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Principal Warned Teacher About Flirtatious Behavior

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By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 7, 2008

TAMPA - Months ago, a Polk County principal warned a teacher now accused of having sex with at least four underage boys to stop the "hugs, tickles and flirtatious non-school related conversations" with male students, records obtained Friday show.

Allison Kalbfleisch on Jan. 23 also warned sixth-grade science teacher Danielle Jones to deactivate her MySpace page and to stop socializing with "young male teens without other adults present."

"If you do not make requested changes in your professional lifestyle, you risk ruining your career and bringing negative and unwanted attention to Stambaugh Middle School and the School Board of Polk County," Kalbfleisch wrote.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office on Thursday charged Jones, 32, with felony lewd and lascivious battery and felony unlawful sexual activity with minors. Investigators said the Auburndale woman had sex over a two-month period with at least four boys, two of them brothers who had been her students. When the encounters occurred, one was 14, one was 15 and two were 16.

Kalbfleisch's admonishment was "too little too late," said Janice Jennings, a West Palm Beach attorney retained by the families of three boys to "give them a voice" but shield their identities. Jennings said she grew up in Polk County and met the boys' families through contacts there.

According to Jennings, Jones' inappropriate behavior "was going on much earlier" than Kalbfleisch addressed. She declined to give details.

"Had it been addressed earlier, it could have been prevented," Jennings said. "It's just appalling, because the schools are to protect and educate our kids."

Kalbfleisch was out of the office Friday and unavailable for comment.

Friday, a Polk County judge set bail for Jones at $200,000. Assistant State Attorney Mark Levine said there are "multiple, multiple victims" in the investigation and that more charges are pending.

Jones' attorney, mother and sister did not speak to reporters after the proceeding.

The school district suspended Jones on May 19 during an investigation after the first boy came forward, the sheriff's office said.

In an interview Thursday, Kalbfleisch said the school was not told the reason for the suspension. She called the allegations "shocking, very sad, terrible," and said, "This is out of left field for me."

Her "letter of concern" from Jan. 23 in Jones' personnel file, however, refers to an e-mail sent Dec. 5 about classroom visitations and a conversation on Jan. 22.

In the letter, Kalbfleisch says she and a school board investigator learned Jones had "established a pattern of allowing young male students, some of whom you do not currently teach, to enter your classroom before, during and after school hours for visitation, hugs, tickles and flirtatious non-school related conversations."

Kalbfleisch also wrote that Jones had been seen walking arm-in-arm with male students.

The principal wrote that she insisted Jones avoid such casual contact "in an effort to protect your reputation and the reputation of our school."

Sheriff's office investigators said Thursday that Jones posted messages on her MySpace page between June 2007 and August calling the boys her "sons" and herself their "momma."

A sheriff's office arrest report describes several occasions in which the boys say they had sex with Jones.

One of the students told investigators Jones picked up him and another person at an Auto Zone in Winter Haven and took them to her apartment, the report states. The student said Jones had an aquarium, a wheelchair, glow in the dark stars and Eeyore dolls inside the apartment. Jones put on a white shirt and blue pajama pants but eventually took her clothes off and had sex with them, according to the report.

Friday, Jones' MySpace profile was blocked to anyone not listed as a friend. The home page shows Eeyore, the donkey from the Winnie-the-Pooh books, and the quote, "You are my sunshine."

Tribune reporter Josh Poltilove and News Channel 8 reporter Jeff Patterson contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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