This was brought up on another thread, but here is more from the Fox News home page http://www.foxnews.com
This is personally upsetting since Mark Cozzie was at Butler when my daughter was there.
Florida High School Teacher Charged With Sexual Misconduct of Students
Thursday, May 03, 2007
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. ? A high school coach and teacher was arrested on charges of sexual misconduct with 11 former students.
The Walton County Sheriff's Office charged Mark Cozzie with seven felony counts of lewd or lascivious conduct, one felony count of lewd or lascivious molestation and three misdemeanor counts of battery, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported.
Cozzie, 38, was arrested Wednesday and released on $50,000 bond.
According to arrest reports, his alleged victims ranged from 9 to 18 years old. They said Cozzie inappropriately touched them between 2002 and 2007 at South Walton High and Butler Elementary School.
Cozzie coached high school boys basketball and boys and girls track and field. He transferred from Butler to South Walton in 2002.
The sheriff's office began investigating Cozzie in late March after the state Department of Children and Families reported inappropriate conduct by a teacher involving a student, said sheriff's spokesman Lt. Bryan Maule.
The school board suspended Cozzie on April 3 without pay. The Florida Department of Education is also reviewing the allegations.
Replies
48
Beach Fanatic
Saw this article as well, w/ a few more details. Found it here, http://community.emeraldcoast.com/onset?id=15187&template=article.html
State Attorney?s Office gets South Walton High School coach?s case
By Rachel Kyler, Florida Freedom News
April 30, 2007 - 10:14AM
The State Attorney?s Office is ready to review the Walton County Sheriff?s Office?s investigation of South Walton High School teacher and coach Mark Cozzie.
Attorney James Parker was assigned to the case and said he will begin studying it within a week.
According to Walton County School District officials, the Sheriff ?s Office has been investigating Cozzie since late March for misconduct with a student.
According to a heavily redacted Sheriff ?s Office report, the alleged incidents involved four juvenile victims on school property. Cozzie was suspended without pay effective April 3, pending the investigation?s outcome. The Florida Department of Education is also reviewing the allegations.
School district officials have said that if the allegations are found to be true, Cozzie could lose his professional license.
The Sheriff?s Office will not release any more details about the case at this time. ?It?s still open. There?s all I can say,? said sheriff?s spokesman Lt. Bryan Maule
State Attorney?s Office gets South Walton High School coach?s case
By Rachel Kyler, Florida Freedom News
April 30, 2007 - 10:14AM
The State Attorney?s Office is ready to review the Walton County Sheriff?s Office?s investigation of South Walton High School teacher and coach Mark Cozzie.
Attorney James Parker was assigned to the case and said he will begin studying it within a week.
According to Walton County School District officials, the Sheriff ?s Office has been investigating Cozzie since late March for misconduct with a student.
According to a heavily redacted Sheriff ?s Office report, the alleged incidents involved four juvenile victims on school property. Cozzie was suspended without pay effective April 3, pending the investigation?s outcome. The Florida Department of Education is also reviewing the allegations.
School district officials have said that if the allegations are found to be true, Cozzie could lose his professional license.
The Sheriff?s Office will not release any more details about the case at this time. ?It?s still open. There?s all I can say,? said sheriff?s spokesman Lt. Bryan Maule
Beach Fanatic
Very scary for everyone regardless of which school they're children are at. Similar things have happened in our local high school.
Beach Lover
I am most immediately concerned about the kids affected & them being able to move on with their lives.
And, also, I guess we need to rethink the old saying about no such thing as bad publicity.
I've had more & more people I know exploring the idea of moving here full-time, instead of only maintaining a second home -- which I think would be very positive for our community.
For many of them, the biggest single issue has been the relative quality of our schools. But I guess could happen anywhere. Very, very sad.
And, also, I guess we need to rethink the old saying about no such thing as bad publicity.
I've had more & more people I know exploring the idea of moving here full-time, instead of only maintaining a second home -- which I think would be very positive for our community.
For many of them, the biggest single issue has been the relative quality of our schools. But I guess could happen anywhere. Very, very sad.
Beach Fanatic
Jimmy P,
I think you are right in your posts about those of us wanting to relocate being concerned about the schools. I started a thread about it a while back. It is concerning. But more so than this current issue are the school grades, and my recent report from greatschools.com showed Butler down from an A to B and freeport at b or C can't remember. But both are concerning to me. Private school is a good consideration, but those seem limited in the area as well.
I do also know that there are plenty of times that the accused are found innocent; however, as dateline is showing us this stuff is very prevalent.
Hopefully in this case, the kids will get good therapy, and both parents kids, and the administration will learn from it.
I think you are right in your posts about those of us wanting to relocate being concerned about the schools. I started a thread about it a while back. It is concerning. But more so than this current issue are the school grades, and my recent report from greatschools.com showed Butler down from an A to B and freeport at b or C can't remember. But both are concerning to me. Private school is a good consideration, but those seem limited in the area as well.
I do also know that there are plenty of times that the accused are found innocent; however, as dateline is showing us this stuff is very prevalent.
Hopefully in this case, the kids will get good therapy, and both parents kids, and the administration will learn from it.
Beach Fanatic
This is very sad. I am very grateful that someone finally stood up to this guy. I have heard that this has been going on a long time! He should have been removed years ago!
Beach Fanatic
dunelover, they're tightening the grading standards in recent years to make it tougher for schools to get A grades. So test scores could be up, but because of the new standards, the letter grade may not reflect this. Explanation here:
http://www.okaloosaschools.com/okal...tes/template_nimg.aspx?articleid=204&zoneid=5
The Florida Department of Education recently released tough new guidelines for school grades in the 2006-07 school year, which will make it more difficult for schools to earn ?A? ratings, compared to the past few years.
Schools will now have to show that 50% of the lowest performing students demonstrate learning gains in both math and reading. Last year, the state measured the progress of the lowest performing students in the reading portion alone.
Students are considered to have made learning gains in one of three ways:
- if they improve their FCAT level (from a 1 to a 2, or a 2 to a 3);
- if they remain at one of the higher levels (3, 4 or 5); or
- if they demonstrate more than one year?s progress within an achievement level of 1 or 2.
Another challenge this year is that the science portion of the FCAT will count toward the school grades for the first time. Students in 5th grade, 8th grade and 11th grade are required to take the science FCAT, while students in grades 3-10 are required to take the math and reading portions of the FCAT.
http://www.okaloosaschools.com/okal...tes/template_nimg.aspx?articleid=204&zoneid=5
The Florida Department of Education recently released tough new guidelines for school grades in the 2006-07 school year, which will make it more difficult for schools to earn ?A? ratings, compared to the past few years.
Schools will now have to show that 50% of the lowest performing students demonstrate learning gains in both math and reading. Last year, the state measured the progress of the lowest performing students in the reading portion alone.
Students are considered to have made learning gains in one of three ways:
- if they improve their FCAT level (from a 1 to a 2, or a 2 to a 3);
- if they remain at one of the higher levels (3, 4 or 5); or
- if they demonstrate more than one year?s progress within an achievement level of 1 or 2.
Another challenge this year is that the science portion of the FCAT will count toward the school grades for the first time. Students in 5th grade, 8th grade and 11th grade are required to take the science FCAT, while students in grades 3-10 are required to take the math and reading portions of the FCAT.
SoWal Expert
Several people have mentioned that this abuse has been ongoing for several years. If that is true, why on Earth did it take so long for him to get caught, and why was he not fired a long time ago?
Beach Fanatic
Jimmy P,
I think you are right in your posts about those of us wanting to relocate being concerned about the schools. I started a thread about it a while back. It is concerning. But more so than this current issue are the school grades, and my recent report from greatschools.com showed Butler down from an A to B and freeport at b or C can't remember. But both are concerning to me. Private school is a good consideration, but those seem limited in the area as well.
I do also know that there are plenty of times that the accused are found innocent; however, as dateline is showing us this stuff is very prevalent.
Hopefully in this case, the kids will get good therapy, and both parents kids, and the administration will learn from it.
Dunelover, check out today's Sun. Bay Elementary and Seaside were among the highest test scores in the state, only 9 other schools in Florida scored higher than Seaside in writing! They have also been 2nd in the state of Florida for all middle schools in Science as well. Butler Elementary was among the highest in math (although I didn't see a chart for Butler.)
Schools are and continue to be improving. It takes many people committed to make this happen and to ask for more for our kids! Many people have left career driven lifestyles behind when they moved here for a chance to be more involved in their children's lives and education, volunteering, mentoring and putting their children's needs first. Change does not happen overnight as we all know, but I believe we are heading in the right direction!
Beach Fanatic
Dunelover, check out today's Sun. Bay Elementary and Seaside were among the highest test scores in the state, only 9 other schools in Florida scored higher than Seaside in writing! They have also been 2nd in the state of Florida for all middle schools in Science as well. Butler Elementary was among the highest in math (although I didn't see a chart for Butler.)
Schools are and continue to be improving. It takes many people committed to make this happen and to ask for more for our kids! Many people have left career driven lifestyles behind when they moved here for a chance to be more involved in their children's lives and education, volunteering, mentoring and putting their children's needs first. Change does not happen overnight as we all know, but I believe we are heading in the right direction!
Supermom says it very well - there are more people in the SoWal area involved in the schools and their children's education than I've seen anywhere else. There are MANY people that donate a ton of time (as in full time job) to improve the schools here. It would be very hard to find a more dedicated group. Every day I see the school programs evolving and improving. In the last 5 years, I have never been dissapointed with my children's teachers or education. Athough we were hesitant to move here due to the schools (the high school wasn't here yet), we are very happy we did. Don't let it stop you.
Note that there are many reasons why a school's grade would slip from an A to a B, and as someone mentioned above, in Butler's case, they missed an A last year by just a few points. It is very difficult to get an A rating year after year, and it was due to a couple of students that were behind, not improving their score enough.
It is disheartening to see Coach Cozzie accused of this crime, but unfortunately, remember that this conduct could happen any where and I don't believe it should be a reflection of our school system. In fact, my understanding is that the principal immediately suspended Coach Cozzie as soon as the misconduct was reported to him, which is a good thing. At some schools it would have taken a while for the girls to be believed and for action to be taken.
Beach Fanatic
As I said in my earlier post, it has happened more than once in our town and in surrounding communities. Sadly, it seems to be happening in so many places, so SoWal is not an outlier. As for school scores, as long as there's pressure on the schools and support for them to do well, ideally they'll be consistently at an A or B. And then parents and communities need to support the kids in ways other than academic success as well. So, from where I sit, I wouldn't hesitate to move my kids to SoWal, except that we're already happy where we are as a place to raise our kids (my biggest concern would be making sure they wear sunscreen).
Our kids' schools do very well in some areas, not so well in others, and have people from all different groups. They have some good teachers and not-so-good teachers. We could have chosen a private school but we chose instead to send our kids to a public school because we truly value the life lessons and support for public school education. So far, so good. If our kids were having problems in public school, though, we wouldn't hesitate to move them. As for sexual abuse in schools, I don't know if there's more in private or public schools - I would guess that it wouldn't be much different.
Our kids' schools do very well in some areas, not so well in others, and have people from all different groups. They have some good teachers and not-so-good teachers. We could have chosen a private school but we chose instead to send our kids to a public school because we truly value the life lessons and support for public school education. So far, so good. If our kids were having problems in public school, though, we wouldn't hesitate to move them. As for sexual abuse in schools, I don't know if there's more in private or public schools - I would guess that it wouldn't be much different.
Beach Fanatic
Several people have mentioned that this abuse has been ongoing for several years. If that is true, why on Earth did it take so long for him to get caught, and why was he not fired a long time ago?
that's what I'm sayin' :scratch:
Paula's right it's not isolated. It's happened up here in TN too, a few times, I can remember. Hopefully the sick pervs get stopped quicker.
Beach Fanatic
Several people have mentioned that this abuse has been ongoing for several years. If that is true, why on Earth did it take so long for him to get caught, and why was he not fired a long time ago?
:scratch: It does make one wonder.....
Beach Fanatic
Several people have mentioned that this abuse has been ongoing for several years. If that is true, why on Earth did it take so long for him to get caught, and why was he not fired a long time ago?
My son put it best..."people have been saying stuff about Coach Cozzie since I was in second grade!" Which is true. As it was always the same story, different version, girl in Destin, etc., and Mark is a young, single guy who lives in Destin, and all of our boys liked and respected him, I and pretty much all the other parents involved with youth athletics discounted the stories as nothing more than malicious rumors.
Some of us shook our heads when he applied to and was transferred from Butler to SWHS. We joked "that's an accident waiting to happen! Wonder what rumors will start now?!" And, of course, we were only joking. :shock:
Basically, it is a version of the old "crying wolf" story. After a while, most folks didn't even pay attention. Of course, this made it doubly hard for the girls who came forward to be believed.
My experiences with Coach Cozzie have always been positive, but then again, I have a boy who played basketball...
Beach Fanatic
The other thing to keep in mind is that once a community has experienced this kind of situation, it's likely to be more vigilent in the future (e.g., take children's comments/people's concerns more seriously) because they're less likely to say "it couldn't happen here" and get complacent.
Beach Crab
I thought that in this country, a person was innocent until proven guilty. Well thanks to the crack pot National Enquirer local media, Mr. Cozzie has no chance to even get to the court befor being found guilty. I have a young child in school here, and I am very concerned with any lewd behaviour, but I am not willing to persecute anyone, until all the facts are revealed.
Beach Crab
I am a student at SWHS and I find some of these accusations skeptical. Although I haven't been an actual student of Cozzie, I have gotten to know him over the course of my Freshman year. He was always there to brighten everyones day. People have always said he was sexually crude, but it was always something everyone joked around about. I never thought it could be true. I'm not going to say hes guilty or not guilty, but the media is fabricating the story to extreme measures. The poor man won't have the oppurtunity to rebuild his life even if he is proven innocent.
Admin
Thanks everyone for posting. I certainly don't want to hold court here or risk posts that are misleading or untrue. Please be very careful and let things unfold before speculating or jumping to conclusions. Thanks!
Beach Fanatic
I agree that it makes sense to stay away from speculation until proven true or untrue. Wise choice and thanks for the reminder.
Beach Comber
Several people have mentioned that this abuse has been ongoing for several years. If that is true, why on Earth did it take so long for him to get caught, and why was he not fired a long time ago?
The abuse has been on going for years. I am a former student of his. It was last year that i was in LMS with him, he is a pervert and deserves what he gets. I personally know people that had gone to the office, a year ago, to simply get out of there for being unconfortable around him. I dont know exactly who all im talking to but principals rarly ever believe what kids say, especially when there is a teacher there to say the exact opposite. The only reason he got caught is because in a matter of a few weeks about 15 girls came forward about something that had happened to them. Only then the school thought it was right to investigate...
Beach Fanatic
The abuse has been on going for years. I am a former student of his. It was last year that i was in LMS with him, he is a pervert and deserves what he gets. I personally know people that had gone to the office, a year ago, to simply get out of there for being unconfortable around him. I dont know exactly who all im talking to but principals rarly ever believe what kids say, especially when there is a teacher there to say the exact opposite. The only reason he got caught is because in a matter of a few weeks about 15 girls came forward about something that had happened to them. Only then the school thought it was right to investigate...Skye, I have to respond to your comment about principals rarely believing what kids say------please know that if that is the case, be strong, tell someone else, a parent, a counselor, a friend, a church leader, anyone, just keep telling until someone believes.....If you fight the battles like that now, they will provide much training for those that you encounter later in life. I am sad that you feel that way, and I hope you have parents that stand by you in support when that happens.
I also hope you encourage every one of your friends who "went to the office to get out from being uncomfortable around him" to share that info with their parents or police now. You never know how that little bit might help with the investigation.
Beach Lover
So far I haven't read what he actually did... did he rape someone? touch them, wink at them? what was the misconduct? If it has been going on for years, what are some of the stories? The princpal should be held accountable if even one girl complained and nothing was done.
We had a female gym teacher in middle school (Maryland) who insisted that we strip down for showers and hand her our towels while we ran through the showers while she stared at us. everyone joked behind her back but now I see that we should have reported her. No teacher needs to see students naked.
We had a female gym teacher in middle school (Maryland) who insisted that we strip down for showers and hand her our towels while we ran through the showers while she stared at us. everyone joked behind her back but now I see that we should have reported her. No teacher needs to see students naked.
Beach Fanatic
So far I haven't read what he actually did... did he rape someone? touch them, wink at them? what was the misconduct? If it has been going on for years, what are some of the stories? The princpal should be held accountable if even one girl complained and nothing was done.
We had a female gym teacher in middle school (Maryland) who insisted that we strip down for showers and hand her our towels while we ran through the showers while she stared at us. everyone joked behind her back but now I see that we should have reported her. No teacher needs to see students naked.
Wow---I had a highschool girls coach who was not allowed in the locker rooms after a while... Supposedly because of her sexual orientation. I think more awareness that we have today of abuse is so much better. I hope it is more awareness and not more frequency.
Beach Crab
The question of why he was not fired long ago is the question of the day! Walton COunty protected this man and moved him from Freeport high school after complaints from students and put him into Butler elementary, after complaints he was moved to South Walton high School. It actually took going out of Walton County to the State Attorney's office for anything to be done. This is the second teacher I know of who has acted inappropriately with students in this school and a third was close to inappropriate. They have all been fired.
Beach Crab
Way to go Skye!!! More people need to speak up and let others know we have had this problem for the 4 years my daughters have been in the school. My girls avoided his classes as well as passing him in halls. Glad he is gone!
Beach Crab
Supermom says it very well - there are more people in the SoWal area involved in the schools and their children's education than I've seen anywhere else. There are MANY people that donate a ton of time (as in full time job) to improve the schools here. It would be very hard to find a more dedicated group. Every day I see the school programs evolving and improving. In the last 5 years, I have never been dissapointed with my children's teachers or education. Athough we were hesitant to move here due to the schools (the high school wasn't here yet), we are very happy we did. Don't let it stop you.Moved my children here 5 years ago and withstanding the current issue I have never regretted the move as far as education was involved. The teachers are caring and supportive, the office personell is personal with the children and their parents, and the principles are great. The guidance dept. excells in helping children get ready for college and it has been a very happy time for my family
Note that there are many reasons why a school's grade would slip from an A to a B, and as someone mentioned above, in Butler's case, they missed an A last year by just a few points. It is very difficult to get an A rating year after year, and it was due to a couple of students that were behind, not improving their score enough.
It is disheartening to see Coach Cozzie accused of this crime, but unfortunately, remember that this conduct could happen any where and I don't believe it should be a reflection of our school system. In fact, my understanding is that the principal immediately suspended Coach Cozzie as soon as the misconduct was reported to him, which is a good thing. At some schools it would have taken a while for the girls to be believed and for action to be taken.
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