Immokalee High School Principal Manny Touron admitted he knew about a 23-year-old student in October, seven months before the student was removed from school for being too old.
In an e-mail to Eric Williams, the assistant superintendent for secondary schools, Touron said he was informed of the first incident in October when Cpl. Josh Pence, the youth resource officer at Immokalee High School, found that a 23-year-old man posing as a student was accused of harassing a student.
The victim, 19-year-old David Boyer, told Pence he was being harassed by a student who was 24. When Pence approached the student, “(he) was slow to admit his true age,” according to reports.
In his report, Pence said he ran the man’s name through the state system and found he was 23 years old.
According to the report, Pence “informed Mr. Manny Touron, principal of Immokalee High School that (the man) had a Florida driver’s license that listed him as 23 years of age. Also, I informed the school administration that there could be several students who are not using their true date of birth.”
Touron wrote in the e-mail, dated May 5, that he had been given the information from Pence and was told by Pence to do whatever he thought was right.
“This was (name blacked out by district) senior year and he worked hard to get where he was. I have known (name blacked out) as he was a former soccer player of mine and couldn’t play this year due to age ineligibility according to his records on terms. I decided to keep him until the end of the year so he could graduate and become a productive citizen. Maybe this was a poor choice on my part,” he wrote.
School Board members and Superintendent Ray Baker stood by Touron on Thursday.
“I support Manny Touron. He is a marvelous principal and has done so much for those kids,” said board member Pat Carroll. “He made one bad decision.” Baker said firing Touron would be extreme.
WEBMASTER NOTE: Let's backup Pat Carroll's statement with academic facts
DO YOU SEE THE IMPROVEMENT IN FCAT SCORES WHERE MR. TOURON HAS 'DONE SO MUCH' FOR THESE KIDS?
| Immokalee High School | READING PROFICIENCY | MATH PROFICIENCY |
| 2005-2006 | 15 | 39 |
| 2004-2005 | 14 | 43 |
| 2003-2004 | 12 | 43 |
| 2002-2003 | 15 | 42 |
| 2001-2002 | 13 | 29 |
Read
email from principal Manny
Touron 