The Highline School District hired July 14 a former Northwest region athletic director of the year to take over its troubled athletic program.

The region covers a five-state area from Idaho to Alaska.

Terri McMahan received the award in 2009 following her retirement as athletic director in the Edmonds School District. According to the Seattle Times, McMahan's partner was diagnosed with advanced cancer and the Edmonds district granted a leave of absence through the end of the school year, when she retired and moved to Bellingham.

She worked 11 years in Edmonds and 19 years in the Ferndale School District as athletic director, a P.E. teacher and computer specialist.
McMahan has also been named the Washington State (WSSAAA) Athletic Director of the Year.

In addition to McMahan, the Highline district also hired Philip Willenbrock as athletic/campus director and Mark Becker as head football coach at the Evergreen High campus in White Center.

Superintendent John Welch told board members that McMahan's tenure with Edmonds impressed him in several areas. He pointed to her focus on athletics while growing the athletic program, her removal of barriers to allow students to participate in sports, her strong focus on student safety and her strong management of the athletic program.

He also mentioned McMahan's strong recruiting of coaches and partnerships with community members.

"She has an amazing amount of experience and she knows what needs to be done," Welch declared.

McMahan, Willenbrock and Becker will face several challenges in restoring confidence in the district and Evergreen's athletic programs following a series of scandals.

The district fired Jason Boehm, a substitute Highline Memorial Field manger, after he was accused of conducting physical exams on male students, giving students injections and prescribing treatments without proper medical supervision. He was licensed as an emergency medical technician and was hired to provide first aid treatment but did not have credentials to conduct physicals.

The state health department also yanked Boehm's credentials after he allegedly inappropriately examined an adult athlete in a Police Athletic League competition at Evergreen. King County detectives say the adult male was referred to Boehm with a bloody nose during a boxing match. Boehm allegedly asked him to remove his clothes and touched his genitals.

Boehm's sister, Daylene Boehm, was placed on leave from her position as Evergreen's athletic director.

Jackie Lewis, the district's athletic director, was also placed on leave.

The district contracted the state organization that oversees high school and middle school athletic programs to conduct a full audit of the management of Highline's athletic programs.

The district, King County Sheriff's Office and the state health department also conducted separate investigations.

In June, while the investigations and audit were still underway, an additional incident rocked Evergreen's football program.

LaShawn Jamar Ferguson, a level three sex offender, was immediately escorted off Evergreen's campus after female football team managers reported he had made inappropriate comments to them.

District officials determined a background check on Ferguson had not been completed. Because the coach running spring practices had not ensured that Ferguson's background check was finished, the district rescinded its job offer to him to become head football coach.

McMahan will replace Lewis as head of the district's athletic program. She has been hired as coordinator of athletics, a lower job classification than Lewis held.

However, McMahan's athletic position is full-time while Lewis also served as an assistant principal at Highline High in Burien. Annual salary range for the coordinator position was listed as $90,861- $102,266.

Lewis was also replaced as assistant principal and is slated to become a teacher at a Highline school to be determined.