Documents identify North Side band director accused of inappropriate behavior

JACKSON, Tenn. — We now know the name of the man accused of inappropriate physical and verbal contact with a North Side High School student.

Jason Eckford, 34, was the band teacher at the school before he resigned amid an investigation by the school system.

In a WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News exclusive, the letter Eckford submitted Feb. 7 to the school system. He ends his letter with “it’s been a pleasure to serve.”

On Feb. 2, Eckford was given a letter saying he was suspended without pay effective immediately after allegations of inappropriate behavior with a student came to light.

We caught up with Superintendent Dr. Eric Jones Monday during a work session.

“Any time we have allegations of inappropriate behavior between our staff people, we take that very seriously and we make sure that we investigate to make sure that our students are safe and make sure that we do that promptly,” Dr. Jones said.

According to his personnel files, Eckford is a longtime Jackson resident.

He graduated from Jackson Central-Merry High School before attending the University of Tennessee at Martin, graduating in 2007, documents say.

He joined the school system in 2008 as the band director at North East Middle School before transferring to North Side High School in 2009, documents say.

According to documents, the school system has closed their investigation but an investigation remains open with the Department of Children’s Services and the Jackson Police Department.

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News reached out to Eckford multiple times, but he has not answered or returned our phone calls this week.

No charges have been filed against Eckford at this time.