Lawsuit says Guilford County Schools rehired coach accused of abuse

A new lawsuit says Guilford County Schools brought Mark Johnson Jr. back into a student-facing job despite a prior suspension, a recommendation for termination and earlier sex-crime concerns that never led to charges.

The complaint, filed Friday in Guilford County Superior Court, names the Guilford County Board of Education and Page High School Principal Erik D. Naglee as defendants. It centers on Johnson, a former Page teacher and assistant basketball coach who is now facing multiple criminal charges tied to students.

According to the suit, Johnson was rehired in 2022 even though his record already contained serious warnings. The complaint says district policy barred re-employing anyone with “any blemish” on their record, and alleges Naglee did not contact Johnson’s prior supervisors, including the principal who investigated a 2018 allegation, before recommending him for hire.

The lawsuit says Johnson then groomed, isolated and assaulted a 15-year-old student multiple times between August 2022 and March 2023. It also says he worked at Page first as an EC General Curriculum teacher and later as a CTE teacher, while serving as girls varsity basketball assistant coach from fall 2022 into winter 2023. Records cited in the reporting show he started at Page on Aug. 16, 2022, and resigned on Feb. 22, 2023.

Johnson’s earlier employment history in Guilford County Schools stretches across several campuses. The district said he worked in 2017, 2018 and 2019, including as a substitute teacher at Andrews High School, Eastern Guilford High School, Smith High School, Mendenhall Middle School and Sternberger Elementary School from March 2017 through April 2018, and later as a CTE teacher at Allen Jay Preparatory Academy from August 2018 through July 2019. The district also said he faced sex-crime allegations in 2019, but no charges were filed.

In the criminal case, prosecutors said a parent found text messages between Johnson and a daughter on a girls basketball team, detectives found photos of another student on his phone, and a second student later confirmed sexual acts with Johnson. Prosecutors also said Johnson urged students to delete conversations, and one student said he told her, “This is not my first time.” Court records listed a total bond of $3.05 million.

Guilford County Schools said it does not comment on pending litigation. The civil case now threatens to push the district to explain what it knew, when it knew it, and why a teacher with prior warnings was allowed back into a role built around children.