Two women say they went to a Perrysburg High School guidance counselor years ago to report that a gym teacher had made them uncomfortable or touched them inappropriately, only to be told to stay away from him and that, in their words, this is just how he is. That counselor, Rick Rettig, is now president of Perrysburg City Council and a Democrat running for an Ohio House seat representing parts of Wood County. Both women say their complaints went nowhere.
According to a Perrysburg police report, one former student said that during a 2011 gym class, the teacher grabbed her buttocks and attempted to touch near her breasts. As reported by Cleveland.com, she said she reported the incident to Rettig, then a guidance counselor, and attended a meeting the next day with him, the principal and an assistant principal. School officials discouraged her from filing a written complaint, she told police, and instead told her to stay away from the teacher and said, “this is just how he is.” The police report also states that officials characterized the teacher's behavior as his sense of humor and suggested she may have interpreted it the wrong way.
A second woman told police that in 2007 or 2008 she asked Rettig to move her to another health class after the same teacher made her uncomfortable during CPR lessons. She said Rettig told her he would notify the appropriate people, but an assistant principal later dismissed the conduct as just his sense of humor, and another administrator called her too sensitive. Both police reports concerned John Henline, a physical education and health teacher at Perrysburg High School, though the reports redacted the women's names.
Investigation Found a Decades-Old Relationship With a Student
Henline's resignation was effective February 13, 2025, after he had been placed on leave. A woman told the outlet she had sexual intercourse with Henline when she was a student in the 1990s, and former students posted about his behavior on social media over the years, which prompted Perrysburg police to interview the women in early 2025. No charges have been filed against Henline.
An independent investigator reviewed the complaints in a report dated Jan. 10, 2025, titled the Investigation Report of Complaints Filed Against High School Employee John Henline. The investigator interviewed 10 current staff members and administrators, including four former Perrysburg students, and reviewed district records along with outside-agency reports. The report concluded, by a preponderance of the evidence, that Henline had a physical or intimate relationship with a student during her senior year in the late 1990s. The report also discusses an allegation involving a comment to a former student after she had graduated.
The same investigation found that former Perrysburg High School Principal Aaron Cookson failed to report and properly document misconduct claims against Henline, and concluded that Cookson was conflicted in handling the allegations and should have withdrawn from involvement in those matters. Cookson resigned as principal in February 2025. Accounts differ on exactly when the district's investigation began and on the timeline of Henline's departure: the investigation report says the probe followed complaints from two current employees in May 2024, while 13abc reported it began after two former students came forward during the last week of school that same month. Similarly, the district said Henline was placed on administrative leave the day he was interviewed, while 13abc reported his resignation took effect Feb. 13, 2025.
District Rolls Out New Reporting Rules
Perrysburg Schools said it would work to implement corrective actions to ensure the integrity of future investigations. Per 13abc's later report, the district has already expanded an email and voicemail line where students can report concerns for documentation and investigation purposes, and it is drafting an anti-grooming policy to set clear expectations and boundaries for staff interactions with students. The same report notes the district is creating a professional development module for administrators, teachers and staff to identify and address inappropriate behavior, and district leadership is formalizing a process to report misconduct to police and follow up on any investigations. Perrysburg Schools is also working on a Students' Bill of Rights outlining what behavior students should report and where to report it.
Rettig Points to Election-Year Timing
Rettig, who retired as a finance teacher in the district in September 2026, told Cleveland.com he followed proper procedures in handling the complaints. “I always worked to protect them and keep them safe,” he said. He added that any misconduct from people in positions of authority over young people is abhorrent, and suggested the allegations were surfacing now because of his campaign.
Rettig was elected to Perrysburg City Council in 2013 and currently serves as council president; he returned to the council in 2024 after an earlier stint from 2014 to 2018, according to the Sentinel-Tribune. He is running against Republican Rep. Haraz Ghanbari of Wood County, who won the House District 75 seat in 2024 with 60% of the vote. Ghanbari declined to comment on the misconduct allegations when asked by Cleveland.com.
