STORM2K

Teacher caught licking students' wounds

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - The Oregon teachers' board reprimanded a high school football coach for licking the bleeding wounds of student athletes, school officials said on Friday.

The Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission placed Scott Reed, 34, on two years of probation and ordered the coach, who is also a science teacher to attend a class on the risks of blood-borne pathogens.

Last summer, Reed gave students at Central Linn High School near Eugene, Oregon, 100 miles south of Portland, a pep talk about a coach who had licked and healed players' wounds so that they could rejoin the game. After the talk, he bent down and licked a cut on a track athlete's knee, the commission said.

The head of the commission, Vickie Chamberlain, said the board felt a public reprimand was necessary "because we were very concerned about his behavior."

Reed did not return calls seeking comment.

Complaints filed against Reed also cited other risky behavior, such as licking blood from wounds on a football player's arm and a high school student's hand. Parents said if Reed had had an open wound in his mouth, the licking could have spread an infection such as HIV or Hepatitis B and C.