A teacher is now under police investigation after parents found a letter declaring ‘love’ for their 11-year-old daughter – while also apologising for ‘upsetting’ her while trying to ‘have some fun’
A mum and dad are living a nightmare after discovering an intimate handwritten letter allegedly passed from a school teacher to their 11-year-old daughter. The chilling note has opened up huge fears for the couple, who imparted one piece of advice to other parents.
Ann and Jason’s daughter is in fifth grade at BD Gullett Elementary School in Bradenton, Florida – or the equivalent of Year Six in the UK. Now, she and her teacher are at the centre of a police investigation after a double-sided apology love note was found.
The mum said: “This whole nightmare started when we discovered a two-page letter.” The letter is suspected to be from a teacher at the daughter’s school, with its contents shocking the parents.
Ann quickly gave the letter to authorities at the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, and also shared a copy with local news outlet 8 On Your Side, revealing that it was signed off with ‘Love,’ and ‘Your favourite teacher.’
In one section of the note, the sender wrote: “Since you made me mad the other day and made me throw away my note back to you, I guess I will start over. I am sorry for putting slime all over you yesterday. I thought we could have some fun together but didn’t think about you getting upset with me.”
After apologising for the worrying ‘slime’ incident, the note continued: “You know I truly love you and no matter what, that will never change. I really love being your teacher and more importantly, I love how close we have gotten this year.”
After signing off with love, the letter then added an encouragement to keep it – and other ‘notes’ – secret. “P.S. I’ll keep our notes between us and won’t show your friends, so, you do the same,” the sender urged.
Dad Jason opened up about his feelings on finding the letter, describing the crisis as “incredibly upsetting.” He added that now, he’s wondering: “What can I do legally out of frustration from being in receipt of something like this? What more could he have done to my daughter?”
Ann and Jason are searching for greater answers and a harsher consequence for the intimate note. According to the school district, the teacher resigned from the district a few weeks after the letter was found.
The district’s County Director of Communications, Michael Barber, told that outlet that “a concerning letter to a student was reported to the principal” on March 9. Following that, the teacher was moved from a teaching role to “a non-instructional facility where he had no contact with students” the next day.
The school district clarified that it was working with the Sheriff’s Office to lead the investigation, and was allowed to interview the teacher on April 23. The teacher offered a resignation on that day, and it was approved at the next school board meeting on April 29, meaning they’re no longer employed by the district.
According to ABC 7, Ann was at the school board meeting, where she revealed that her concerns for her daughter went beyond the letter alone. “This 5th-grade teacher led my 11-year-old daughter into his classroom and spent 45 minutes alone with her while the rest of the students went to the library for their specials on Valentine’s Day,” she reportedly said.
The terrified mum then asked: “Where is the accountability? She has nightmares and wakes up having cried in her sleep. This teacher stole a piece of her innocence.”
Jason agrees with her worries about accountability, saying he thought they should have been fired. He shared: “To us, we felt termination was tougher language attached to somebody we would hope would never be in a classroom again. I would ask them to take a good, hard look in the mirror, truly self-reflect. I would ask him to get some help.”
Ann added: “We would want them to read the two-page letter out loud to us as parents, and I want them to look into my husband’s eyes and read that letter about our little girl.”
She also imparted some advice for others after the traumatic discovery, sharing: “We are often as parents teaching our children to listen to teachers, to be respectful, to follow directions, so that’s what I taught my daughter. Come to find out that may or may not be the right lesson to teach our kids.”
