Suit: District ignored harassing teacher

A Palm Beach County boy’s family is suing the school board, alleging the district failed for years to act on complaints that a Jupiter Middle School teacher was sexually harassing boys in his classes.

The inaction of administrators set the stage for yet an-

Get more news every day about Palm Beach County schools at the Extra Credit blog. other boy to be groomed, sexually harassed and eventually stalked by the male teacher, claims the suit filed Thursday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.

The school police and professional practices department did investigate allegations against the teacher twice, once in 2009 and again in 2012.

Both times, investigators found no grounds for criminal charges — and in the latter complaint were unable to corroborate most of the initial allegations at all, according to the police reports released by the plaintiff ’s attorney.

“The safety of our children is of paramount importance. Any time an incident such as this one is reported to us, we take it very seriously. While we don’t comment on pending litigation, we investigate claims of sexual misconduct

thoroughly to ensure that our students are safe,” said district spokeswoman Kathy Burstein in a written statement.

“Our attorneys will respond to the lawsuit when the district has been served with a copy of it,” Burstein said.

Because the teacher was not charged criminally and there are no discipline actions against his license, his name is being withheld from this story.

He didn’t return a call for comment Thursday.

The lawsuit is filed on the behalf of a boy, identified only as “John Doe,” who is now in high school. His attorney, Jeff Harmen, specializes in representing the alleged victims of sexual assault.

“So the police looked at this and he wasn’t arrested? That’s a red her-

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