Florida teacher who called a biracial student a 'mutt' has been abusing students for decades: report

A Florida teacher who has been harassing students with racist diatribes and personal attacks for decades is now being scrutinized as school administrators admit they have been unable to fire him while at the same time refusing to provide details about "specific incidents."

According to a report from the Tampa Bay Times, school administrators have an extensive file of complaints lodged against Todd Harvey, who has taught government studies at Wharton High in Tampa and who has even allegedly used a Nazi salute in class.

As The Times reports, Harvey, "is a tall, mercurial white man who has taught in Hillsborough County Public Schools since the late ‘90s, after working as a salesman and briefly pitching in the minor leagues for the Kansas City Royals. He’s spent the bulk of his career at Wharton High, which serves mostly students of color."

Reacting to a Tampa Bay Times report about sexual harassment at a local high school in Hillsborough County, one former student who is biracial contacted the paper about the teacher who mocked her family and claimed she should list herself on government forms as a "mutt."

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“I thought I was the only one who had a serious problem with Hillsborough County trying to sweep things under the rug,” she wrote.

According to the report, "The district records detail at least 23 allegations of misconduct against him. They range from Harvey performing a Nazi salute to telling a student he planned to marry her. As early as 1999, a parent reported, 'I understand it is not uncommon for this man to reduce students to tears.' The last complaint in Harvey’s personnel file is from 2017. But all 13 students told the Times about classroom incidents not outlined in the documents — like the time he told a girl she was too big to wear shorts or said gay couples shouldn’t marry in churches."

More alarming, the Times is reporting, is that Harvey's abuses of students were not always documented by school administrators, which the paper notes is a violation of district policies.

"The district would not release data on the number of Wharton teachers fired over the past 15 years, as Harvey kept teaching. [spokesperson Tanya] Arja also would not comment on specific incidents involving the teacher, citing student privacy laws. She indicated records kept in student files differ from the Times’ reporting but declined to provide details."

You can read more here.