A 19-year-old says she didn’t feel safe at her high school after a math teacher allegedly targeted and groomed her. Now she’s speaking out as the district is paying.
LAKE STEVENS, Wash. — A former Lake Stevens High School student has won a $2 million settlement from the Lake Stevens School District after alleging she was sexually groomed by a math teacher — and that the district failed to act when she reported it.
Kalynn Taber, now 19, said the experience left her feeling unsafe in a place where students should feel protected.
“You’re supposed to be able to feel safe at school, and that is not how I felt at all,” she said.
The lawsuit names former math teacher Mark Hein as the alleged perpetrator, accusing him of targeting Taber through a pattern of escalating behavior that began with small, seemingly innocuous acts.
“He would write me notes during class,” Taber said. “He like, touchy feely, would flick my hair, my pencil or pretend to trip me and it started to escalate to touch my leg, touch my thigh.”
Hein was arrested in 2023 on allegations including sexual misconduct involving a minor. Those criminal charges were later dropped, and Hein resigned from his position. According to the Taber family’s attorney, the district paid Hein $122,184.00 in severance in January 2025 as it simultaneously negotiated the $2 million settlement with his alleged victim.
KING 5 reached Hein by phone Thursday, but he did not comment.
According to the Taber family’s attorney, Kalynn reported Hein to the school in January 2022, but the district did not contact police. It was an outside counselor who eventually made that call — seven months later.
Taber’s mother, Chari Taber, was employed by the Lake Stevens School District at the time. She says the district violated mandatory reporting laws and failed to protect her daughter.
She views the settlement as an acknowledgment by the district of how serious the failures were.
“I think $2 million dollars says we know we are screwed, and we know how bad this is,” she said.
For Kalynn, she says the lawsuit was never about the money — it was about holding the district accountable for what she says were systemic failures that left her and potentially other students vulnerable.
The Lake Stevens School District issued a statement in response to the case: “The District cares deeply about the safety and well-being of every student and is committed to providing a safe, supportive, and positive learning environment. We take concerns seriously and continually review and strengthen our practices, training, and systems to support students every day.”
As part of the settlement agreement, the district also agreed to increase staff training on topics including sexual grooming and mandatory reporting, according to the Taber family’s attorney.
The lawsuit further alleges that at least one other high school student had reported Hein for improper conduct years earlier, during the 2018-2019 school year.
For Kalynn, the settlement is only part of what she hopes comes from going public. She says her focus now is on prevention.
“How are people ever going to keep coming forward if the people who are meant to protect students aren’t doing their job?” she said.
The detective who investigated Kalynn’s case, Kristen Parnell, led a series of community education classes at the Lake Stevens Library aimed at helping families recognize predatory behavior before it escalates.
“We all know pedophiles, we all know sex offenders, we just may not know who they are,” Parnell said. “Just open people’s eyes to the possibility that somebody that you know, that you like, that you trust, could actually be harming kids.”
Parnell told KING 5 the issue is prevalent both in and beyond the Lake Stevens community.
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