School Resources & Training Institute
Legal and Liability Article
Database
For assistance with
this database contact us at information@school-training.com or
at 800-365-0119.
Return to SR-TI Article Index
PATC Article Detail
Title:
Termination of 2nd Grade Teacher for Having Students Simulate Sex Acts Upheld
Author:
Jack Ryan
ID:
LL97
Issue:
SU1-4
Issue Date:
2004-07-01
Edition:
School
Type:
Article
Body:
Spurlock v. East Feliciana Parish School District, 2004 La. App. LEXIS 1624 (La. App. 1st Cir. 2004).
The Incident:ìOn or about Monday, February 25, 2002, it was reported to Mrs. Ernestine Spurlock [the teacher]Ö that three of her male students [2nd graders]...had been ëhumping the wallí in the boysí restroom.î Mrs. Spurlock then ordered the reporting student to demonstrate in front of the class what the trio in the boysí room were doing. When the other three students returned to the classroom, Mrs. Spurlock ìordered them to ëhumpí the wall of the classroom in front of the other students. Mrs. Spurlock then asked the students in the presence of the other students in the classroom whether the wall had ëdone anything for them.í She then made each of them say the word ëpenisí out loud and asked them if they knew what came out of a penis. Mrs. Spurlock went on to tell the [misbehaving] male students that their penises were not as big ëas a strawí and that she hoped that they would hurt them so they would swell up and break.î It should be noted that a classroom aide witnessed the entire incident and reported this account. The students, who were questioned separately also gave accounts consistent with the classroom aide. Mrs. Spurlock, a tenured teacher, argued that she should not have been terminated since the school board could point to no rule governing her conduct. In rejecting Mrs. Spurlockís appeal the court asserted that where a teacher commits an act that is so egregious and outrageous as occurred here, the school board can rely on a ìneglect of dutyî violation to support the termination. ìMrs. Spurlock should have known that the general responsibility of teachers would not include humiliating children in front of the class.
Citation 1:
Citation 2:
Citation 3:
Keywords:
Other Information: