Pittsburgh students, teachers warned to stay away from former employee

PITTSBURGH — Parents and students are being warned to stay away from a former Pittsburgh Public Schools employee after he was accused of inappropriate conduct with a former student.

Jeffrey Abram was fired from his job as the Pittsburgh CAPA student services assistant in December after the district learned of an alleged inappropriate relationship he had with a student in the 1990s.

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At that time, Abrams was working at Peabody High School and coaching track.

The former student, who is now an adult, came forward with the allegation last year.

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"The person came forward many years later after undergoing treatment and things like that which is not unusual in cases like that," said Ira Weiss, solicitor for Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The student was 17 years old at the time of the alleged inappropriate relationship.

After firing Abram, Weiss told Channel 11 the district received reports students were visiting his home.

In a rare move, the district sent a letter to parents, saying while they generally don't interfere with a student's right to associate with individuals outside of school, "The school district does not believe that any student should have unsupervised contact and strongly encourages parents to prohibit their children from visiting or communicating with Mr. Abram."

"It really was out of concern for the protection of students, and we believe we've done all we can do to protect the students," Weiss said.

11 Investigates tracked down Abram at his home, where he denied the allegations and referred us to his union. No one was available at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.

In an emailed statement, they said:

"PFT does not believe that the evidence provided by the district supports the allegation."

Weiss is standing by the district's actions.

"Recent history dictates that you have to take proactive steps," Weiss said.

The union is fighting the firing in arbitration. Meanwhile, the district has not received any other complaints about Abram.

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