Boca police report IDs former teacher at center of St. Andrew’s School inquiry

Aug. 24--A former faculty member accused of inappropriate relationships with students at St. Andrew's School in Boca Raton now sells life insurance in Palm Beach Gardens, records show.

A Boca Raton police report, obtained by the Sun Sentinel on Tuesday, identifies Christopher W. Waite, 41, as the "dorm parent" who was accused of engaging in "overly-friendly relationships" with boys enrolled at the private school, located at 3900 Jog Road.

Police found no evidence of any crime, and Waite is not facing charges.

Waite couldn't be reached for comment despite phone calls Monday and a visit Tuesday to New York Life Insurance Co., the workplace listed on his LinkedIn profile.

The allegations made against Waite accuse him of allowing boys to go to his on-campus apartment after hours, being seen with a student off campus at a restaurant and allowing a student to sleep over at his apartment, according to the police report filed in May.

Police questioned three students whose names were provided by representatives of the school. All three boys told police Waite never acted inappropriately toward them, the report says.

"At this time there is no evidence to substantiate any criminal behavior in the above allegations made against Waite," the report read.

The Department of Children and Families was notified, too. The agency did not complete an investigation because school policy violations did not meet the agency's criteria for investigation, the police report says.

A school-commissioned investigation concluded that administrators at St. Andrew's School allowed Waite to keep his job for two years despite what the report called inappropriate relationships with students.

Waite signed a contract to join the school on May 18, 2011. He acted as a "dorm parent," living on campus, from July 2011 to November 2015.

Waite is certified to teach K-12 music, according to the Florida Department of Education. Neither his resume nor application showed a prior history of overseeing student living quarters, according to a report on the school-commissioned investigation.

In February 2014, the school promoted Waite and gave him a $7,000 raise. He served as chair of the fine arts department at the school. During that time, he crossed relationship boundaries, including inviting two students to see a play at a local theater in his box seats, the investigative report said.

Last October, the school removed Waite from his position looking after boarding students but allowed him to stay on as a faculty member. He continued to live in the boys' dorm.

It was not until November, after a boy enrolled at the school spent four nights at Waite's apartment, that the school fired him, according to the report.

The school signed a severance agreement that gave Waite two months' severance pay and up to $5,000 in moving expenses. The faculty contract had called for no severance if terminated for cause.

The school also agreed that records would show Waite had left for "personal reasons" and the school would provide a neutral reference to potential future employers.

The report does not specifically find that abuse took place, but criticizes the school's failure to protect students from "potential abuse."

The school on Monday released a statement that said it had inadequate policies in place to protect students and that the interim headmaster is taking steps to institute mandatory child-abuse annual training for all faculty and staff.

"It is also painfully clear that, regardless of the fact that there are no reports to suggest that sexual abuse occurred, senior school administrators took insufficient action to protect students from potential abuse," the statement read.

The school on Tuesday stuck by its statement.

Waite graduated from Clarion University in Pennsylvania in May 1999 with degrees in music education and music performance, according to the university's registrar. A tenor soloist, Waite has performed with the Masterworks Chorus of the Palm Beaches, according to a December 2015 article published by the Sun Sentinel.

Prior to teaching in Boca, he was music director at schools in the Pennsylvania area, his LinkedIn profile shows.

Staff writers Scott Travis and Skyler Swisher and staff researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.

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