Teacher accused of instructing a boy to punch another in the face, twice [UPDATED]

A Watt Hardison Elementary School teacher in Portland, Tennessee has been suspended while officials investigate an accusation that she encouraged a third grader to punch a second grader in the face, twice.

Rebecca Cassel (WKRN)

As reported by WTVF NewsChannel 5, Brandie Dobson, the second grade victim’s mother, said that the educator’s surprising behavior stemmed from a school bus fight between her son and his friend on Thursday afternoon. Dobson told the station, “The little boy (third grader) had pushed him and hit his brother and cousin. So he hit him back.”

(WTVF)

With the school principal out sick on Friday, Dobson alleges that Rebecca Cassel, her son’s teacher, decided to handle disciplinary measures herself. The mother says that Cassel took her son, his brother, and the third grader involved in the school bus fight, along with another teacher to serve as a witness, into an empty classroom. It was there that Dobson says, "She had told, told the little boy to hit my son. My understanding, he hit him. She didn't feel like it was good enough, so she had him hit him again in the face.”

Brandie Dobson (WTVF)

To make matters worse, Dobson said she learned about the incident from her children and wasn’t notified by anyone at the school until days later. Ms. Dobson told WKRN News 2, “There’s two teachers in the classroom and someone could have notified me or the other teacher could have stopped it.” WKRN reports that they were unable to reach Ms. Cassel for comment.

Before the incident, the mother felt that Cassel, a teacher since 2008, was a great educator but now her trust has eroded. “He was scared to go back to school, but I told him, ‘It will be okay. Everything is fine,’” Ms. Dobson said. She wants the teacher arrested or fired for what took place saying, “I mean, she could do this to anyone else’s children. They shouldn't have to go through that.” According to reports, police say Cassel has been forthcoming with information and will not face criminal charges.

Watt Hardison Elementary School (WTVF)

A district investigation began on Tuesday and Cassel is suspended until its completion. Jeremy Johnson, Sumner County School Board and Community Relations Supervisor, released the following statement:

“We intend to thoroughly investigate this matter to fully determine if this incident occurred and the circumstances surrounding it. If these allegations are indeed proven true by our investigation, our Director of Schools will take appropriate corrective action, as we will not tolerate this type of conduct within our school system.”

Earlier this year, a Florida teacher was fired after an investigation concluded that she was guilty of encouraging a group of eighth grade boys to beat up a seventh grader.

UPDATE May 8, 2014 11:32 AM PDT:

WTVF reports that, following the accusation that she instructed a student to punch another student, the teacher in question has resigned.

Videos and more info: WTVF (1), WTVF (2), WKRN

Crime & JusticeSociety & Culture

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Teacher claims she was suspended from job because she’s transgender

Laura Jane Klug has worked as a substitute teacher in the Lumberton Independent School District in Texas, but was recently suspended from her job after parents started to complain. Why the complaints? It doesn’t appear that it had anything to do with Klug’s capabilities as a teacher, but rather becauseshe’s transgender, as KBMT 12 News reports.

(KBMT)

KBMT spoke with Ms. Klug. She says that the district’s superintendent, John Valastro, suspended her and that whether she would continue working within the school system would be a matter decided by the school board. Klug says she has substituted before without issue and doesn’t know what instigated her suspension. She told KBMT, “I have always conducted myself in a professional manner and would never discuss my gender identity in school.”

(KBMT)

The complaints are coming from parents like Roger Beard. Beard spoke with KBTV Fox 4 News and said that he wasn’t comfortable discussing transgender people with his child. He told the station, “Within an hour of them being exposed, or dealing with this, there’s a few issues here, that I think is too young, these kids are too young for this issue.” He also told KBMT, “There’s some things we can accept in society, that children are not going to accept the same way that we do.” Neither station mentioned whether Beard felt like he was hindering his child’s ability to “accept” a transgender person by demanding one’s removal from their position.

(KBTV)

Other people in the Lumberton area are displeased that Klug has had to deal with any of this. Donna Jackson told KBMT, “I think it’s awful. My heart goes out to this woman and I’m really sad that things like that still go on.” Jammie Marcantel, the mother of a 5th grader echoed Jackson’s sentiments in her interview with KBTV, saying, “My son knows who he is and I don’t think any outside influence is going to change that. I’m more concerned about straight predatory teachers rather than I am of somebody who lives an alternative private lifestyle.”

(KBMT)

As for Klug’s fate, the Lumberton ISD school board will make a decision whether to fire her, but believes there will be plenty of conversation over the matter at an open forum on Thursday’s school board meeting.

More info: KBMT, KBTV

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Dallas teacher wears same yearbook outfit for 40 years

Dale Irby is retiring after 40 years. And so is his yearbook outfit.

For his entire career at Prestonwood Elementary in the Richardson school district in Texas, the physical education teacher wore the same disco-era shirt and dirt-colored sweater each year for his yearbook picture.

At first, Irby told the Dallas Morning News, it was an accident when he wore the same outfit in the yearbook two years in a row.

“I was so embarrassed when I got the school pictures back that second year and realized I had worn the very same thing as the first year,” he said.

Then his wife, Cathy, dared him to make it three.

“After five pictures, it was like: ‘Why stop?’”

The gym teacher, now 63, had a pretty loose dress code much of the time that allowed him to wear shorts to school. But on picture day, it was dress-up day. And that day became a "Groundhog Day" of outfits: polyester, pointy-collared shirt and brown sweater.

The Dallas Morning News video shows the photos of the teacher's near-identical outfit year after year. The mustache gets a little grayer, and the eyeglasses get a little smaller. The rest of the look is the same. Impressively, he still fits into the same shirt as long as he "sucks it in a little."

While Irby’s fashion sense can be questioned, according to principal Pam Aitken, his contributions cannot. Irby, she said, was an educational treasure.

“He took his job so seriously in teaching good sportsmanship—both in athletics and in life,” Aitken told the Dallas Morning News. “He taught a lot of kids to be fair and respectful of others. That’s a great legacy.”

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Norway teacher fired after children taste her blood

In response to the increased attention and concern for America's rising rates of obesity and diabetes, the food industry has responded by creating what they often refer to as "better-for-you" foods. These include, among other things: bags of dried fruit slices, organic bars and cookies, yogurts, smoothies, vegetable crisps, and, of course, baked, not fried, potato chips. In turn, these items have begun to replace the more traditional junk food found in our children's school vending machines.

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