Katherine Harder
(3/27/08 - Initial BBT Report)
Katherine J. Harder, a language arts teacher at a Manhattan High school, in Manhattan, Kansas has been arrested and jailed on suspicion of unlawful sexual relations.
Harder was arrested after a deputy sheriff on patrol allegedly discovered her and a 17-year-old male student together in a parked car Wednesday night.
Following her arrest Harder was held in the Pottawatomie County Jail on $3,000 bond.
Reportedly Harder, after being placed on paid administrative leave, resigned from the school.
Harder has been released from jail on $3,000 bond.
4/02/08 - Resignation Withdrawn
Katherine Harder has withdrawn her resignation from the Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383.
The school board is scheduled to meet today to discuss the matter.
04/03/08 - School Board Votes Termination
The Manhattan-Ogden Board of Education voted Wednesday night to terminate the contract of Katherine Harder.
04/16/08 - Katherine Harder Resigns Again
Katherine Harder who previously resigned and then withdrew her resignation has resigned again.
References:
Teacher, accused of having sex with student, resigns a second time (04/16/08)
Manhattan teacher fired over student sex scandal (04/04/08)
MHS teacher denied request after alleged sex scandal (04/03/08)
Manhattan teacher withdraws her resignation (4/02/08)
High school teacher charged with sexual relations with student (3/27/08)
Area Teacher Caught In The Act With Student (3/27/08)
Teacher found in parked car with teen jailed (3/27/08)
Manhattan area teacher arrested for allegedly having sex with student (3/27/08)
I had Mrs. Harder as an english teacher last year, and I am appalled that she would do something like this. I’m absolutly disgusted that she would put her adopted daughters good being in danger, for her own worth.
I have Mrs. Harder currently. Yes it is appalling! What is my class going to do? We have no teacher.
Mrs. Harder was definately the best English teacher I’ve ever had, all crimes aside, but this is really unexpected.
It hit me like a train, for one.
Why don’t this women find guys their own age and that aren’t student of theirs. Most 17 yr girls don’t like guys their age, so why do these “adult” women find them so tempting. Now that a question I would like answered.
17 year old boys are easy to control. Dangle sex in front of their face and the woman can have whatever kind of relationship she wants.
I am annoyed by all the letting female teachers get off fairly easy.
this woman needs to go to jail and be listed as a sexual predator.
she will be lightly dealt with.
I am also a current student of hers. And I still cannot believe MRS HARDER of all people did this! I will miss her alot. She really was a great teacher, one of the best I’ve ever had. Its really ironic too since we just finishes reading The Scarlet Letter in her class. She did seem to really like the book…… (Deleted by webmaster).
I just feel bad for her for the sole reason that she was a great teacher and was going to be even more successful. But you threw it away (Deleted by webmaster)
! Way to go K-Hard…
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These postings are a great example of why we need quality language arts teachers.
I was one of her students also. This is total crap… the feds shouldn’t be able to tell you who you have sex with, that sounds a bit creepy to me. Our class is gonna suck so much now.
One note about it though, she coulda done alot better than (Deleted by webmaster).
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student, I’m a student at MHS too and I am confused about why you think it should be legal for students and teachers to be having sex with each other. It is clearly an ethical lapse on the part of the teacher that obviously would affect grade received, etc.
I live in the same small town as her mother and father live. her father is a Pastor at a local church and her mother is a Drama Proffeser at our local christian college. we are all shocked.
I had Ms. Harder my Junior Year of High school, and honestly i am completely disgusted that she would stoop to this level. But, I did not think she was as great as everyone makes her out to be. I personally felt she was completely bias about somethings and if you didn’t agree with her opinion you were in the wrong. Anyone that teaches like that doesn’t deserve my respect and after this scandal she definately won’t ever get it. There is absolutely no excuse for this act. I do feel absolutely terrible for the girls that would grow to call her mother, and her husband. She was being completely selfish in this act.
you guys are all assuming that she is guilty. where is her due process? doesn’t the old saying go “innocent until proven guilty”? the burden of proof is on the state to prove that she is guilty. even if she did have sex with the ALLEGED victim, the age of consent in the state of kansas is 16. wasn’t the boy 17? if it comes to light in the court of law that she is guilty of having a sexual relationship with this young man, there should only be consequences as far as her career is concerned. she (hypothetically speaking) clearly stepped over those boundaries. however, she should not be punished criminally. and, for the record, i think that if it was a 31-year old man teacher and a 17-year old girl, the same applies: no criminal charges, but consequences in his career.
Melisa,
You need to get your facts straight. Its true that the legal age for consensual sex in the state of Kansas is 16 but what you’re leaving out is that it is a FELONY offense to have sex with a minor who is a student at the school in which you teach.
Either way Harding’s career in education is done and over and its the best scenario for future students and the administration. I spend time in the Manhattan school district and the last thing any school districts needs (especially that one) is to have to worry about whether or not their teachers are sleeping with students.
And for the record, national statistics show that men are actually punished more stringently that women when it comes to sexual crimes against students.
i hope you all realize that just because someone was arrested doesn’t mean they actually did it. it pretty easy for me to say i caught someone sleeping with a student to, doesn’t really mean its true.
besides, all it says is that they were in the same car in a parking lot with a student. amazingly, i’ve been in plenty of cars with adults, and have yet to sleep with any of them in the process.
aint it amazing?
on that note, i wonder if all those teachers who drive the vehicle for tournaments and things like that are into orgies. after all, they eventually park. and i guarantee that there will be teenagers in the vehicle when they do.
oh baby.
Not so fast. She has apparently rescinded her resignation pending further discussion by the school board.
http://www.themercury.com/News/article.aspx?articleId=49fdfee406464e01920e8352d42768fa
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This comment edited to remove the last name of the person who purportedly made it. Please see the “About Comments” page for our policies on comments.
Well with her rescinding her resignation, it shows the kind of character this woman truly has. If she felt any true remorse for what she had done, she would have left of her own free will and not put her family through this humiliation. But it’s all about her and her needs. So I’m glad the school board voted to fire her. Too bad she wasn’t there to recieve the news in person.
Wow! Crazi! I dont know this teacher or any of you people commenting on here, but wow I reading about this and wow is the teacher that desperate or…? hmm hope she realizes what she did and how and why it was wrong. good luck to her! and to her students whom have to wander whats going to go on since she LOCKED UP! buhbie
Judging from the posts of this teacher’s several alleged students, it appears she wasn’t a very good teacher.
I am a student at Junction City High School && Mr.K, Mrs.Harder’s husband, is a teacher at JCHS. I feel so bad for him and their daughter that they adopted. Mr.K hasnt been to school for almost a week && he even went so far as to bail her out of jail. I hope Mr.K can pull through this and hold his head up high when he gets back to school.
I hope Mrs.Harder feels EXTREMELY guilty and is ready to pay for the crime she commited, and the family she ruined.
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I go to JCHS and I see Mr. K her husband everyday. I know him very well and can’t believe he has to go thru with this. HOW EMBARRASSING! SHE RUINED alot of peoples lives not just her own. And to think….they JUST adopted from a manhattan girl at that… Idk but just think, where is that baby girl going to go? Hopefully they don’t rip her out of that home. I miss Mr. K alot and hope he comes back soon.
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I can’t believe you two nuts actually put her husbands name out there! How stupid! Everything that I have read about this situtation no one had mentioned her husbands name… thanks to you it’s out there. I have a chid in Mr. K’s class and I was hoping through all of this mess is name wouldn’t come out because he did nothing wrong. The child will be fine, why would they take her away from her father… he did nothing wrong, he did not break the law. Wow what are going to do next put his address out or tell everybody his childs name? GROW UP! Talk all you want, blog all you want but leave the names of the innocent out. What is the since in makeing his life more difficult? This is the last thing he needs. Keep talking, but be responsible! I can’t believe this site let his name get out like that! BE RESPONSIBLE! THE NAME SHOULD HAVE BEEN EDITED! PERIOD
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An oversight on our part and it now has been edited. - webmaster
how awful, Kathy was a freshman when I was a senior and I’d have never imagined her to use poor judgment such as that. I wish her the very best and it’s a real shame of the whole situation.
LA CHIC you really need to chill out! I graduated last year from jchs and I know his real name. Being that your child is in his class then you should know thst K is NOT his last name. You are a parent yet you are calling two students nuts. THey dont mean harm, they feel bad for him, and both stated they can not wait for his return!! So as an adult you should have comprehended the message in that matter not in the matter of trying to exploit him or his character due to the actions of his wife. Stop making this about you and be concerned about him. You should ask your child what his name is because obviously you have been misinformed and you owe them an apology for calling them nuts! And the question regarding their daughter is obvious. The system is quick to take children out of a home when a parent messes up even if the issue has nothing to do with being a unfit parent. Taking their child away is punishing him for something she did. IF it wasn’t a possibiity or even such a common solution to stuff like this than they never would have been concerned about the placement of the child. Being a parent of a high school student, I assumed you would know how these things work. Im 19 and I’m a parent and even I knew that the child being snatched away from her father due to her mothers poor choice was a likely event. You stated that they needed to grow up, however, if you hadn’t mentioned you were the parent of one of his students, I would have thought this response was from a teenager blowing things out of proportion trying to change the students sympathy towards their teacher to exploitaion of their teacher. Sara and Eni I know you meant well. ITs unfortunatate that there are adults who have to bring themselves to the level of adolesence to try and prove a point which was, in the end, completely irrelevant to the topic. My best regards go to him, is child, his family, and his marriage. And as a graduate of May 2007 my regards go to my fellow classmates and teachers at JCHS. The actions of this individual has taken a toll on the whole family, Manhattan high school, AND Junction City High School. IF you are a student at JCHS you probably know who I am being that i graduated last year and am a parent, I want to say that you need to be strong and supportive for him. Set aside class room horseplay and be the students he needs to help him get through the day. As for you MS. LA CHIC, I hope you reconsider your posting.That was not necessary. I’m sure there is a distinguished difference between my comment and yours, more so, a distingusihed age difference….perhaps maturity as well……
Well said Christie. It’s her fault not his and the kids meant well. That means that he’s actually doing a good job in school. Unlike his wife.
There’s been talk about Harder not being guilty, however, I know of the boy she had relations with and she is completely guilty. She preyed on this young man with an unstable home life. She observed that this student wanted some care and attention and he was an easy target for her. Currently, the boy is devastated. All this talk about people should be allowed to do what they want is total stupidity. She toyed with this boy and he is emotionally scarred. Yes she was an exceptional teacher, however, she needs to be put behind bars, she is a predator.
You go thru all the time and difficulty to adopt a child and this is where you spend your nights.Just do not understand.