Teacher Off Job After Misconduct Allegations

A high school teacher and coach resigned on Friday following accusations that he had a relationship with a female student.

Matt Thornsley was accused of having a relationship with an 18-year-old girl, who was a student at Circleville High School, where Thornsley was a special education teacher, 10TV’s Jessa Goddard reported.

Thornsley also served as the assistant boys varsity basketball coach at the high school and the head football and track coach at Everts Middle School, Goddard reported.

Thornsley is the brother of Circleville High School Principal Chris Thornsley, who said that he had no knowledge of a relationship prior to learning about the investigation.

Circleville police Chief Harold Gray, Jr. said that police were notified of the allegations when a friend of the girl contacted the school and police and said that she was concerned about her friend.

Circleville police were investigating whether any inappropriate conduct took place on Circleville High School property before deciding what, if any, charges would be filed.

“That was a question I asked – is it happening at school? To the best of my knowledge, nothing inappropriate ever happened at school,” Circleville Schools Superintendent Kirk McMahon said.

Detectives said that they were in the process of interviewing the student involved about the nature of the relationship, Goddard reported.

“It doesn’t matter how old or how young, they are in a place of authority over them, so that kind of adds to the seriousness of the crime,” Gray said.

Prior to the incident, district administrators said that Thornsley received satisfactory evaluations over the past five years, both as a teacher and as a coach, Goddard reported.

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