Stanton Prep band director resigns amid allegations

Mother accuses director of 'making sexual advances' toward 10th grader

Stanton College Prep’s band director has resigned amid allegations of inappropriate communication with students, Duval County School District officials confirmed Wednesday.

A DCPS investigator concluded that Brian Damron “exhibited extremely poor judgment when he used inappropriate communication in the presence of students.”

Damron became the subject of an internal investigation on Sept. 8, after the mother of a student contacted the principal of the well-respected magnet school.

She told the principal that Damron “was making sexual advances to her son.”

The boy, whose name was redacted from the report, is in the 10th grade and was a member of the band.

The mother cited a Facebook message conversation between her son and Damron, where he requested the boy “delete the conversation thread ‘for both our protection.’”

The teen told an investigator that Damron made comments about his private areas while he was wearing his band uniform and boasted that he “slept with two previous band captains.”

The student said Damron was open about being homosexual.

The student reported that Damron hugged him, and he felt uncomfortable with it. He said he “told Mr. Damron that we hasn’t comfortable with ‘as much hugging’ as he was doing.”

The student said Damron told him to “text him if he was bored.”

The internal report also details an incident on Sept. 7 when several students said Damron called out a band member to get it refit. They said he stated “Let’s get naked” and “We’re going to get naked together.”

News4Jax crime analyst Gil Smith, a former school resource officer, said according to the investigation, Damron never physically touched any of the children, so criminal charges are unlikely.

"This type of behavior is totally inappropriate for anybody associated with kids working in the school. There should be no conversations about sex or any implications thereof," Smith said. "The communication was inappropriate but not illegal. There's really no reason to have that type of communication with a student."

A female student told the investigator that Damron “commented too many times that he hated women, and it was obvious that he was implying that he liked men.”

Two adults involved in the Stanton band also alleged that Damron was inappropriate, even bragging about having slept with former band members.

When the DCPS investigator tried to interview Damron, the teacher referred him to his attorney. His attorney stated that Damron “would not be providing a statement.”

Damron had been disciplined by DCPS before. In October 2015, he received a verbal warning after an investigation indicated he was “verbally abusive to students in band, as well as calling them names.” The report said Damron made inappropriate comments, including sexual innuendo as well as “flicking off” a student.

Damron resigned on Nov. 1.

Stanton students said Wednesday that they were surprised to hear about the allegations, because Damron had a good reputation and was well-liked. They said the accusations are concerning.

"It’s a black eye for a high school that’s consistently among the top in the country," senior Kevin Hills said.

Senior Travis Bloom said if the allegations are true, he's glad Damron is gone.

"I would hate for anybody to have to go through that," Bloom said. "As a teacher, doing it to a student. He put the student in a really awkward situation. They don't know what to do."

Damron's attorney declined to comment. Damron's resignation letter, which was submitted online, did not say anything about the allegations.


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Lifetime Jacksonville resident anchors the 8 and 9 a.m. weekday newscasts and is part of the News4Jax I-Team.