The Maury County Board of Education has denied allegations that school officials "ignored any warning signs" surrounding Tad Cummins, a former teacher charged with taking a 15-year-old student across state lines for sex.
In court documents filed Monday, the school board responded to a federal lawsuit filed in January by the student and her father. The civil suit claims school officials, including teachers and the principal of Culleoka Unit School in Columbia, ignored clear red flags about Cummins' behavior toward the girl.
The suit stated the school system "failed its obligation to protect students from a predator," a claim Maury County schools denied repeatedly in its 16-page response.
Cummins disappeared in March 2017 with the former student and quickly became the subject of a nationwide manhunt and Amber Alert. After more than five weeks on the lam, he and the girl were found April 20, 2017, in a remote forest cabin near Cecilville, California.
Title IX, a federal mandate, requires schools to protect students from sexual harassment and promptly respond when allegations emerge.
The school board "denies it failed any of its obligations and denies any act or omission of (the board) permitted conditions to empower a predator," the response stated. "Neither (the board) nor any of its agents permitted or empowered the described improper relationship or abduction to occur."
In the response, the school board says it first learned about a relationship between Cummins and the girl when another student reported it on Jan. 24, 2017. The school board suspended Cummins on Feb. 6, 2017.
The civil suit is still working its way through the court system. Cummins, who is also listed as a defendant alongside the school board, has not responded to the allegations.
A separate criminal case is also ongoing.
Cummins, 51, has been charged in federal court with transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual conduct and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to face trial in August.