The teacher who was disciplined this week because he showed an inappropriate video to junior high school students at W.D. Cuts will be back in the classroom in January.
“All I can tell you is he’ll be on leave until after Christmas. I can’t say we’ve asked him to take a leave and he is not formally under suspension. He’ll be back in January,” said Barry Wowk.
The Protestant School Board superintendent declined to give specifics about what happened on Tuesday, Nov. 29, when the video was shown to students as part of a lecture about sexual harassment.
“The teacher used highly inappropriate resources. We’ve addressed it,” Wowk said, adding that the parents of students in the Grade 7 classroom met with him and the teacher this week.
“We met with parents and that included meeting with the teacher. The parents needed assurance and an explanation of what happened,” Wowk said, as he explained he believes some inaccuracies have been reported about the incident in the classroom.
“I am in no way defending what happened. It was highly inappropriate and he should have previewed it. He went to a website for presentations and chose one that had this material embedded in a PowerPoint,” Wowk said.
Wowk would not say whether the teacher would lose a paycheque over the incident.
“I cannot comment on that. He did have Alberta Teacher Association reps with him,” he said.
A substitute teacher will take over the class until the new year.
“There is a cost to this,” said Wowk, as he explained that the usual pay grid would determine the pay scale for the substitute. “The only other thing I will say is that I’m really, really sorry it happened.”
An ATA spokesperson said that no formal complaints about the teacher’s professional conduct had been raised with the union and unless that happens, all decisions will be left up to the school board.
