luthy and Stephanie Myers tell Baker that the district would be terminating her, giving her the option to resign and receive pay and benefits through September. “Lara and Stephanie informed Marianne that if she resigned, her employment file would be ‘cleaner’ and she would be able to seek employment in a school district elsewhere,” the lawsuit says.
• May 13, 2025: Baker “reluctantly” signs a letter of resignation.
• May 20, 2025: Boise district attorney Dan Skinner files a complaint against Baker with the Professional Standards Commission, a volunteer board that can revoke or suspend teaching certificates.
• June 16, 2025: Baker receives a criminal summons. She is charged with two misdemeanor counts of failing to report suspected abuse.
• Jan. 5: Magistrate Judge David Manweiler dismisses the misdemeanor counts. That same day, district officials uploaded the PSC complaint to her employment file.

In her lawsuit, Baker says she has suffered high blood pressure and anxiety and “significant depression” due to the administrative leave and resignation. She says she now works as a flight attendant and a bartender on weekends, making “significantly less” than what she earned as a teacher.

Baker filed a $1 million tort claim in November, as a precursor to the lawsuit.