Latest news with #BestAcademy
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Yahoo
A MN Teacher of the Year is accused of sexual abuse. It's not the first time.
The Brief Prosecutors say Abdul Wright began abusing a 14-year-old student at Best Academy months after he was named the 2016 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Records obtained by the FOX 9 Investigators show two former teachers told police Wright sexually assaulted them inside the school several years earlier. Wright resigned in 2012 but was allowed to return to the school shortly afterward, according to personnel records. MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A former Minnesota Teacher of the Year now charged with sexually abusing a student previously faced allegations that he sexually assaulted two of his co-workers, according to police records obtained by the FOX 9 Investigators. What we know Police and school records obtained by the FOX 9 Investigators detail more disturbing allegations involving Abdul Wright. The former Minnesota Teacher of the Year is scheduled to stand trial this summer on criminal sexual conduct charges. He is accused of grooming and sexually abusing one of his middle school students at Best Academy in Minneapolis in 2016. Some of the abuse took place inside the charter school, according to court records. Police records show two former teachers at Best Academy told police they were also assaulted by Wright inside the school several years earlier. What they're saying One teacher told police and school leadership that Wright assaulted her inside a classroom in 2012. "At one point he picked me up physically and pushed me against a desk," she said in a recent interview with the FOX 9 Investigators. "I could feel his breath on my neck. He lifted my shirt, he put his mouth on me," she said. " I told him he needed to stop. He put my hand on his crotch and I told him no repeatedly." She recorded a conversation with Wright in which he acknowledged that he should have stopped. "When you told me to stop, right there is when I should have stopped," Wright said in the recording. Wright told police he was getting "mixed messages" from his co-worker and that he had "never done anything like this before." But as police were investigating, another teacher came forward and said she had also been assaulted by Wright inside the school. "It was traumatizing," the second teacher said. The FOX 9 Investigators agreed not to identify the teachers due to the sexual nature of the allegations. The other side Wright was not criminally charged in the case involving his co-workers. Wright's attorney said in a recent statement that "the allegations against Mr. Wright are absolutely unfounded. We look forward to vigorously contesting them in court." But after the second teacher came forward to police, Wright admitted they regularly had consensual sex inside the school. "Easily over 25 times," Wright said in the recorded police interview. "Easily over 25–30 times." That teacher confirmed some of their sexual interactions were consensual but said she also feared Wright. "I didn't want to be alone in my classroom because I was afraid that Abdul would come in." Police and school records show Best Academy was aware of the allegations at the time. Dig deeper Wright resigned from Best Academy in 2012 and the school indicated in emails he would "not be reinstated as an employee of Best Academy for the remainder of this school year." However, Wright returned to the school about a month later. The teacher who first reported Wright to police said Best Academy offered to have a janitor escort her around school so she could "feel safe" coming to work. "It was this acknowledgment of you 'you don't feel safe – and this isn't a safe person for you to be around – but we're still going to bring him back to the school,'" she said. What we don't know When contacted for comment, school leadership would not comment on why Wright was allowed to return to Best Academy shortly after those 2012 accusations. The backstory Wright continued to teach at the school for several years and was named Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2016. Months afterward police say he began grooming his 14-year-old student and sexually abused her for nearly a year. Wright was charged last year and has pleaded not guilty to criminal sexual conduct with a minor. The former student recently filed a lawsuit against Best Academy claiming the school "knew or should have known that Wright was a danger to children." The student's father previously told the FOX 9 Investigators he alerted the school of his concerns about Wright in 2017, but they were rebuffed by the school's founder, Eric Mahmoud. Wright again continued to teach at Best Academy for several more years. What's next Best Academy is now looking for a new director after its board voted to remove Mahmoud in late March. The school is currently facing two lawsuits related to allegations of sexual abuse by former teachers. Wright's criminal trial is scheduled for June.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Yahoo
Minneapolis charter school removes CEO amid teacher sexual abuse allegations, lawsuits
The Brief Best Academy's CEO and Founder Eric Mahmoud was removed after a vote by the school's board of directors Friday. A former student filed a civil lawsuit earlier this week against Best Academy in Minneapolis claiming the charter school should have known one of its teachers was a danger to students. In a recent interview with the FOX 9 Investigators, the former student said she was sexually abused by Abdul Wright, months after he was named Minnesota's Teacher of the Year in 2016. MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The founder and leader of Minneapolis charter school Best Academy has been relieved of his duties after multiple lawsuits accused two teachers of sexually abusing students. What we know The board of Harvest Best Academy in Minneapolis voted Friday to remove its founder and CEO Eric Mahmoud. The decision comes a day after a second lawsuit was filed against the school over allegations of sexual abuse by two former teachers. What they're saying Molly Burke, an attorney who represents the former students said, "the voices of survivors and their families have been heard." The other side Harvest Best Academy board chair Ezra Hyland said the decision to remove Mahmoud was "a difficult decision" but necessary. "We recognize Eric's important contributions to the school from helping start the organization to building systems that have consistently helped our students achieve high test scores," Hyland said in a statement. "The board believes it is time for new leadership to continue to support the Harvest Best Academy's important role in our community." The backstory On Thursday, a former student filed a civil lawsuit against Best Academy and her former teacher, Abdul Wright, after she accused him of sexually abusing her for nearly a year. Wright has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges after police say he sexually abused his former student, who was 14 years old at the time. The alleged abuse took place months after Wright was named 2016 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, including inside the school, inside Wright's car, and outside of school. "I think that his status and him being Teacher of the Year really was a reason that a lot of people turned a blind eye," the student said in a recent interview. The FOX 9 Investigators agreed to refer to the former student as "Jane Doe" in order to protect her identity, since she was a minor at the time and is named in court records as a victim of sexual abuse. The student's father told the FOX 9 Investigators earlier this year that he reported his concerns directly to Eric Mahmoud in 2017, but those concerns were "dismissed completely." "This report was the kind of thing that would require immediate mandatory reporting by Eric Mahmood as the founder and the head of the school and as an educator and, of course, to law enforcement," Anderson told the FOX 9 Investigators. Wright's personnel file shows no record he was ever disciplined by the school for the accusations. Jane Doe said the abuse continued and Wright went on to teach at Best Academy for years. Dig deeper Best Academy faces a separate lawsuit that claims the school violated its own hiring process in 2016 when it offered Aaron Hjermstad a job, who was later convicted of sexual abuse. Hjermstad was indicted last year on additional counts of criminal sexual conduct. What's next The school board will vote on an interim director on Tuesday March 25.
