A Florida middle school teacher was suspended for 10 days for “using the ‘n’ word” and other offenses, according to an investigation by Duval County Public Schools obtained by WJAX.
Kernan Middle School teacher David Swinyar also called his students dumb and made comments like “You all should not be dating these different African American boys because they are not worth it,” according to Cole Heath, a reporter for WJAX who posted an excerpt of the report online.
Duval schools confirms this teachers 10-day suspension without pay begins Thursday March 8th. @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/WmzauslprL
— Cole Heath (@ColeANjax) March 7, 2018
According to a letter from Kernan Middle School Principal Julie Hemphill posted online by WJAX’s Danielle Avitable, the investigation into Swinyar began in October.
A student from the middle school showed me this letter that was sent home for parents today regarding the investigation into the teacher at Kernan Middle School @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/dRKWyuvSlA
— Danielle Avitable (@DanielleANjax) March 7, 2018
Swinyar’s suspension without pay began on Thursday, WJAX reported.
Asked Wednesday why Swinyar wasn’t fired, the school district told WJAX in a statement in part that “Teacher discipline is governed by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the district and the union, which provides for progressive discipline.”
“While the employee has not been the subject of a prior investigation,” the statement added later, “due to the severity of the conduct in the referenced investigation, several steps in the progressive discipline process were skipped. The recommendation for a 10-day suspension without pay was approved by the Board on Tuesday, March 6 during the School Board meeting.”
The school board’s meeting notes from March 6 show that it approved the suspension “for unprofessional conduct.”
Asked for further comment on why Swinyar wasn’t fired, Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patricia S. Willis told TPM in an email Friday that “when employees fail to meet our standards for ethical behavior, we take action as allowable in the collective bargaining agreement between the district and the appropriate bargaining agent.”
“Please note that following Mr. Swinyar’s suspension, he will be reassigned to an assignment with no student contact for the remainder of the year,” Willis added. “As an annual contract employee, Mr. Swinyar’s employment contract with the district expires June 30, 2018. In May, recommendations for contract renewals for all annual employees will be considered.”
This post has been updated.
So is this the case where Republicans get to show why Teacher’s Unions are bad?
Suspended?!
For a lousy 10 days?!
Sorry, but this racist pig should never, ever be allowed to teach public-school children again. Period.
Fire his tuchus – now.
Along with any coworkers or administrators who knew about his bigotry but looked the other way.
Gone. Buh-bye. Adios, jackass.
And good luck with your new career asking former students if they want fries with that.
He should be terminated, not suspended. This type of behavior is unacceptable in our society, except that Trump has unleashed the “deplorables.”
Wait a goddamn minute! Didn’t I just read this story last week? About that FL teacher who ran a white supremacist website on the side?
Oh, wait. That was a different FL middle school teacher… The humidity down there rots their brains, I think.
Naah. It’s the political climate…