A Georgia school coach is at the center of growing public outrage after community members and a local activist obtained open records documents allegedly showing more than 43 documented incidents of inappropriate behavior spanning nearly two decades across the Hart County and Elbert County school districts.
Coach Kevin Harris, who has worked across Hart County High School and the middle school level, stands accused of a pattern of misconduct that community members say dates back to at least 2008.
The allegations range from making inappropriate comments to female students, calling them names like “baby” and “dear,” winking at them, and engaging in unwanted physical contact.
According to documents shared publicly by Debbie Mallory Fitzpatrick and community activist Bee Phire, Harris was written up, suspended, and had extracurricular duties removed on multiple occasions, yet remained employed in the district.
Among the documents shared, a memo from Principal Dr. Jacqueline Brock dated August 2021 references a meeting held after students reported feeling uncomfortable with Harris’s behavior during a transition camp, including inappropriate touching of a student’s neck and other concerning conduct at an open house.
A separate memo from December 2020 shows Harris was formally removed from his roles as head boys and girls tennis coach and as FBLA advisor.
Another document from October 2021 details a female student reporting that Harris called her “baby” and winked at her in class, making her feel uncomfortable. When confronted, Harris reportedly could not recall the incident before suggesting he may have used the word “dear.”
Decades of Complaints, No Criminal Charges
What has enraged many in the community is not just the nature of the allegations but the response of district leadership. According to the posts, both Hart County and Elbert County school administrators were aware of the complaints.
Rather than pursuing formal disciplinary or legal action, Harris was reportedly shuffled between schools and grade levels. Community members allege that top school officials, including Principal Kevin Gaines, Jay Floyd, and assistant principal Brooks Mewborn, dismissed concerns with statements such as “creepy ain’t a crime” when parents raised alarms.
Fitzpatrick, who paid $315 to obtain the open records packet, noted that many of the earlier complaint documents appear to be simple handwritten notes rather than formal investigations.
She pointed out that only the most recent complaint filed in March 2026 appears to have been properly and thoroughly investigated, raising serious questions about how prior complaints were handled, recorded, or potentially discarded over the years.
A Double Standard That Cannot Be Ignored
The community has also raised sharp questions about racial disparities in how school misconduct is handled. They point to the case of Keeden Anderson, a Black assistant coach who was arrested and spent 18 days in jail on accusations of inappropriate behavior with students, only for all charges to eventually be dropped and his innocence established.
Many in the community argue that Harris, who is white, faced no such swift action despite years of documented complaints.
Bee Phire and others are now calling for accountability under Georgia’s HB993, which targets the protection of children from grooming and predatory behavior by adults in positions of authority.
Parents are being urged to speak with their children who may have been in Harris’s classes and to report any experiences to authorities.
