The Sexxx Scandal

Two weeks ago, there was a meet-the-faculty night at the Guanajuato Holiday Inn. The school at which I work invited the parents to a presentation - the school would present its pedagogical ideology, and those who work to fulfill it (i.e. the teachers.) Very respectable and hunky dory.

Except, after about an hour of the meeting, the microphone was turned over to the parents in the audience. And something the administration had neglected to tell the staff at large, is that there were pending allegations of sexual abuse against one of the teachers. Apparently, a kid had told his parents that one of the teachers of "touching" him. In the middle of the classroom, in front of other students. At that point, no charges had been filed, the teacher was still working at the school, and the child had been withdrawn about a week after the accusations had been made.

We found out later that the accuser generally had issues with both teachers and the kids in his classes. We found out later that he had accused another teacher of choking him, a report that was later shown to be completely unfounded. So I guess the school figured that a) the kid was a liar and b) the whole thing would blow over.

Not so much.

Parents at the meeting demanded the immediate suspension of the teacher, which occurred, although he had not been formally accused of anything. The other teachers, who had had no previous knowledge of the situation, were pretty much left confused and upset with the whole situation. Upset for not knowing what was going to happen beforehand, upset because of the castigation they felt, even though nobody had done anything wrong.

So, fast forward a couple of weeks.

Charges still have not been filed, but the teacher in question quit, because he felt that a) the administration was not behind him and b) if he came back, he would be pretty much ineffective. There was a meeting with the parents of the other children in the grade of the student who had unofficially accused the teacher, and the administration told the teacher that he would have an opportunity to give the parents his version of the story.

When it came time for the meeting, they did not even let him into the room. He was, understandably, annoyed.

So, today at work, we had a whole day's worth of meetings to address all this crap. Lots of touchy feely how-do-you-feel-about-the-situation mumbo jumbo. It's a crappy situation all around, but I think what it shows above and beyond all else is administrative incompetence.

If you're trying to teach kids morality and ethics, you really should be the ones to set an example. Instead, the administration has zig-zagged and tried to hide behind itself on technicalities on BOTH sides of the issue; first underreacting and figuring the issue would blow over, then overreacting and suspending the teacher. I'm pretty sure the teacher has a right to sue the school for suspending him based on hearsay, and I think he ought to - especially considering the disrespect the school showed him by not letting him into the meeting where he was the main topic.