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Teacher Faces Suspension In Back Rub Incident

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By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 24, 2008

LARGO - A Seminole High School teacher accused of receiving a back massage from a 16-year-old female student is expected to be suspended without pay Tuesday by the Pinellas County School Board, officials said.

School Superintendent Clayton Wilcox recommended that Thomas Anderson be fired, according to school board documents. The social studies teacher has denied the accusations and requested a hearing, school district spokeswoman Andrea Zahn said.

Anderson's suspension will be in effect until the hearing process ends and the school board votes on his employment status, Zahn said.

The student told sheriff's deputies that on Feb. 7 she visited Anderson in his classroom during her lunch period, officials said. Anderson said his back hurt and asked her to give him a back massage, the girl told investigators.

The student said that Anderson, 59, suggested she skip her next class and leave campus with him. The student told deputies that Anderson said she leave school ahead of him and he would pick her up off school grounds to avoid being seen on the security cameras.

After arriving at his house, Anderson took off his shirt and the student gave him a back massage in his bedroom, the documents said. He then drove the student back to her neighborhood and dropped her off a block from her house, officials said.

Anderson, who is also the head coach of the girls varsity basketball team, told district officials that he was not feeling well and was leaving school to see a doctor. He told deputies that he saw the student walking off campus and stopped to talk to her. Anderson said he knew the student had personal problems and he offered to take her to his house to talk, authorities said.

He denied receiving a massage and told district officials that the student wanted to be dropped off a block from her home so that her parents would not find out she had skipped school and was at Anderson's home.

Anderson's actions demonstrated a lack of professional judgment by picking up the student off campus and driving her to his home, school district officials said.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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