By the TimesLedger Staff
A history teacher at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside was charged Tuesday with raping a 15-year-old female student with whom he was having an affair, police said.
Garrett Harris, 27, of 29-40 Gilmore St. in East Elmhurst allegedly had several sexual encounters with the girl, whose name was not released, at both his home and hers over the period of a year, police said. Harris was charged with third-degree rape.
Harris, who formerly taught at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, was arrested by officers in the 102nd Precinct, based in Richmond Hill. It was unclear why Harris was apprehended there, although police information officers said the rape may have occurred within the precinct.
He was arraigned Tuesday night and pleaded not guilty, the Queens district attorney’s office said. He was released on his own recognizance. Harris is due back in court Sept. 9.
The girl approached the police with information about the alleged affair Tuesday morning, according to a Daily News report.
Board of Education spokeswoman Catie Marshall said Wednesday Harris was an appointed history teacher and would be let go.
“He was not tenured, which mean’s he’s being fired,” Marshall said.
Harris has been teaching in Queens high schools since 1998, Marshall said. The history teacher taught at Jamaica’s Hillcrest High School from February 1998 to February 1999 before moving on to Cardozo, she said. Harris taught at Cardozo from February 1999 until his arrest this week.
In addition to teaching at Cardozo, Harris is also the faculty adviser for two student dance groups, the Boys and Girls Step Team and the break-dance club, according to the school’s Web site.
Harris is a popular teacher with both the students and the faculty, according to a fellow staff member at Cardozo.
“Everyone loves him there,” said the staffer, who asked that his name not be used. “He’s good for the school. It’s a shock to everyone who knows him.”
Harris always had time to help students with problems at school or home, according to someone who identified himself as a Cardozo student and nominated the teacher as a guest for the “Oprah Winfrey” talk show on a Web page seeking ideas for the show.
In the Web posting, Tyring Hall called Harris “the greatest,” saying he was a school dean who counseled students. This could not be confirmed with Cardozo.
The school, which is known as one of the top non-specialized high schools in the city, was recently ranked the No. 1 neighborhood high school in the city, according to a U.S. Department of Education study.
