Hillwood Teacher Suspended For 'Inappropriate Contact': Report

NASHVILLE, TN -- Metro Nashville Public Schools are investigation allegations that a Hillwood High School teacher had "inappropriate contact" with a student, according to WSMV.

The station says that Michael Pesce, who was hired at the West Nashville school at the start of the 2017-18 school year to teach culinary arts, was placed on paid administrative leave March 6 as MNPS officials investigate.

But what MNPS didn't do, according to the station, is alert police.

In a 2017 interview, attorney Chad Butler, a former sex crimes prosecutor who now works for the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic And Sexual Violence, told the station that it's common - but perhaps not ideal - that school districts handle cases this way.

"Any information is going to come out from a defendant who is caught off guard when they are initially approached by a detective or a DCS investigator with these allegations," Butler said. "It's best school officials leave these things up to the police and the people who are trained to handle these situations."

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