teacher fired for assignment

Killeen ISD teacher assigned racist word search to middle schoolers

Editor's note: The following story includes images with racial slurs and language some readers may find offensive. 25 News has decided to release these documents in full for greater transparency with our audience.

KILLEEN, Texas – Killeen ISD and one of its teachers have parted ways after the educator assigned middle schoolers worksheets loaded with racist slurs and language the district called "extremely disturbing."

Tiana Maya, a spokesperson for the district, told 25 News she's unsure if the teacher was fired or resigned, but both parties have "separated". Maya said the educator was recently hired and joined KISD on Aug. 15, 2022.

"Killeen ISD immediately launched an investigation upon learning of an appalling and extremely disturbing assignment distributed by a now-former Rancier Middle School teacher," Dr. John Craft, the district's superintendent, said in a letter on Thursday sent to parents. "There is no argument to condone such an offensive gesture, and we deeply regret the assignment was ever created and distributed to even a small group of students."

The assignment appears to have been created Jan. 11 and included word scrambles and searches rife with epithets titled, "Trigger Words Scramble."

The worksheets tasked students with guessing words based on included definitions, using the slurs in a sentence, and matching slurs with colors.

Among Rancier's population of 785 students, 90 percent identify as a minority with the majority of students classified as Black and Hispanic, according to data from the Texas Department of Education.

Also, 71 percent of middle schoolers there are at risk of dropping out, and the state classifies Rancier students as "economically disadvantaged."

Killeen ISD is the largest school district in Central Texas and the 24th largest district in Texas. Over 45,000 students attend 31 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, 5 high schools, as well as other campuses, according to its website .

Many KISD parents took to social media to express outrage and bewilderment over the assignment – and how it could happen in the first place.

"We regret that this incident occurred," Craft said. "We are committed to dealing with these type of situations expeditiously."

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Florida teacher fired over 'inappropriate' lesson: 'I didn't do anything wrong'

A teacher in Florida is appealing his termination after being fired over what the district calls an "inappropriate" assignment about school violence, but the teacher says he was just teaching the students how to stay safe.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A teacher in Florida is appealing his termination after being fired over what the district calls an "inappropriate" assignment about school violence, but the teacher says he was just teaching the students how to stay safe.

Psychology teacher Jeffrey Keene spoke with FOX 35 News about a notice he received from the Orange County School District to end his employment at Dr. Phillips High School. 

"When they said you have the option to resign without violating your contract, I said, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’ I said, ‘If I did, tell me what it is.’ They said, ‘We can’t do that.’ I said, 'In that case, since I don’t know what I did wrong, you can go ahead and terminate me without cause." 

Keene said there was going to be an active shooter drill at the school and thought he could tie it into a psychology lesson. However, part of the lesson included having the students write their own obituaries. "If they died 24 hours from now, what would they do differently than they did yesterday? And that’s to get them to get rid of all the fluff and show them what’s important in the world. It wasn’t to say, 'You’re going to die, and let's stress you out,'" he explained. 

On Thursday, the teacher told FOX 35 that he plans to appeal his termination. 

Florida teacher plans to appeal firing after mass shooting assignment

A psychology teacher at a Central Florida High School said he was fired over a lesson plan that asked students to write a reflection paper about how they'd react to a school shooting, and to write their own obituary as if it was their "last day."

However, he said a student asked to talk to a counselor, after getting upset. "I put a disclaimer on the bottom of the lesson saying this is in no way to upset you." 

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That happened during the first period. During his second-period class, he said a supervisor came to observe. "I said, ‘Who knows what you do in the restroom if there’s an active shooter?’ and no one knew. So I started to explain the process, and she shut me down." 

Keene said he was just trying to teach the students how to stay safe. "I was stunned. I was talking to students about the world they live in. gun safety, active shooters."

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An school district spokesperson released a statement, which read, "Dr. Phillips High School families were informed that a teacher gave an inappropriate assignment about school violence. Administration immediately investigated, and the probationary employee has been terminated." 

The spokesperson said the district wasn't able to talk about the details of the case. We asked Keene if he regretted doing the lesson, to which he replied, "No." Then we asked if he would do it again, knowing the consequences, and he replied, "Absolutely." 

Keene, who started working in Orange County in January and has been a teacher since 2008, said he is appealing his termination. 

Texas Middle School Parts Ways With Teacher Who Assigned Racial Slur Worksheets

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

A middle school in Killeen, Texas, has parted ways with a teacher who assigned students worksheets with racial and other derogatory terms.

In a letter to parents Thursday, the Killeen Independent School District said the now-former teacher, whose name has not been released, handed out “an appalling and extremely disturbing assignment.”

The worksheets, which were passed around to about 10 students in a class at Rancier Middle School, included a “Trigger Words Scramble” that featured the N-word, as well as terms like “fat” and “crackhead,” according to Waco-based ABC affiliate KXXV .

“There is no argument to condone such an offensive gesture, and we deeply regret the assignment was ever created and distributed to even a small group of students,” wrote Superintendent John Craft in the district’s letter.

The teacher was a new hire, having joined Killeen ISD in August.

The assignment caused outrage in the local community. About 90% of the school’s 785 students identify as a minority , with most being Black or Hispanic.

In the letter to parents, Craft said the unauthorized assignment “does not support nor reflect” the district’s values.

“The classwork was inappropriate, insensitive, and failed miserably to support our mission,” he wrote.

The district is still investigating the incident, and Craft said that parents of students in the class have been “personally contacted by the campus principal.”

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Florida Teacher Fired After Having Students Write Obituaries Ahead of Active Shooter Drill

"If you can't talk real to [the students], then what's happening in this environment? In my mind, I've done nothing wrong," teacher Jeffrey Keene said

A Florida teacher was fired after he asked his class to write their own obituaries ahead of an active shooter drill on campus — an assignment which the Orange County School District called "inappropriate," according to several news sites.

Psychology teacher Jeffrey Keene told Fox 35 Orlando that he wanted to tie an upcoming active shooter drill at Dr. Phillips High School into a psychology lesson, and came up with the idea of having his 11th and 12th graders write their own obituaries.

"If they died 24 hours from now, what would they do differently than they did yesterday? And that's to get them to get rid of all the fluff and show them what's important in the world," Keene, 63, explained to the news station.

"It wasn't to say, 'You're going to die, and let's stress you out,'" he added, noting that he put a disclaimer at the bottom of the lesson saying that it was not meant to upset them.

Keene, who had been working as a teacher since 2008 and was hired by the high school in January, said he received a notice to end his employment by the Orange County School District soon after the assignment.

"When they said you have the option to resign without violating your contract, I said, 'I didn't do anything wrong,'" he told the outlet. "I said, 'If I did, tell me what it is.' They said, 'We can't do that.' I said, 'In that case, since I don't know what I did wrong, you can go ahead and terminate me without cause.' "

However, he told NBC News that he doesn't regret setting up the assignment.

"If you can't talk real to [the students], then what's happening in this environment?" Keene said. "In my mind, I've done nothing wrong."

RELATED VIDEO: Nashville Police Say Training 'Kicked in' amid Horror of School Shooting: 'Just Wanted to Save Kids'

The Orange County School District released a statement, per NBC News , that said: "Dr. Phillips High School families were informed that a teacher gave an inappropriate assignment about school violence. Administration immediately investigated and the probationary employee has been terminated."

PEOPLE has reached out to the Orange County School District, and has not yet received a response.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE 's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Keene told Fox 35 Orlando that he is planning to appeal the termination. He said that if he had the choice, he would do it all again.

"I don't think I did anything incorrectly," Keene told NBC News . "I know hindsight is 20/20, but I honestly didn't think a 16-, 17-, 18-year-old would be offended or upset by talking about something we're already talking about."

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Florida teacher says she was fired for giving zeros to students who didn't turn in work

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida history teacher says she was fired for refusing to give half-credit to students who didn’t turn in their assignments.

She wrote a goodbye message to her eighth graders on a whiteboard saying, "Bye Kids, Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life! I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50% for not handing anything in. 💓 Mrs. Tirado."

Diane Tirado says her school along Florida’s Treasure Coast had a “no zero” policy, requiring teachers to give students no less than a 50-percent grade on assignments.

Tirado tells television station WPTV that she was fired in mid-September when she refused to follow the policy after several students didn’t turn in a homework project.

“What if they don’t turn anything in?" Tirado said she asked administrators. "'We give them a 50.' I go, 'Oh, we don’t.' This is not kosher.'”

No specific cause was given in her termination letter from the principal at West Gate school, since Tirado was still on probation having been recently hired.

“I’m so upset because we have a nation of kids that are expecting to get paid and live their life just for showing up and it’s not real," Tirado said.

The principal deferred comment to the school district.

A spokeswoman for St. Lucie Public Schools says there is no district policy prohibiting teachers from giving a grade of zero.

Kerry Padrick, chief information officer, sent the following statement:

"Diane Tirado was employed as a teacher for St. Lucie Public Schools (SLPS) from July 30, 2018 to September 14, 2018.  She was contracted as a teacher on probationary status, and was terminated shortly after one month of classroom instruction.

SLPS values the importance of maintaining a high-quality teaching staff who support students’ individualized learning needs; who understand the value of forming appropriate and positive relationships with students, colleagues, and parents; and who provide accurate and productive feedback to students on assignments. Wavering on the expectations of quality is not an option.

There is no District or individual school policy prohibiting teachers from recording a grade of zero for work not turned in. The District’s Uniform Grading System utilizes letter grades A-F, numerical grades 100-0 and grade point averages from 4-0."

When asked specifically about the wording of "no zeros" on the West Gate student and parent handbook, Padrick said:

"Some classroom teachers and school faculties have discussed the range of points for work submitted in each grading category. 

This scale outlines a 10-point range for each letter grade:  A = 90 to 100 B = 80 to 89 C = 70-79 D = 60-69  F = 50-59

A zero is noted on the scale for work not attempted or work that is incomplete."

“A grade in Mrs. Tirado’s class is earned," Tirado said.

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Teacher fired for assignment asking students 'How Comfortable' they are around blacks, Arabs

 A Florida middle school teacher was fired after giving students an assignment that was deemed inappropriate by district officials.

The supplemental assignment that was given to students at Fox Chapel Middle School instructed them to circle a response for a series of questions asking them their comfort level in various situations. Some situations included being approached by a group of "young black men" on the street, sitting next to an "Arab" on an airplane and finding out the new pastor at your church is a woman.

The Hernando County School District did not identify the teacher but it said in a statement, "in no way, does that assignment meet the standards of appropriate instructional material".

"'How comfy are you if you see a group of black men walking to you on the street?' That's completely inappropriate. In no world, whatsoever, is that OK to question a child on," said Jennifer Block, mother of a 12-year-old girl who was given the assignment.

"I thought it was very inappropriate. I thought some of them were racist. I thought some of them were sexist. I thought it was completely intolerable," said Tori Drews, a 6th grader.

Drews received the assignment during her 7th period Leader In Me class. She said they were learning about accepting people's differences. Drews said the teacher handed out the assignment to the class.

"There were children that were saying this is wrong. 'Why are we doing this?' 'Does this have a reason?' She was going yeah this is kind of wrong ... maybe I should take it back," Drews said. "Kids were asking if they could share it with their parents. She was like, 'No. Don't show your mom. Don't take that home. I'm taking it back up,'."

District officials said the teacher joined the middle school in January. Officials said she was still under her probationary period when they fired her.

"I believe that it was very wrong what she did. That she didn't ask anybody before she gave it out. But I think that maybe she should have been put on a break and had like another training on something like that," Drews said.

Drews's mom agrees with the punishment.

"I think that it was probably best," Block said.

WFTS reached out to the teacher for a response but have yet to get a reply.

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We're here to listen

Teacher fired for assignment asking students 'How Comfortable' they are around blacks, Arabs

 A Florida middle school teacher was fired after giving students an assignment that was deemed inappropriate by district officials.

The supplemental assignment that was given to students at Fox Chapel Middle School instructed them to circle a response for a series of questions asking them their comfort level in various situations. Some situations included being approached by a group of "young black men" on the street, sitting next to an "Arab" on an airplane and finding out the new pastor at your church is a woman.

The Hernando County School District did not identify the teacher but it said in a statement, "in no way, does that assignment meet the standards of appropriate instructional material".

"'How comfy are you if you see a group of black men walking to you on the street?' That's completely inappropriate. In no world, whatsoever, is that OK to question a child on," said Jennifer Block, mother of a 12-year-old girl who was given the assignment.

"I thought it was very inappropriate. I thought some of them were racist. I thought some of them were sexist. I thought it was completely intolerable," said Tori Drews, a 6th grader.

Drews received the assignment during her 7th period Leader In Me class. She said they were learning about accepting people's differences. Drews said the teacher handed out the assignment to the class.

"There were children that were saying this is wrong. 'Why are we doing this?' 'Does this have a reason?' She was going yeah this is kind of wrong ... maybe I should take it back," Drews said. "Kids were asking if they could share it with their parents. She was like, 'No. Don't show your mom. Don't take that home. I'm taking it back up,'."

District officials said the teacher joined the middle school in January. Officials said she was still under her probationary period when they fired her.

"I believe that it was very wrong what she did. That she didn't ask anybody before she gave it out. But I think that maybe she should have been put on a break and had like another training on something like that," Drews said.

Drews's mom agrees with the punishment.

"I think that it was probably best," Block said.

WFTS reached out to the teacher for a response but have yet to get a reply.

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Killeen ISD investigating ‘extremely disturbing’ assignment distributed to students at Rancier Middle School

KILLEEN, Texas ( KWTX ) - Administrators at the Killeen Independent School District are investigating an “appalling and extremely disturbing” assignment administered to “a small group” of students earlier this week by a “now-former” Rancier Middle School teacher.

The district was notified on Jan. 18 and “immediately launched an investigation upon learning” of the assignment, said Killeen ISD Superintendent Dr. John Craft.

“I’d like to apologize. This is really atrocious and insensitive ... this is not acceptable societal behavior,” Craft said during a news conference streamed live on the KWTX News 10 Facebook page and online on KWTXtra .

Images obtained by KWTX show puzzle-like, word scramble, and coloring assignments with racial slurs and other insensitive language.

WATCH LIVE: KISD Superintendent Dr. John Craft apologizes to parents:

“The assignment does not support nor reflect Killeen ISD’s core values. There is no argument to condone such an offensive gesture, and we deeply regret the assignment was ever created and distributed to even a small group of students,” Craft said.

“The classwork was inappropriate, insensitive, and failed miserably to support our mission.”

Craft said the district will continue to investigate and interview all people “who may have had knowledge of this atrocious matter.”

The superintendent’s letter to parents states, “We regret that this incident occurred, and we are committed to dealing with these type of situations expeditiously.”

Craft said the parents of the students affected by the assignment have been personally contacted by the campus principal.

“It was a seventh grade class ... It was an inclusion type program, a very small group of students who have some special learning requirements,” Craft said, “The teachers were trying to engage in dialogue based on what some individuals referred to as ‘trigger words’ and then it escalated from there, obviously, in the wrong direction.”

When asked to clarify on the teacher’s status, Craft said the teacher was “been separated from the district and is no longer employed by the district.”

“We reiterate that any behavior like this will not be tolerated in Killeen ISD,” Craft said.

Copyright 2023 KWTX. All rights reserved.

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KWKT - FOX 44

Killeen teacher fired after giving students ‘disturbing assignment’

by: Matt McGovern

Posted: Jan 20, 2023 / 06:11 PM CST

Updated: Jan 20, 2023 / 06:11 PM CST

KILLEEN, Texas ( FOX 44 ) – An assignment issued to Rancier Middle School students has resulted in the teacher’s termination.

Killeen Independent School District Superintendent Dr. John Craft tells FOX 44 News that an investigation was immediately launched upon learning of the “appalling and extremely disturbing assignment.” The district says this assignment does not support nor reflect Killeen ISD’s core values.

Dr. Craft says there is no argument to condone such an offensive gesture, and that the district deeply regrets the assignment was ever created and distributed to students.

“As a district, we expect and will continue to demand high expectations and assignments that challenge students to reach their full academic potential. The classwork was inappropriate, insensitive, and failed miserably to support our mission,” Dr. Craft said in an official statement to parents and staff.

The district continues to investigate and interview all people who may have had knowledge of the matter. The parents of the affected students have been personally contacted by the Rancier Middle School principal. 

Dr. Craft went on to say that any behavior like this will not be tolerated within the Killeen Independent School District.

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Breaking News

Florida teacher fired over obituary assignment

• A teacher was fired over an assignment influenced by active shooter drills
• Keene: "It wasn't to scare them or make them feel they were going to die"
• School district: Teacher was fired over an "inappropriate assignment"

Devan Markham

(Getty Images)

ORLANDO, Fla. ( NewsNation ) — A Florida high school psychology teacher was terminated last Tuesday after he assigned students to write their own obituaries ahead of an active shooter drill on the school’s campus, according to multiple reports.

Jeffrey Keene, 63, told NBC News that he believed he was terminated from Dr. Phillips High School after he wanted students to reflect on their lives and teach them about the world they live in with regard to gun safety and active shooters.

“It wasn’t to scare them or make them feel like they were going to die, but just to help them understand what’s important in their lives and how they want to move forward with their lives and how they want to pursue things in their journey,” Keene told NBC News.

He even wrote at the bottom of the assignment that it wasn’t intended to upset any students, but to inform them.

“There are mass shootings everywhere, unfortunately,” Keene told The Washington Post . “So being the psychology teacher, I said, ‘I can tie this into a lesson plan.’”

The assignment was given during his first-period class, and, by the seventh period later that afternoon, he says he was terminated.

Keene maintained that he did nothing wrong in the situation, and expressed he used proper judgment in assigning the prompt.

Orange County Public Schools Media Relations manager Michael Ollendorff released a statement to NewsNation, saying:

“While the district does not comment on employee matters, Dr. Phillips High School families were informed that a teacher gave an inappropriate assignment about school violence. Administration immediately investigated and the probationary employee has been terminated.”

The statement also included an excerpt from the 2022 Florida Statutes (section 110.217), explaining the probationary status for state employees.

The Washington Post reported that Keene was a new hire, first employed with the school in January, but before he was hired at the high school, The New York Post reported that Keene had been an educator for 15 years.

Keene told NBC News that he hopes he will find another teaching job, and said he wouldn’t change the way he teaches.

“I don’t think I did anything incorrectly. I know hindsight is 20/20 but I honestly didn’t think a 16-, 17-, or 18-year-old would be offended or upset by talking about something we’re already talking about,” he told NBC News.

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clock This article was published more than  1 year ago

‘Write your own obituary’: Teacher fired for shooting-inspired assignment

The high school students who filed into psychology teacher Jeffrey Keene’s first-period class on Tuesday were greeted with a striking assignment: “TODAY WAS YOUR ‘LAST DAY’ ALIVE,” Keene’s instructions read in capital letters. “WRITE YOUR OWN OBITUARY.”

The prompt was one of several reflections Keene asked his 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade students to write on the topic of school shootings. They had been on Keene’s mind that morning, he told The Washington Post in an interview, between the recent Nashville school shooting and his school’s plans to hold an active-shooter drill that day.

“There are mass shootings everywhere, unfortunately,” Keene said. “So being the psychology teacher, I said, ‘I can tie this into a lesson plan.’”

Keene said the lesson, which he devised that morning, was meant to encourage his students in Orange County, Fla., to share their perceptions on the epidemic of gun violence in U.S. schools. Other questions asked students to write “what kind of ‘positive actions’” they could take to prevent mass shootings and how mass shootings “affected you as a person.” A note at the end of the assignment said it was “in no way intended to ‘upset/et al’ you!”

That afternoon, Keene was fired. A school administrator pulled him aside during the next period and told him that his assignment had caused several students to complain to their counselors, he said. He was asked to stop teaching his school shooting-inspired lesson plan. At the end of the day, Keene said school leadership asked that he either resign or be fired. Keene said he declined to resign, because he didn’t think he had done anything wrong.

Orange County Public Schools confirmed that Keene, a probationary employee at Dr. Phillips High School, was terminated after giving an “inappropriate assignment about school violence.”

Keene, who said he started teaching at Dr. Phillips in January, said the lesson fell in line with his usual philosophy of encouraging his students to “think for themselves” and to “find a positive solution” to issues. He said he had found success in previous lessons asking students to write reflections about their use of social media and thought he would take the same approach with his school shooting-inspired lesson plan.

“I said, ‘How can we fix this situation? How is it affecting you or isn’t affecting you?’” Keene said. “And that’s how I approached it. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘How in the world could that upset 16-, 17-, 18-year-old students?’”

Keene argued that his high school students should have been prepared to discuss the essay topics he presented, which he introduced at the top of the assignment by writing, “TODAY... WE HAVE AN ‘ACTIVE SHOOTER’ ON OUR CAMPUS.” Before introducing the prompts, he said he spoke to his students about the upcoming active-shooter drill and quizzed them about what to do in an active-shooter situation.

Keene also defended the wording of his assignment. He said after he showed his students the essay topics, he fielded questions from some students who were confused and explained to them that the prompt to write their own obituaries was intended to encourage them to evaluate their lives and accomplishments.

“It can be taken out of context, if you will,” Keene told The Post. “... I didn’t just say, ‘You’re going to die, so write your obituary, you’re going to die from an active shooter.’”

Keene said he was only aware of one student who expressed discomfort with the assignment in his first period. But the administrator who pulled Keene aside in the next period told him that his assignment had upset several students, he said. Keene said he apologized and taught a different lesson plan for the rest of the day. Near the end of the school day — just before Dr. Phillips High School carried out a brief active-shooter drill — Keene said he was called to the principal’s office and told his options.

In a social media post about his firing, Keene accused schools of putting “MORE EMPHASIS ON CENSORING & ENTITLEMENT” than preparing students for the world.

Orange County Public Schools investigated the incident and confirmed that Keene had violated school district standards, according to a letter from the school district that Keene shared on social media.

Keene maintains that he approached his lesson in an appropriate way.

“It’s unfortunate, but it is a world in which we live — we can’t ignore it,” Keene said. “So if you cannot speak to a young adult about it, what’s the best answer?”

He plans to appeal his termination, he said.

Florida teacher allegedly fired after discussing sexuality with students

A Florida middle school teacher is claiming that she was fired in March for discussing sexuality with her students.

Casey Scott, a first-year art teacher, told NBC affiliate WBBH-TV on Tuesday that the events that led to her termination started when students began asking questions about her sexuality. Scott, who is married to a man, said she told her students that she is pansexual, meaning that she’s attracted to all genders.

She said LGBTQ students then began asking if they could create art expressing their own sexualities and identities, and that she hung it on her classroom door. Scott said she was told by school officials in Lee County — which is roughly 40 miles north of Naples — to remove the artwork. She said she was then sent home and fired over the phone.

“A discussion happened in class and because of that, now I’m fired,” Scott told WBBH-TV .

The Lee County School District said in a statement to NBC News that Scott was fired because she "did not follow the state mandated curriculum." The district also shared complaints from parents who were concerned about the conversation and the artwork, according to the NBC affiliate.

Scott's firing comes amid a nationwide discussion over whether LGBTQ issues or identities should be discussed at school.

The debate was ignited earlier this year by the newly enacted Florida law, which critics have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Officially titled the  Parental Rights in Education bill , the legislation bans teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity “in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law in late March, several days after Scott's firing. The law takes effect in July.

Proponents of the measure have contended that it gives parents more discretion over what their children learn in school and say LGBTQ issues are “not age-appropriate” for young students.

Kevin Daly, who is the president-elect of the Teachers Association of Lee County, told WBBH-TV that the new bill could pose problems for educators and suggested it led to Scott's firing.

“There is kind of a heightened state of where is the boundary? And what are employees supposed to do? Or allowed to do, when a topic comes up in discussion,” he said.

LGBTQ teachers in Florida have previously told NBC News that they fear talking about their families or LGBTQ issues more broadly with the new law in place.

Beyond Florida, 19 other states have introduced similar legislation this year that would prohibit how educators can talk about or teach LGBTQ issues in school, according to the Movement Advancement Project, or MAP, an LGBTQ think tank that has been tracking the bills.

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Chesapeake teacher arrested for class assignment about killing a student

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A class assignment to write about killing a student in a Chesapeake middle school got one teacher arrested, according to court records.

The News 3 Investigative Team continues to dig into situations where teachers that have gotten in trouble for bad behavior.

The incident happened in January 2022 inside of an English class at Crestwood Middle School in Chesapeake.

Investigations

Inappropriate behavior from teachers can cost them their license

News 3 recently learned about the arrest after a Freedom of Information Request to the Department of Education regarding teachers who lost their license in the state.

The class assignment was to write “ways to kill” one particular student in the class, according to court records. It states the idea for the assignment came from another student in the class, but the teacher went along with it.

The students reportedly pulled out their tablets and began to write various ways to kill the selected child in the class.

Documents outline how the ideas from the students included chopping him up, throwing him out the window, burning him alive and feeding him to a dog.

That night the child told his parents and authorities got involved.

Watch related story: Bad teacher: Inappropriate behavior from teachers can cost them their license

When asked by authorities why this happened, records state that the teacher said it was hard to engage the class and the student at the center of the assignment didn’t appear upset, but the teacher agreed it was an inappropriate assignment and told police it was an error in judgment.

The teacher pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

This was the statement from the Chesapeake School District after we reached out about the situation for comment:

The teacher “was employed as a teacher at Crestwood Middle School from August 31, 2020, through April 8, 2022. Our practice is that we do not comment further on such situations involving personnel. The safety of our students is our top priority, and Chesapeake Public Schools expects all employees to act with the utmost professionalism to provide a positive learning environment for all students.”

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The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, (NASDTEC) is a clearinghouse that helps identify red flags when teachers are applying for licenses across the country.

They report about 6,000 of the 3.5 million public school teachers get adverse action taken against their license for a wide variety of issues. In many cases, the teacher does not lose their license.

Troy Hutchings, NASDTEC Senior Policy Advisor, said the teacher might say something in class they shouldn't or have an inappropriate conversation.

Leaders at NASDTEC said there could be many reasons why a teacher gets adverse action taken against their license and rarely is it due to inappropriate sexual behavior.

Bill would require Va. teachers be paid at or above national average

NASDTEC offers a free preventative and correction online course for teachers and leaders nationwide that think there should be more emphasis on preventing problematic behavior before it happens.

NASDTEC Executive Director Jimmy Adams said Delaware has a good program in place for new teachers that help teach ethics and how to handle difficult situations that teachers are routinely put into.

Adams said he thinks every teacher should have to undergo a refresher class about professional ethics every five years.

They stress the vast majority of teachers are phenomenal people, who never get into trouble and are working to educate and inspire the children of America.

As for the teacher in Chesapeake, he surrendered his teaching license.

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Dedham High teacher's free speech lawsuit is over. What happened in the case

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former Dedham High School teacher who says the principal and the school superintendent violated his right to free speech by firing him for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The teacher's lawyer said they will appeal the ruling.

Thad LaVallee, of Sharon, taught English and special education in Dedham from 2017 to 2019 until Principal James Forrest decided not to renew his contract. LaVallee said in court filings that Forrest had told him to stand for the pledge after a parent complained about his refusal to stand, the lack of an American flag in his classroom and a perceived political agenda in his classroom.

When LaVallee refused, Forrest and school administrators conspired to manufacture a paper trail of negative evaluations to justify his termination at the end of the year, LaVallee argued in court filings.

Forrest and Superintendent Michael Welch, who is also named as a defendant in the case, argued that LaVallee's poor teaching performance led to the nonrenewal of his contract.

The judge agreed.

"Job performance was the sole reason given for the nonrenewal of LaVallee’s teaching contract," U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein wrote. "At most, LaVallee may have been asked to do something which conflicted with his own personal and political beliefs, and he declined to do so.”

LaVallee, who now works for Milton Public Schools as a special education teacher, sued Forrest and Welch in 2022 on eight counts, including violations of his right to free speech and the free exercise of religion under the First and Fourteenth amendments.

LaVallee's lawyer, Lucas Newbill, made the following statement in response to the judge's dismissal of the case:

"Certain things are axiomatic under the First Amendment, one of those being that a principal cannot direct a teacher to stand for the Pledge of the United States. That is what happened here, the principal admitted to it at his and the Town's deposition, and so we will be appealing."

Brian Lewis, the lawyer representing Forrest and Welch, said he has no comment.

How we got here. The ex-Dedham High School teacher's case in brief

In her statement of the facts, the judge wrote that a parent had complained about LaVallee in September 2018, the beginning of his second year at Dedham High School.

Forrest arranged a meeting with the parent, a student's father, who berated LaVallee, called him a "terrorist-sympathizer" and produced photos of one of LaVallee's children that he took from social media.

On the day before that meeting, Forrest had told LaVallee he expects him to stand respectfully for the pledge, though he didn't say LaVallee was expected to recite the words, according to Dein's summary.

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A couple of weeks later, Forrest held a follow-up meeting including LaVallee, his supervisors in the English and special education departments and LaVallee's union representative. Forrest's memorandum of the meeting says LaVallee was directed not to stray from the curriculum without his supervisor's approval and to meet with the same supervisor regularly to review lesson plans for the coming week, according to Dein's summation.

Dein notes in her decision that the issue of LaVallee's not standing for the pledge was not raised at this meeting or anytime thereafter. LaVallee continued to sit during the pledge, and Forrest never tried to enforce his stated expectation, she wrote.

Why the judge dismissed LaVallee's free speech case

Dein outlined a number of negative teaching evaluations, some of which predate the dispute over the Pledge of Allegiance. She wrote that LaVallee's supervisors recorded consistent criticism of areas where they felt LaVallee needed to improve.

LaVallee's 2017-18 evaluations, while laudatory in some respects, criticized his engagement with students and faulted him for providing students with too much guidance, Dein wrote.

Dein's decision documents more criticism in LaVallee's second year than his first, including several instances where LaVallee's supervisors report students disengaged by checking their phones, watching YouTube videos and having side conversations. LaVallee denied the truth of these evaluations, contending they were a "smokescreen" meant to justify his termination, Dein wrote.

At the end of his second year, two of LaVallee's evaluators, English department Chair Brenda Hogan and Vice Principal Kristy Yankee, recommended that Forrest not renew his contract. Hogan noted that if LaVallee's contract were renewed and he worked a third year, he would attain professional status, which would make it more difficult to cut ties with him in the future, according to Dein's decision.

Explaining her dismissal of the case, Dein wrote that LaVallee did not provide evidence linking the issue about the pledge with his termination at the end of the school year. She wrote that LaVallee's evaluators "“consistently identified areas of his teaching which, in their view (warranted or not), needed improvement."

Dein emphasized that conversations about LaVallee's contract in the spring of 2019 never raised the issue of his not standing for the pledge. She wrote that the evidence does not show Forrest compelled LaVallee to stand, but rather voiced his expectation that he do so. LaVallee argued that this was an order.

Forrest did not try to enforce that expectation or make LaVallee's employment dependent on meeting it, Dein wrote, noting that LaVallee continued to sit during the pledge for the remainder of the year without reprimand.

Peter Blandino covers Quincy for The Patriot Ledger. Contact him at [email protected]. 

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer. 

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Judge dismisses Thad LaVallee's free speech case against Dedham school

DePaul adjunct professor fired for optional assignment on how 'genocide in Gaza' impacts health and biology

Students delivered a petition calling for the reinstatement of anne d’aquino on thursday morning. she was fired on may 8 after she offered an optional assignment, asking students to analyze the impact of “the genocide in gaza on human health.”.

Anne d’Aquino spoke to reporters with pro-Palestinian demonstrators standing behind her.

Jessica Ma/Chicago Sun-Times

A DePaul University adjunct professor said she was fired for giving her students an optional assignment about the war in Gaza .

Anne d’Aquino, who taught in the Health Sciences Department, was terminated May 8. Two days earlier, she offered an optional assignment, asking students to evaluate the impact of the “genocide in Gaza on human health and biology,” she said.

“My termination was a breach of my academic freedom and another example of this administration’s efforts to twist any discussions of Palestine and Palestinian liberation language into false claims of antisemitism,” d’Aquino said at a news conference Thursday morning.

In support, about 50 demonstrators gathered on the corner of Seminary and Belden avenues. They waved Palestinian flags and held signs that read “Academic freedom includes Palestine.”

Students delivered a petition to the administrative office in the Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan Environmental Science and Chemistry building, calling for the reinstatement of d’Aquino. The printed copy of the petition extended 24 pages long with 1,500 signatures.

D’Aquino filed an appeal May 14, which Kristin Mathews, a university spokesperson, said will be “completed soon.”

The university did not immediately respond for comment .

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D’Aquino was halfway through her first quarter teaching at DePaul when she was fired. She taught a class called Health 194, Human Pathogens and Defense, which covers topics such as infectious disease and antibiotics.

The optional assignment suggested students review articles about the “intersection of biological sciences, health and history in Palestine.” Afterwards, students would write about the impact of “genocide on biology.”

“I’d been trying to incorporate contemporary topics for students to connect their basic biology knowledge to something that’s currently happening in the wider world,” d’Aquino said.

D’Aquino said the assignment was related to the course. For months, scientists warned about the spread of infectious disease in Gaza due to starvation, malnutrition, overcrowding, destruction of critical water and sanitation infrastructure, she said.

In the termination email, Sarah Connolly, the chair of Health Sciences, wrote that students expressed concern about “the introduction of political matters into the class.”

“That was all very sudden,” d’Aquino said. “Nobody complained to me about the assignment. I received no negative feedback on the assignment.”

A freshman in d’Aquino’s class, who did not want to be identified due to safety concerns, was “shocked, disappointed and speechless” about the firing.

After d’Aquino left, Connolly filled in as the class instructor. The student stopped attending class.

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“At Metro Chicago Hillel, we care deeply about the Jewish student experience at DePaul,” Charles, executive director of Metro Chicago Hillel, said in a statement. “Our hope is that the administration ensures that Jewish students feel safe, welcome and included in the classroom and all over campus, just like every other student.”

“[The firing] breaches everything DePaul stands for,” the student said. “Anne has love on her side.”

But Sarah van Loon, the regional manager of the American Jewish Committee Chicago, said the firing shows the “limits of protected academic freedom.”

Even if the assignment was optional, Van Loon believes d’Aquino introduced a topic that was “outside the bounds” of the class description.

“We’ve got a biology professor discussing politics in the Middle East or creating a comment about Gaza,” she said. “It really isn’t in line with what it is that they’re there to be teaching on and opens up the university to risk too.

“It doesn’t surprise me that the university felt that this was not something that upheld their standards,” Van Loon said.

But petition organizers said d’Aquino’s termination is part of a wider crackdown on academic freedom across U.S. college campuses.

Since Oct. 7, professors have said they have been fired, suspended or investigated for speaking out about the Israel-Hamas war, including at Stanford University and the City University of New York .

And the situation isn’t limited to colleges and universities.

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Last November, two first-grade teachers were put on leave from their jobs at a public charter school that leases space at a Jewish synagogue in Los Angeles. The action was taken over them teaching first graders what one of the teachers described on social media as “a lesson on the genocide in Palestine,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

At DePaul, Victoria Agunod, an adjunct professor in the Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies Program, said the university investigated her for her pro-Palestinian views — which was “terrifying.”

She called investigations, such as the one she went through, “political suppression.”

And d’Aquino agrees.

“[It] coincides with efforts from far-right wing members of Congress to pressure university presidents into firing faculty and disciplining students for their speech about Palestine,” d’Aquino said.

Despite the firing, d’Aquino said she hopes to see her students’ final projects.

“I’m sad that I don’t get a chance to properly say goodbye to [my students],” d’Aquino said.

You Won’t Believe Why This Public School Teacher Was Fired

A public school teacher in New Hampshire was fired for secretly taking a student to obtain an abortion during school hours.

Reportedly, the situation was referenced by New Hampshire Department of Education  Commissioner Frank Edelblut in an op-ed in April. In the op-ed, he wrote, “How should the Department respond when… allegedly, an educator lies by calling in sick so they can take a student – without parental knowledge – to get an abortion[?] Should we turn a blind eye?”

According to the investigation by the Department, the teacher involved said that they had food poisoning and called out of work sick. That day, the teacher “escorted a current student to a medical appointment during school day hours.” 

The teacher was placed on paid administrative leave, the investigative report said. When questioned, the teacher confirmed that they called in sick though they did not have food poisoning. The teacher confirmed that they drove the student to the medical appointment and that they were conversing with the student for over two weeks about the appointment. 

“[The teacher] told the student to determine how far along they were (and assisted them) so the student knew what options they’d have available. [The teacher] also reported that they found the facility for the student to have the medical procedure so that they knew it was a safe facility. [The teacher] stated that the student didn’t have anyone to support thyme so they offered to go with them,” the report said. 

Edelblut’s office was informed of the incident on October 18. The teacher was fired, but the date was redacted from the report, along with their name. 

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Republican lawmakers sounded off on the situation.

“I am horrified to hear that a teacher in our New Hampshire schools felt the right way to help a pregnant student who felt unsupported in her pregnancy was to research abortion facilities and call out sick to take a student to an abortion rather than to help her speak with her parents and find support from her family,” Republican state Rep. Erica Layon told the NH Journal . 

“By taking the rightful place of that student’s parents, this teacher denied her family the opportunity to step up and support her,” Layon continued. “Undermining families should not be taken lightly, and assuming the worst of parents is a dangerous precedent.”

Republican state Sen. Tim Lang added, “Parents have the right to know everything that is happening to their child in school. Keeping secrets or going behind a parent’s back is never good public policy.”

“It’s not good for the child, either. It teaches children, by the actions of ‘trusted adults,’ it’s OK to be deceptive, which is not creating good citizens for our future,” Lang added. 

“This brings up questions for a lot of parents, like who are they entrusting their children to for hours on end everyday? What kinds of interactions outside of teaching are teachers having with their students?” Melanie Israel, the Visiting Fellow in the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at The Heritage Foundation, told the outlet. “I don’t think most parents would be OK with this.”

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