‘It was dumb of me.’ Manatee schools employee quits after sexual conversations with student

A former school district employee traded sexual messages with a student over several months, leading to his resignation and several investigations.

Ozanda Gray, the former registrar at Horizons Academy, submitted a resignation letter to the School District of Manatee County in mid-October, after joining the district one year prior, according to an internal investigation.

Gray was briefly on paid administrative leave before his departure on Oct. 19, and the school board officially approved his resignation about one month later.

“Many of their conversations were sexual in nature, however they both deny any physical relationship occurred,” district investigator Troy Nelson reported.

In an interview with the Bradenton Herald on Thursday afternoon, Gray said the district’s statement was accurate. However, he then described his relationship with the student as supportive and friendly — based more on humor than bad motives.

“It was dumb of me to be that open and friendly, but my intentions were innocent,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to lure the kid or anything like that.”

Gray said his office at Horizons, an alternative school in Bradenton, was designated as a “safe place,” going on to explain the term.

“It’s for those children who have an alternative lifestyle as far as their sexuality,” he said. “My office was deemed a safe place. So he comes, he worked for me, and I kept him because he had some problems on the campus, had problems with people saying stuff, you know. I just kept him encouraged.”

“We tease,” Gray continued. “I did nothing that would lead to him even thinking that I wanted anything sexual with him. My communication with him would be in passing and teasing. He would say certain things and I would laugh about it or send him a meme about it.”

Gray said the student was 17 years old.

The district investigator also reported that Gray sent the student “a picture of a penis,” which he denied on Thursday afternoon. He said authorities were still in possession of his phone, pending the outcome of a forensic review.

Gray also disputed the report’s conclusion, which stated that “Child Protective Services would be verifying findings of abuse.”

A reporter could not immediately verify the status of an investigation by child protection investigators, or the separate investigation by detectives at the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

The district began its own investigation of Gray on Oct. 16, one day after the student confided in a teacher’s aide at Horizons. The student said Gray took him out to dinner several weeks prior, an allegation that Gray confirmed on Thursday.

“I took him to dinner for his birthday and that was all it was,” he said.

When asked if he thought the conversations were appropriate, Gray told the Bradenton Herald he had second thoughts after his departure from the school district.

“The conversations were, in hindsight, crossed a line,” he said. “I treated him like an adult, really, because he was so mature. In that vein, they were inappropriate. That’s why I didn’t fight anything. That’s why I went ahead and resigned.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 2:52 PM.