A physical education teacher and coach at Evans High School was arrested in Augusta on Sunday on charges of DUI, bringing more embarrassment to the school’s coaching staff.
Jeremy Gantt, 39, was jailed for driving under the influence after initially being stopped by a Georgia State Patrol trooper for operating without headlights. He was booked into the jail at 9:39 p.m. Sunday and released Monday after making bond.
A school website lists him as a PE teacher at Evans High School, where he also reportedly works as an assistant flag football coach.
The arrest comes just three months after Evans head football coach Barrett Davis had his job taken away after it surfaced that the married coach was having a relationship with a former student. Davis said he was forced to resign or be fired “despite no criminal wrongdoing being found.” He’s been accused of having a relationship with the former student, who is 19 and graduated last year. He is 37.
Davis said that he “sincerely apologizes for the negative backlash from this accusation, and wishes Evans the best moving forward,” the statement said. At the time, the district also apologized to the community for “the distraction and concern this incident may have caused students, staff, and their families.”
In October, EHS Coach Montel Watters was charged for an inappropriate relationship with a student, authorities said. Watters, a lay coach, was charged with improper sexual contact by teacher, principal or assistant principal. Deputies say the suspect received oral sex from a student.
Deputies learned Oct. 28 of an incident that had taken place at the beginning of the month between Watters and a 17-year-old female student. Watters allegedly gave the teen a ride home after a football game and received oral sex from the student while parked in front of her house.
A witness saw the lay coach and student together and noted Watters was in a state of undress. A report says Watters admitted receiving oral sex to deputies. The school district announced the same day as the arrest that Watters would no longer be working at the school or with the football team.
The charge remains pending.
