The Manatee County School District has implemented new teacher training and reinforced hiring practices following a Suncoast Searchlight and Bradenton Herald investigation into staff misconduct toward students.
At least a dozen incidents during the past two years have sparked arrests, costly lawsuits and outcry from parents who contend the administration did not do enough to protect students. The newsrooms’ joint investigation found the district overlooked potential red flags in job applications, either missed or ignored early warnings of inappropriate behavior and, in recent years, skipped Title IX training for proper sexual harassment reporting.
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The day before the investigation was published in December, district staff sent a mass alert to parents across the county emphasizing its work to make students safer. Once the story was published, district leaders then circulated the article to top brass in the school system, emphasizing the priority on fixes.
During a follow-up interview with reporters in January, Superintendent Laurie Breslin said that while many of the cases outlined in the investigation occurred before she took the helm in September, she acknowledged that more could be done and vowed “immediate improvement.”
“We took a closer look after the article, and we implemented training in January required for all school and district leadership,” Breslin said. “Any time that we see anything in the press that shows a need for reflection and or a need for improvement, it’s our responsibility to take a look at that and have an important conversation on what we can do as an organization to do better.”
As part of the four-month investigation, reporters at Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald combed through hundreds of pages of district personnel files, civil lawsuits and police reports, while studying school guidelines and interviewing parents, experts and school officials on lapses in the system.
Among the findings, small teacher transgressions — like texting students outside of school, unusual one-on-one time behind closed doors or a seemingly playful touch — went unnoticed or overlooked, then snowballed into full-fledged abuse.
Breslin stressed the importance of making sure students and staff feel safe on campus. She said the district’s Human Resources department did an extensive review of the district’s training programs, rolling out new video training in January that addresses misconduct between students and staff and boundary crossing.
The School Board had discussed increasing training for months after a teacher at Gullet Elementary School was accused of stalking a fifth-grade student. That teacher, Jarrett Williams, was arrested by Manatee County Sheriff’s deputies just days after the Suncoast Searchlight and Bradenton Herald investigation.
“We have to get annual training for staff on signs to look for,” School Board Member Charlie Kennedy said after reading the investigation. “At least something to plant that seed in the minds of educators that, ‘Hey, maybe we have an issue.’ We have to build up that culture of empowering kids to use their voice and teachers speaking up.”
New training focused on inappropriate boundaries
This week, the district gave reporters access to the new video training, allowing the Bradenton Herald and Suncoast Searchlight to view modules focused on staff-to-staff misconduct, staff-to-student misconduct, sexual harassment and boundaries. It featured a range of scenarios — including less commonly discussed forms of conduct — that staff may encounter.
In one scenario, a female teacher is suspicious that a male colleague is acting inappropriately with a student. She says she’s hesitant to report something and that maybe she’s misinterpreting his actions.
In another scenario, a female teacher sends grooming texts to a teenage male student, making him feel isolated and leading to more boundary crossing by the teacher.
There’s also a scene where a female teacher walks past a classroom and hears students talking with a male teacher about a video they took of another female teacher outside of school. The male teacher doesn’t stop the students, instead furthering the jokes and inappropriate comments.
It takes about four hours to complete the training, said Jamie Carson, a spokesperson for the district. The training also includes quizzes and additional resources.
Carson stressed that this is just the first phase in what the district hopes will be continued emphasis on abuse prevention and education.
“This isn’t a once and done,” Carson said. “This is a step, a building block.”
One section of the training names dozens of types of boundary crossing, including minor acts like telling a dirty joke to a student that could then lead to more severe forms of misconduct.
There’s also an explanation of “predictable patterns of abuse,” that shows how predators go through a process of selecting vulnerable victims, testing the abuse and then grooming.
After each scenario, the program asks viewers a series of questions designed to determine the type of misconduct involved or identify the appropriate response.
Senior staff are currently completing the video training course, which officials plan to distribute districtwide in the near future.
“I spent time over the winter break and participated in my training and their online module, and they spoke specifically to what … what are the boundaries that we need to make sure that we are enforcing, that we are looking for, that we are teaching to staff as our expectation and dealing with students,” Breslin said. “It’s not enough just to look at the material and then be done with it. You actually have to implement your learning to show mastery of that material.”
Breslin also cited an ongoing HR audit designed to ensure all hiring practices are followed. The December investigation pointed to two applicants later accused of student misconduct who had answered screening questions in ways that should have halted the hiring process. Two other teachers accused of misconduct were hired even when their out-of-state references could not be reached, which also violated district policy.
The HR audit will look at the district’s hiring process to identify gaps, refine procedures and review onboarding training. Results of the audit will be reviewed this month by Breslin’s cabinet, which includes deputy superintendents, executive directors and communications staff.
Another area of improvement Breslin cited was communication, revising the way the district communicates with families and students as part of an investigation into an allegation.
“We had conversations, difficult conversations,” Breslin said, “about what we see as our public perception on how we have operated in the past and what we need to do to change that perception.”
This project is a collaboration between the Bradenton Herald and Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.
Editor's note: Suncoast Searchlight says it does not use generative AI in its stories. If you have questions about their policies or content, contact Executive Editor-In-Chief Emily Le Coz at emily@suncoastsearchlight.org.
