Former Berkeley High School teacher Matthew Bissell became the focus of years of complaints, internal disciplinary records, investigations and civil litigation concerning allegations of inappropriate and sexually harassing behavior toward female students.
Publicly released school records show that concerns about Bissell’s conduct were raised with Berkeley Unified School District administrators over a period extending back many years. The records later became central to questions about how the district documented complaints, investigated allegations and determined when stronger disciplinary action was necessary.
In 2021, Berkeley Unified concluded that allegations made by a former student concerning Bissell’s conduct were substantiated. Bissell subsequently left the district. Civil litigation filed by former students later alleged that the district had known about concerns involving him for years but failed to adequately protect students. In 2024, Berkeley Unified agreed to a $13.5 million settlement involving nine former students who had asserted sexual misconduct claims connected to Bissell.
Matthew Bissell’s Career at Berkeley High School
Bissell worked for Berkeley Unified School District for many years and held several roles at Berkeley High School.
District records establish that he was employed as a permanent teacher at Berkeley High and also participated in athletics. A 2004 Berkeley Unified personnel report, for example, identifies Matt Bissell as Berkeley High’s head football coach. Later district records continued to identify Matthew Bissell as a permanent Berkeley High teacher.
The Berkeley High Jacket reported in 2026 that Bissell taught chemistry and that district records documented complaints concerning his interactions with female students dating back to at least 2006.
The longevity of his employment became an important issue after internal disciplinary material and allegations involving former students became public.
Early Complaints and District Warnings
According to records reviewed by the Berkeley High Jacket, school administrators had addressed concerns involving Bissell by at least 2006.
The records reportedly included complaints that he made inappropriate comments and stared at female students. In March 2015, Berkeley High’s principal sent Bissell a written communication stating that inappropriate behavior toward female students was unacceptable.
Between 2015 and 2018, Bissell received multiple written reprimands addressing unprofessional conduct and sexual harassment, according to the records described by the student newspaper.
Despite those disciplinary actions, Bissell remained employed at Berkeley High for several more years.
That chronology later became significant because former students and their attorneys argued that the district had accumulated warning signs over an extended period without taking sufficient action to prevent additional alleged misconduct.
Former Student’s Allegations Lead to 2021 Investigation
A major development came when former Berkeley High student Rachel Phillips reported allegations concerning her interactions with Bissell while she was a student.
According to ABC7 reporting from July 2021, Berkeley Unified conducted an investigation and concluded that there was sufficient evidence to substantiate claims that Bissell had engaged in inappropriate conduct with current and former students.
Phillips alleged that Bissell had inappropriately touched and sexualized her while she attended Berkeley High between 1999 and 2003.
One widely reported detail involved a high school yearbook photograph showing Bissell with his arms around Phillips. Her yearbook caption reportedly identified her as the student “most likely to date a teacher.” The photograph later became one piece of the broader public discussion surrounding the allegations.
The 2021 investigation ultimately resulted in Bissell’s removal from the classroom, and he later separated from Berkeley Unified.
Civil Lawsuit Against Bissell and Berkeley Unified
Phillips subsequently filed a civil lawsuit naming both Bissell and Berkeley Unified School District.
Another civil complaint filed in November 2021 by a former student using a pseudonym contained additional allegations concerning Bissell and the district’s response.
The complaint alleged that Bissell sexually harassed, assaulted and abused the plaintiff while she was a minor in approximately 1997 and 1998. It also alleged that Berkeley Unified knew about sexual misconduct involving students but failed to fulfill its duties to appropriately respond and report the conduct.
Those statements were allegations made by the plaintiff in civil litigation and should be distinguished from independently adjudicated findings.
The lawsuit also accused the district of moving Bissell within the school system after receiving reports of misconduct rather than removing him from positions involving students.
The civil complaint alleged that Berkeley Unified’s actions and failures contributed to the harm suffered by the plaintiff.
Public Records Reveal a Longer History
Much of what became publicly known about Berkeley Unified’s handling of Bissell resulted from public-record requests.
According to the Berkeley High Jacket, disciplinary records were released after Berkeleyside sought them under the California Public Records Act and threatened litigation to obtain the documents.
The records revealed that administrators had addressed multiple complaints over many years. They also raised questions about whether all complaints made by students had been properly preserved in district files.
The disclosures transformed the issue from an individual misconduct case into a broader discussion about institutional accountability, recordkeeping and the treatment of complaints involving school employees.
Bissell’s Separation From Berkeley Unified
Berkeley Unified eventually reached a separation agreement with Bissell.
According to reporting based on the disclosed records, the agreement allowed Bissell to resign while on paid leave and contained confidentiality provisions restricting what district representatives could publicly discuss about the circumstances surrounding his departure.
The agreement drew criticism from former students and advocates who argued that the district’s handling of the situation demonstrated the difficulty of obtaining transparency in personnel misconduct cases.
At the same time, public school districts are required to navigate employee due-process protections, collective bargaining obligations and state and federal confidentiality laws when investigating complaints against employees.
Those competing responsibilities became part of the larger debate surrounding the Bissell case.
Nine Former Students Reach $13.5 Million Settlement
The litigation continued after Bissell’s departure from Berkeley Unified.
In 2024, Berkeley Unified agreed to settle claims brought by nine former students for a combined $13.5 million. The women alleged that Bissell had sexually harassed or assaulted students over a period spanning more than two decades and that the district failed to adequately respond to warning signs and complaints.
A civil settlement does not necessarily constitute an admission that every allegation contained in the lawsuits was proven. It nevertheless represented a major financial and institutional resolution of the claims brought against the school district.
The settlement also did not end the broader discussion among former students about Berkeley Unified’s policies and practices.
Following the resolution, former students continued calling for changes in how the district responds to reports of sexual misconduct.
Changes at Berkeley Unified
The district has taken steps to change its approach to sexual harassment and student-adult boundaries.
According to the Berkeley High Jacket, Berkeley Unified established the Superintendent’s Gender Equity and Sexual Harassment Advisory Committee following the Bissell case.
The district also developed new policies and staff training addressing appropriate interactions between adults and students.
Those reforms reflect one of the lasting consequences of the controversy: greater attention to how misconduct complaints are received, documented, investigated and escalated.
How Teacher Misconduct Complaints Are Handled
Berkeley Unified maintains procedures through which students and families can report concerns involving teachers and other employees.
Reports may be made to school administrators, district officials or Title IX personnel. Depending on the nature of an allegation, the district may be required to conduct an investigation and may also have mandatory reporting responsibilities under California law.
However, investigations involving employees can be complicated by confidentiality requirements.
Student education records are protected by federal privacy law, while personnel information involving teachers and other employees may also be protected from unrestricted disclosure.
As Berkeley Unified Title IX Coordinator Jasmina Viteskic explained to the Berkeley High Jacket, the district has obligations both to students and to employees who are entitled to due process during an investigation.
That tension can sometimes make the process appear slow or opaque to students and families who have filed complaints.
Broader Questions About Institutional Accountability
The Bissell matter ultimately became about more than the allegations involving one teacher.
The records raised questions about how institutions recognize patterns of behavior when complaints accumulate gradually over time.
A single complaint may initially appear isolated. Multiple reports involving similar conduct, however, can create a very different institutional picture.
The Berkeley High records showed that concerns involving Bissell had been raised long before the district’s 2021 substantiation of allegations brought by a former student.
Former students have argued that schools need systems capable of identifying those patterns earlier and ensuring that reports do not disappear when administrators change or students graduate.
Understanding the Civil Allegations
The public record surrounding Matthew Bissell includes several different types of information, and those distinctions matter.
Some information comes from Berkeley Unified’s own personnel and disciplinary records. Other information consists of allegations made by former students in civil lawsuits. Berkeley Unified also conducted an investigation that substantiated allegations of inappropriate conduct, while the later litigation resulted in a multimillion-dollar settlement involving the district.
The existence of a civil complaint does not itself establish that every allegation within the filing has been proven. Similarly, a settlement does not automatically represent a judicial finding concerning every factual allegation presented by the plaintiffs.
For an accurate public-record account, those procedural distinctions should remain clear.
The Public Record Today
Matthew Bissell is no longer employed by Berkeley Unified School District.
The public record documents years of complaints and disciplinary action concerning his interactions with female students, a 2021 district investigation that substantiated allegations involving a former student, his departure from the district, subsequent civil litigation and a 2024 settlement between Berkeley Unified and nine former students.
The case also led to increased scrutiny of Berkeley Unified’s historical response to complaints involving educators.
In the years since Bissell left Berkeley High, the district has adopted additional policies, training and advisory structures intended to strengthen protections for students and clarify appropriate boundaries between school employees and the young people they serve.
For Berkeley students, families and the broader public, the Bissell matter remains a significant example of how public records, student reporting, institutional investigations and civil litigation can collectively reveal problems that may have developed over many years.
Source: https://www.berkeleyside.org/tag/berkeley-high-stop-harassing
https://berkeleyhighjacket.com/2026/investigative/reporting-teacher-misconduct