An art teacher from Long Island, currently under scrutiny for allegedly engaging in inappropriate messaging with a student, has reportedly unsettled other female students with his behavior, sources revealed to The Post.

John Kennedy, 52, who teaches at Bay Shore High School, has been recognized by many as a “favorite teacher.” However, The Post has learned that two female students were made uneasy by his physical interactions and demeanor, prompting a recent investigation by Suffolk Police.

“Initially, you think he’s amusing and kind, but then he begins to do stranger and stranger things,” one of Kennedy’s current students shared with The Post. Speaking with her parents’ consent, she recounted feeling repeatedly uncomfortable due to his actions.

The student described an incident where Kennedy approached her from behind, placing an arm around her shoulder in what felt like an embrace, leaving her stunned and unable to react.

Another student expressed to her parents last year that she was reluctant to complete an art assignment in Kennedy’s classroom after regular school hours. She would often wear headphones to avoid interaction and deter him from initiating conversations with her.

The mother of the second student said she felt Kennedy was “flirting” with students and her daughter “felt creepy at times when he would interact with her,” she told The Post, although she did not report the behavior to the school.

The mother also said she had reached out to Suffolk police, but had yet to speak with a detective on Monday.

Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment on these specific allegations from The Post. The divorced father-of-two has been on administrative leave since last week while Suffolk Police investigate alleged child abuse, according to a letter from a detective from the Special Victims Section to district parents, which was also obtained by the Post.

It stated that SVS “commenced a Confidential Investigation into a Report of Suspected Child Abuse, of a student by a teacher, filed on October 12, 2025, by a student at the Bay Shore High School.” 

The letter was first sent to parents of students in Kennedy’s classes, a source said, and will eventually go to all the parents in the school.

Neither of the students who spoke to The Post received the explicit text messages Kennedy is alleged to have sent, leading to the investigation by police.

“The Bay Shore School District has been made aware of allegations … [and] took immediate action, placing the staff member on administrative leave and barring the individual from District property,” the school said in a statement last week.

“We are cooperating fully with law enforcement and will not share any details that could interfere with their work. The safety and trust of our school community are always our focus,” Bay Shore Superintendent of School Dr. Steven Maloney added to The Post.

Before teaching art at the high school, Kennedy taught kindergarten through second grade at an elementary school in the district, Brook Avenue Elementary.