STEVENSON, Wash. (AP) — A teacher who used a “Wheel of Misfortune” to discipline students will keep her job.
Stevenson High School science teacher Kemberly Patteson used poor judgment but never intended to hurt or embarrass students with the spinning wheel, which violated the district’s anti-bullying policy, the Stevenson-Carson School District concluded Thursday.
A parent complained last week about how students would spin the wheel to find out what their punishment would be for low-level misconduct, The Columbian reported (http://bit.ly/ZxQec0 ).
One of the choices was a firing squad with rubber balls that classmates would throw.
After student cellphone videos of two of the incidents surfaced last week, the southwest Washington district put Patteson on administrative leave for an investigation. The videos showed two students shielding their faces behind textbooks as their classmates lined up to make a throw.
The wheel was a well-intentioned but misguided disciplinary tool, the district said.
“We expect the best of our teachers and that they model only the best practices and behaviors,” the district said in a statement.
The district’s anti-bullying policy prohibits any form of harassment or intimidation in the classroom.
The wheel has been removed.
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Information from: The Columbian, http://www.columbian.com
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