Moore County NC May 11 2013 A Southern Middle School teacher has been arrested for having "an improper relationship" with a student not from that school, said a Moore County Schools spokesperson.
Social studies instructor Gregory Kurt Smith, 50, of Cameron, was arrested at 10 a.m. Wednesday by the Moore County Schools Police. The name of the victim, a 17-year old Pinecrest High School student, was withheld in the police report.
"Following a thorough investigation, the Moore County Schools Police have charged a Southern Middle School teacher with having an improper relationship with a student who attends another school in the system," said schools spokesman Tim Lussier. "The safety and well-being of our students is always our first priority, and we purposely strive to ensure our employees are held to the highest moral and ethical standards."
Lussier said that while "it is the policy of Moore County Schools to not discuss personnel issues," he stated that (Smith) "is no longer an employee of the school system effective May 8, 2013. > >
"An occurrence such as this deeply affects both our school system and our community," Lussier said. >"It is our intent to ensure that the involved student, as well as students at Southern Middle School, have counselors available to provide them with a sense of normalcy through these final weeks of the school year."
Smith faces five charges of sex offense with a student and is in the Moore County jail under a $1 million secured bond.
Smith is the second Moore County teacher arrested in recent weeks. Don Hooker, a former special education teacher at Union Pines High School, was charged last month with simple assault on a handicapped person after a parent accused him of unprofessional conduct in the classroom.
According to a Moore County Schools Police report, Hooker was accused of pushing a student "into a chair, causing him to hit his head on the arm of the chair inflicting (injury.)"
Hooker, who had begun his position in 2007, resigned from the school system April 8.
Source- The Pilot
Social studies instructor Gregory Kurt Smith, 50, of Cameron, was arrested at 10 a.m. Wednesday by the Moore County Schools Police. The name of the victim, a 17-year old Pinecrest High School student, was withheld in the police report.
"Following a thorough investigation, the Moore County Schools Police have charged a Southern Middle School teacher with having an improper relationship with a student who attends another school in the system," said schools spokesman Tim Lussier. "The safety and well-being of our students is always our first priority, and we purposely strive to ensure our employees are held to the highest moral and ethical standards."
Lussier said that while "it is the policy of Moore County Schools to not discuss personnel issues," he stated that (Smith) "is no longer an employee of the school system effective May 8, 2013. > >
"An occurrence such as this deeply affects both our school system and our community," Lussier said. >"It is our intent to ensure that the involved student, as well as students at Southern Middle School, have counselors available to provide them with a sense of normalcy through these final weeks of the school year."
Smith faces five charges of sex offense with a student and is in the Moore County jail under a $1 million secured bond.
Smith is the second Moore County teacher arrested in recent weeks. Don Hooker, a former special education teacher at Union Pines High School, was charged last month with simple assault on a handicapped person after a parent accused him of unprofessional conduct in the classroom.
According to a Moore County Schools Police report, Hooker was accused of pushing a student "into a chair, causing him to hit his head on the arm of the chair inflicting (injury.)"
Hooker, who had begun his position in 2007, resigned from the school system April 8.
Source- The Pilot