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Documents obtained through an open records request show Canfield Local Schools found coach and teacher Craig Shaw failed to report an “inappropriate” incident on his wrestling team to the district, and helped students cheat on a final exam.
CANFIELD, Ohio - The head wrestling coach and intervention specialist at Canfield High School has been disciplined by the school district twice in the past year following separate internal investigations, but remains employed by the district today.
Documents obtained by 21 News through an open records request show Canfield Local Schools found coach and teacher Craig Shaw failed to report an “inappropriate” incident on his wrestling team to the district, and helped students cheat on an end-of-year exam. The first investigation resulted in a written reprimand, and the second in a 10-day unpaid suspension.
In a statement Wednesday, the district said the Ohio Board of Education's Office of Professional Conduct is now conducting its own review of the matter, and that “because this is both under state review and a personnel matter, the district is unable to discuss specific details.”
Shaw declined to comment on either incident or investigation for this article.
An “inappropriate” incident
The district placed Shaw on temporary administrative leave during its first investigation in December 2024, and separately interviewed him and eight student wrestlers. From interviews and video evidence, the investigation found an incident occurred between several wrestlers on a trip to Florida in June 2024.
Email records show a distressed parent sent multiple video files to Canfield administrators on December 11, claiming they show the parent's son “being bullied and beaten” on the trip.
In another email, a parent — it is not clear whether it is the same person, or another parent, as some names were redacted from the records — sends more videos, writing that their son is “the individual being hazed. This is hazing!”
21 News has not reviewed the videos and is unable to confirm whether they contain evidence of bullying or hazing. The district does not label the July 2024 incident as a hazing situation in its official records, but a memorandum from the investigation notes that “at the time, it was questionable whether the incident amounted to bullying and/or hazing.”
As such, Shaw was required under district policy to report the event to administrators, but according to the memorandum, he didn’t feel that was necessary. Investigators observed that “Coach Shaw’s mindset is that if behavior occurs outside of the wrestling season and not during a District-sponsored activity, Coach Shaw’s responsibility is only to address the student-wrestlers directly and inform their parents.”
The district found Shaw did not meet district expectations for how he handled the incident — but because he sought to resolve the issue with parents, it decided he had not committed “any flagrant policy violations.”
Knoll sent Shaw a letter of reprimand January 6, about a month after the investigation had started. He mandated that Shaw complete trainings on protecting students from bullying, hazing and abuse, and increase supervision in the locker room and at wrestling practice.
“Compromised” exam ethics
Months later, records show Canfield opened another internal investigation into Shaw’s behavior — this time, regarding testing violations.
According to the investigation report, it started when a Canfield High School teacher told Principal Mark Potts she heard rumors of Shaw giving answers to students during the state U.S. History End of Course test.
Potts and Assistant Principal Mason Seachrist questioned eight students who were in the room where Shaw proctored the exam. Several of the students shared that Shaw had given certain students assistance during the test by “pointing at computer screens, nodding or shaking his head to indicate right or wrong answers [and] offering verbal clues to guide students toward correct responses.”
The investigation found Shaw’s actions “likely compromised the integrity of the test and constituted a violation of test security protocols.” As of May 27, Knoll and the Canfield school board were consulting with legal counsel on “the possible termination of employment” for Shaw.
But in July, the district placed Shaw on a 10-day unpaid suspension, which ended August 22. In its statement Wednesday, Canfield Local Schools confirmed he remains employed by the district today.
“We remain focused on providing a respectful and supportive learning environment for every student and staff member,” the district said. “Safety remains our top priority, and all district and state protocols will continue to be strictly followed.”