Students complained teacher put student's name, weight on a quiz years before his arrest

Daniel Heath Norment, the former Independence Middle School teacher who coerced a teenager into having sex in a classroom closet, had a history of humiliating students in the years before his arrest, according to school documents.

He included a girl's weight on a class quiz, shared an embarrassing picture of a student in front of her whole class and made "inappropriate jokes with students daily," the records show.

Norment, 41, accepted two “best interest” guilty pleas on Monday and is now serving three years in prison after grooming an eighth-grade student and then inviting her back to campus after she left for high school.

She visited Norment on several occasions, cleaning his room and helping with paperwork in exchange for community service hours.

Prison time: Ex-Jupiter teacher gets 3 years in prison for sex with minor; student sues school board

Choking: Ex-Pahokee High teacher pleads guilty to battery charges of touching, choking female student

During a visit on Sep. 11, 2019, he led the 16-year-old girl into a classroom closet and “sexually assaulted her,” according to a lawsuit she filed against the school board in August, accusing school leaders of enabling the teacher to prey on young girls.

The former student — now in college — also filed a police report in March, after the incident weighed on her mind for more than two years. Her report led to Norment’s arrest in early May.

The court adjudicated Norment guilty on one count of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one count of offense against students by authority figures — second-degree felonies.

And though the police investigation ended Norment’s career, it wasn’t the first time he faced scrutiny at the Jupiter middle school.

“I do things with students every day that could get me fired,” the teacher reportedly said to school administrators in 2020, during an investigation into his inappropriate behavior with students and parents.

Jupiter teacher bought student Starbucks gift card to make student 'feel better'

On Sep. 26, 2019, about two weeks after luring his former student into the classroom closet, Norment faced accusations that he touched a student in his class.

“After investigating, you agreed that it was possible that you poked her in the shoulder,” a school document states, warning Norment to stop touching students.

Another student reported Norment just one day later for using her name and referencing her weight in a quiz.

Norment acknowledged including the question — “How much does [the student] weigh?” — on his quiz. (The student’s name is redacted in the report.) 

“You agreed that you will no longer use your students’ names in any future quizzes, nor will you reference sensitive information about your students,” the document concludes.

Want more education news? Sign up for ourExtra Credit weekly newsletter, delivered every Friday!

Eric Lundman, then the principal at Independence Middle School, reprimanded Norment less than three months later for making inappropriate comments about two of his students.

“You joked that one of her classmates was itchy and she was itchy,” the reprimand states. “The student was embarrassed by your comments.”

Later that day, Norment gifted one of the students a Starbucks gift card “to make her feel better,” the reprimand continues.

“I have a responsibility to create an environment where students feel safe, accepted, and don’t have to fear things their teacher will say that could cause distress,” he is quoted as saying.

The school put Norment on notice: Any new accusations could lead to discipline or even his firing.

And a month later, after the launch of a new investigation, Norment feared he might lose his job, records show.

Norment accused of ‘malicious attempt to humiliate’ student in 2020

On Jan. 15, 2020, the teacher found an "unflattering" picture of a student on her parent’s Facebook page.

Norment then projected the image onto a screen for the whole class to see, “causing the student extreme embarrassment," according to a school investigative report.

The student “shrieked” and quickly left the room, Norment said in a statement to investigators, calling it an “incredibly foolish and unprofessional decision.”

Later that evening, Norment spoke with the girl’s mother, who was “gracious and understanding,” according to the teacher’s recollection.

“We both ended the conversation on positive terms,” Norment wrote in his statement.

That changed by 12:08 a.m., when the mother sent a text message to Norment, accusing him of using the Facebook photo to retaliate against her daughter.

Schools budget: $4.97 billion Palm Beach County school budget sees boost, and taxpayers could pay less

Book bans: Were any of these books banned by Palm Beach County schools? Here's what they reviewed and why

Norment shared the student’s unflattering picture just minutes after she questioned him about a “conduct grade” she received in his class. The student earned a score of three and believed she deserved a four.

In the text message to Norment, the mother said it was a “malicious attempt to humiliate” her daughter for questioning the teacher.

“We must all be accountable for our actions,” the mother wrote. “Especially when you are held at a higher standard teaching our children, Mr. Norment.”

“The more I think about it and assess it, the more upsetting it actually is,” the mother said in a follow-up text message at 12:22 a.m.

Norment provided all of the text messages, along with a written statement defending himself, to the school district investigators.

While he regretted the incident, Norment said he had a good relationship with his students and that he loved to “poke fun at them in different ways.”

One way, he said, was to change the background on his computer to students’ yearbook pictures.

“The reactions have always been enjoyable and a light-hearted attempt at entertainment,” he wrote.

School officials question 'inappropriate jokes with students daily'

The next day, on Jan. 16, 2020, several students provided written statements as part of the investigation about their encounters with Norment, and the teacher admitted to several issues that arose during his time as the girls’ basketball coach.

Shortly after he embarrassed the student by sharing her picture in class, Norment asked her and a fellow classmate to join him in the classroom closet. Both students confirmed the incident in their statements.

The first student — still angry about having her picture shared in class — refused to interact with Norment, but her classmate followed him into the closet, where he expressed regret and asked the classmate to relay his apologies to the other student.

According to a third student, Norment also said, "I might be getting fired because of the incident that happened yesterday."

More: Cyber tip led to Palm Beach Gardens teacher's arrest on child porn charges, records show

Cerabino: Replacing career teachers with cops in Florida classrooms: Probable cause for alarm?

The teacher expressed similar concerns during a meeting with school leaders the same day. Assistant Principal Shelby Burg and then-Principal Lundman questioned Norment about his time as the basketball coach, along with his use of "inappropriate jokes with students daily."

“I’m not 100% sure I never touched a player,” he is quoted as saying during the meeting. “I don’t think I have. I am going to deny it because I don’t think I have ever done that.”

He did, however, acknowledge that two of the eighth-grade basketball players "think I'm a pervert," and that players used his classroom to change their clothes.

Norment also acknowledged that he made questionable jokes about his students, including a comment about one student "wanting the black pens."

"In context, 'black pens' refers to male genitalia, given the shaft-like characteristics of a pen and the fact that the word is simply lacking the letter 'i' from the word 'penis,'" according to the lawsuit recently filed against the school district.  

During the meeting, Norment asked the principal if he wanted him to resign. It's unclear if he meant from the coaching position or from teaching altogether.

“Mr. Lundman responded to him by saying he cannot make that call for him,” the meeting notes state.

Teacher denies calling a student's mother 'hot'

Norment again met with Lundman and Burg in February 2020 to discuss the allegations and close out the investigation.

The teacher said his only contact with basketball players was in a huddle, “maybe touching a shoulder,” the meeting notes state.

On the issue of letting players change in his classroom, Norment said the door was locked and the curtains were closed. He reportedly was standing outside the room.

It happened twice, and he stopped after Assistant Principal Scott Duhy admonished him for letting students use the class as a dressing room, the notes continue.

Guilty plea: Ex-Pahokee High teacher pleads guilty to battery charges of touching, choking female students

Teacher: 'I'm going to be up in a tower in a clown suit with a rifle.' 8 years later, she's fired

Norment also denied an allegation that he called a student’s mom “hot.”

“You do need to use professional judgment,” Lundman said during the meeting. “You are not a peer of the students, and practical jokes and getting on the student level is not appropriate.”

The principal issued Norment a reprimand letter on Feb. 25, 2020, citing the issues with his basketball team, his inappropriate jokes and the time he shared a student’s “unflattering” picture with the class.

Police investigation sheds new light on Norment's career

This year’s police investigation revealed even more details about Norment’s time at the school.

A police report said that school leaders removed Norment from his role as the girls’ basketball coach, and that he later worked with sixth graders instead of eighth graders.

It also became clear that former students visited him on campus “many times,” the report continues.

“(Assistant Principal) Burg informed me that many girls would walk through campus wearing inappropriate clothing,” the officer wrote, noting that school leaders instructed Norment to stop having young visitors.

The teacher continued working at Independence Middle School until March, when the district transferred him away from students during the police investigation.

Police arrested him in early May and his employment with Palm Beach County schools officially ended July 1.

The Florida Department of Education has since flagged his teaching certificate, something he's all but guaranteed to lose during a state disciplinary process.

Norment also agreed to have no contact with minors, to complete a sex offender treatment program and to not work at schools after his release from prison, when he begins four years of probation.

Giuseppe Sabella is an education reporter at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at gsabella@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Former Jupiter teacher questioned for jokes, touching students in past