by SEAN KIMMONS
HARRIS
The arraignment of a San Marcos high school teacher accused of having sex with his 18-year-old student on school grounds is set to be heard on June 22, according to court records.
William Shawn Harris, 34, a teacher and assistant coach at San Marcos High School at the time, faces six felony counts of an improper relationship with a student relating to his relationship with the girl, a senior at the high school.
In March, Harris was arrested for the alleged acts that took place between November 2009 and January 2010.
The arraignment will be held at 1 p.m. in the 22nd District Court in San Marcos, court records say.
San Marcos CISD Superintendent Patty Shafer said that Harris was immediately suspended, and following an internal investigation he was terminated.
“He is no longer an employee of ours,” she said.
According to an arrest affidavit on Harris, a friend of the girl reported the sexual encounters to San Marcos police officer Brad Follis.
The witness said that Harris had sex with the girl six times, the affidavit states, twice in Harris’ classroom, twice in the coaches’ offices, once at his home and once in a parked car in a neighborhood.
The girl confirmed the story later to police and made a cell phone call to Harris in the presence of two police officers. In the call, Harris told the student that he was an idiot for allowing the relationship to happen and that he “broke down under the pressure of you.”
Harris was an assistant girls’ volleyball and basketball coach and a teacher in a course credit recovery program computer lab, said Iris Campbell, San Marcos CISD spokesperson.
He has been employed with the school district for five years, previously at Miller Junior High. He was transferred to the high school this year.
Citing confidentiality rules, Superintendent Shaffer could not say whether the alleged relationship involved a member of the volleyball or basketball team.
Improper relationship with a student is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.
Harris has since been released from Hays County jail on bonds totaling $30,000.
