Florida Teacher Suspended for Touching Student with ‘Banana Penis’ May 21, 2013

A former Teacher of the Year at North Marion High School in Marion County, Florida, was suspended without pay after a student complained that he touched her inappropriately with a banana during a college-level lecture on “cylinder objects, phalluses and/or sex symbols.”

The incident took place three months ago, but the student only came forward last week.

A discipline letter sent to Jonathan Hampton claims the teacher “crossed a line” while discussing the “Freudian implications” of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

The student alleges that Hampton “rubbed [her] head and neck area with a banana,” leaving her embarrassed and humiliated.

“That is disgusting, very disgusting,” said the grandmother of a student at the school. “I don’t think he should be allowed to teach kids. You don’t do stuff like that and get away with it.”

Hampton’s lawyer (and stepfather) Mark Fiedelholtz says the entire thing was blown out of proportion, and that Hampton tapped a student with a banana from his lunch to get her attention, and that sometimes a banana is just a banana.

“There was nothing else to it,” the attorney said.

After conducting its own investigation into the matter, the school district issued Hampton an official reprimand saying it was poor judgement on his part to use “a banana to make physical contact with a student.”

The teacher has since completed the three-day suspension and was allowed to return to class.

Teacher accused of throwing a student April 26, 2013

BRADENTON, FL – Students who attend Horizons Academy in Bradenton are the ones singled out for special attention because of behavior problems. But Manatee County deputies say one of the teachers, Colby Cadwell, had behavior issues of his own.

Deputies said on Tuesday, Cadwell noticed a 13-year-old boy acting like he was going to hit someone. “And that’s when the teacher came up to him and grabbed him, threw him down, and then actually picked him up and physically threw him out of the room out into the grassy area outside the classroom” said Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer David Bristow. He says a security camera caught Cadwell hurling the 90 pound student, at least 10 feet.

Cadwell’s Facebook page shows he is a 5th grade teacher at Horizons.

A Manatee County schools spokesman tells me, he started as a teacher’s aide in 2007, and began at horizons 3 years ago.

A neighbor of Cadwell, Phyllis Cooley told me how she’d react if it were her child. ’Probably can’t say it here but I’d raise hell and put a jack under it. Yeah. I would. Not my kid. But I wouldn’t expect my kid to do that either.

Another neighbor has sympathy for teachers. ”Teachers nowadays are put in a rock and hard spot. They can’t touch the kids. The kids could verbally, physically abuse the teacher and the teachers seem like they don’t have any recourse” said Jordan Prior.

Deputies say Cadwell apologized, saying he should have grabbed the kid by the arm. ”There’s certain protocol you have to follow in a classroom and this goes way beyond that,” said the Sheriff spokesman, David Bristow.

Cadwell is charged with felony child abuse.

High school girls basketball coach allegedly texted student for sex April 16, 2013

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -  An Osceola County high school girls basketball head coach, who also taught at the school, was arrested Monday on suspicion of soliciting a student for sex.

Bryan Phillip Lockley, 27, of Orlando, was arrested on one count of solicitation of a minor for sexual activity via an electronic device.

Lockley, who coached and taught at Liberty High School in Kissimmee since August 2012, was fired on Friday, according to Osceola County School District spokeswoman Dana Schafer.  Lockley was a credit recovery teacher, running a program to help students “catch up on credits,” Schafer said.

According to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, an investigation began on Thursday when a teacher at Liberty High reported possible criminal activity involving Lockley.

Deputies spoke with school officials who had been notified by a 17-year old student’s parents that Lockley was texting their daughter pictures of himself and communicating about non-school-related issues, the Sheriff’s Office stated.

The student told deputies Lockley made statements to her that made her feel uncomfortable, asking her to stay after school and also to have lunch with him in his classroom, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said the student told them that during Spring Break, Lockley sent photos of himself to her, said deputies, who described the pictures as inappropriate but not criminal.

The student told a friend, who is also 17 years old about the text messages and pictures and her friend indicated that she was also getting text messages from Lockley, deputies said.

Detectives said they discovered one text message to the friend that offered her alcohol. The same text message implied Lockley was asking the student to have sex, deputies said.

Lockley was arrested after being questioned on Monday, and he was booked into the Osceola County Jail.

6 seventh graders arrested for beating up classmate after teacher tells them to “teach him a lesson” April 12, 2013

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office has arrested six  students from Northport K-8 School in Port St. Lucie. According to police  reports, the students attacked a 7th grader by punching and kicking him.

Police say they have surveillance video, but they are not releasing it  because the investigation is still ongoing.

The victim’s attorney, Dena  Foman with McLaughlin and Stern, released a statement Thursday saying: “The  student was attacked and beaten at the prompting of the one person who should be  protecting him the most: his teacher.”

Police reports do not mention the  teacher.

The St. Lucie County School District says the teacher has been  taken out of the classroom and is working in a capacity away from students while  the investigation continues.

According to Foman: “After a verbal  exchange between the Port St. Lucie teen and his teacher, the teacher instructed  six of his fellow classmates to go ‘teach him a lesson.’ The six students got  the 13-year-old out of the classroom and beat him repeatedly. They then dragged  him to the teacher in question to force an apology.”

Parents outside the  school picking up their children on Thursday said the teacher is well respected  and has been an educator for a long time.

“I think this is insane. My  kids have been here since 1st grade. The administration is great. I can’t  imagine this being possible,” parent Annette Strothers said.

Most  parents who spoke couldn’t believe the allegations.

“I think people need  to hear the whole story and I think the administration will handle it,” Margaret  Martins said.

No one was home at the teacher’s apartment Thursday.

The victim’s lawyers say they will hold a press conference to discuss  the incident in greater detail.

Teacher arrested after 3 bags of marijuana found in car April 9, 2013

POLK  COUNTY, Fla. —A Haines City teacher was arrested on Saturday when  deputies found three bags of marijuana in her car, officials said.

Donya Dennard, 36, was  pulled over for failing to stop at a posted stop sign, according to  authorities.

Deputies said when  speaking to Dennard, an odor of cannabis was coming from inside the vehicle.

When the deputy asked for  consent to search the vehicle, Dennard became nervous and advised the deputy she  did have something illegal in the vehicle, officials said.

Investigators said Dennard  told the deputy she had a bag of cannabis in the vehicle.

The deputy searched the  vehicle and found three separate bags of cannabis inside of the vehicle with a  total weight of 19.8 grams, according to a news release.

Deputies said Dennard is a  teacher at Daniel Jenkins Academy in Haines City.  She is charged with  possession of cannabis and possession of paraphernalia.

Professor on paid leave following ‘Jesus stomping’ class exercise March 30, 2013

Florida Atlantic University has placed Deandre Poole, the instructor who asked students in his class to “stomp on Jesus” on administrative leave. Here is a statement from the university:

FAU instructor Deandre Poole, Ph.D., has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately for safety reasons. As a result of the reaction to a recent exercise in Dr. Poole’s intercultural communications class, the instructor’s personal safety has been compromised.

In addition, this decision will prevent further disruption to the day-to-day operations of Florida Atlantic University.

Because of this, Dr. Poole will not teach any classes, conduct office hours, or be present at any of FAU’s campuses or sites. Alternate instructors have been assigned to teach Dr. Poole’s classes. Students have been notified and classes will continue as scheduled.

The assignment happened in Poole’s Intercultural Communication class on the Davie campus March 4. As part of a lesson on the meaning of symbols, he asked students to write the name Jesus on a piece of paper, toss it on the floor and stomp on it. It attracted national attention after a student complained to the media. FAU has apologized for the assignment and told it won’t be used again.

Poole has been conducting his classes online since the news broke.

Florida elementary school teacher arrested for abusing special needs children March 22, 2013

Clearwater, Florida —  A teacher from Skycrest Elementary School was arrested on Thursday for allegedly abusing two special needs students.

44-year-old Melanie Jo Fox is accused of kicking and pulling a 6-year-old girl’s hair, hitting her with a book and binding the girl’s hands with tape. Clearwater Police say she is also facing charges for pushing an 8-year-old boy down and binding his hands with a rubber band.

An investigation is ongoing, but police believe the abuse began in January and continued through last week.

Fox is an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher at Skycrest.

Yet another Florida high school teacher arrested for having sex with a student

Pinellas Park, Florida — A teacher at Pinellas Park High School has been arrested for an alleged sexual affair with a 16-year-old student.

According to preliminary reports, the school’s resource officer received a tip that 28-year-old math teacher, Jonathan Dunn, had an “inappropriate relationship” with a 16-year-old female student for at least three weeks back in December of 2011.

Through an investigation, Pinellas Park Police officials say they learned the relationship involved sexual activity, both on and off campus, and sexually explicit online conversations.

The student has since turned 18, but was 16 at the time of the reported relationship.

Dunn was charged with three counts of Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor and one count of Transmission of Material Harmful to a Minor. They are holding him on a $70,000 bond at Pinellas County Jail.

As for a bit of background on Dunn, it appears he was arrested in Hillsborough County back in 2008 for Driving Under the Influence- that’s according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department website.

Another website, Teacherweb.com, offers a brief bio on Dunn. It states he was born and raised in Seminole, Florida, and that he graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s in Secondary Math Education.

It adds that Dunn started his teaching career at Wharton High School in New Tampa, and later made his way to Pinellas Park High- where he is credited with restarting the school’s Math Honor Society, doubling the size of the school’s AP Calculus class and coaching the JV Boys Basketball team.

A statement issued by the Pinellas County School District says Dunn resigned from Pinellas Park High after his arrest Thursday morning.

The complete statement is as follows:

Jonathan Dunn, a math teacher at Pinellas Park High School, resigned from his position today, March 21. Mr. Dunn had been removed from the classroom on March 15 after the Pinellas County School District received reports of alleged inappropriate text messages from Mr. Dunn to a student. During the course of an administrative investigation, Mr. Dunn chose to resign in lieu of termination. His case is being referred to the state’s Office of Professional Practices for revocation of his teaching certificate. Mr. Dunn, who began working for the district in January 2010, has no disciplinary actions on his record. While news of his arrest is upsetting, this situation does not represent the exemplary teaching staff at Pinellas Park High School and the Pinellas County School District.

Teacher suspended for calling Haitian student “little chocolate boy” March 11, 2013

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The School Board of Broward County voted Monday to suspend a teacher accused of calling a student “dark chocolate, the kind that nobody wants.”

The board voted unanimously to suspend Leslie Rainer five days without pay.

According to an administrative complaint, the Blanche Ely High School teacher pointed in a Haitian student’s face and said, “Look, little chocolate boy.”

Rainer also told the student that he “was dark chocolate, the kind that nobody wants,” and told the student to “shut up.”

The student recorded Rainer on video pointing the pointer at him and making the statement, “You got one time, chocolate,” before his classmates erupted in laughter.

Rainer said she was referring to actual pieces of chocolate on her desk that she hands out as treats during class.

“It was miswritten and misquoted,” Rainer told Local 10′s Roger Lohse Monday.

An administrative law judge who reviewed the case recommended she be suspended five days without pay.

“It’s not just one week’s worth of pay. This is a career teacher that’s got a good record and she doesn’t want this on her record that, you know, she embarrassed the student and called him a racial slur when that’s just not the way it went down,” said Robert McKee, Rainer’s attorney.

McKee said he planned on appealing the decision.

Guess these days the ABC’s stand for Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser and Coors March 7, 2013

A Lake County teacher was arrested after deputies busted late Saturday night a party at her home where kids were drinking alcohol and an intoxicated 15-year-old girl was found “passed out” in a bedroom closet, the sheriff’s office reported today.

Antonia Marino, a second-grade teacher at Pine Ridge Elementary in Clermont, initially refused to let deputies into the home on Chateau Circle, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The 43-year-old woman let them in after an hour and argued she came home to find 40 to 50 kids at her daughter’s party and tried to throw them out, according to an arrest report.

However, teen told deputies Marino had been at the home the entire time and didn’t attempt to stop the serving of alcohol to minors, the sheriff’s office reported. Marino, who has been teaching for about a decade with Lake County schools, was arrested on charges that include contributing to the delinquency of minors, having an open house party and resisting arrest without violence.

The school district is investigating the case, spokesman Chris Patton said. In the meantime, he said Marino, who posted bond, will not be allowed in the classroom.