Nease High School band director resigns over allegations of relationship with student, misconduct

A St. Johns County teacher is out of the classroom after misconduct claims surfaced.

Michael Johnson resigned after being accused of buying students underwear and sending them inappropriate photos.

Johnson worked as the former band director at Nease High School. Amid allegations of misconduct, he was suspended in March, then resigned two months later.

In his personnel file, there were 44 pages of investigative notes, filled with accusations of inappropriate behavior.

Johnson is accused of having a sexual relationship with a student. He allegedly said it happened after the student graduated. In an interview, he admits he does not remember when the first sexual encounter was.

Another student alleged Johnson bought other students underwear and "during custom uniform fitting, [Johnson] insisted on measuring all the male students."

Students and teachers say they were aware of wrestling in Johnson's classroom that it was a "senior tradition" for boys to wrestle Johnson.

Countless unusual accusations were taken down in the notes, including, "Johnson would take off his belt and flick it at students," and he used "PVC pipe to launch grapes at students."

Another student wrote a letter to the school and said the guard was hazed, that Johnson would make students practice without sunglasses and crawl in the sand while making animal noises.

Nease High School decided to suspend Johnson with pay in March – but he resigned two months later. Johnson has created a GoFundMe account titled "New Career Education," and it's already gotten more than $1,000 in donations.

Action News Jax spoke to one of Johnson's former students on the phone. She said he was close with his students, but Johnson missed a lot of school. Reports from the school said Johnson would sometimes disappear and go to a nearby Gate gas station.

The St. Johns County School District sent us this email: "Attached is his personnel file including the district's investigation notes. Upon learning of allegations of inappropriate conduct, he was immediately placed on suspension with pay (3/27/17) pending the outcome of the investigation. He resigned on 5/9/17."

We reached out to Johnson to ask him about all of this, but he could not be reached for comment.

Cox Media Group