Burton to Head Back to Garfield

Update: Ms. Burton is to return to Garfield on Monday.  The Times reports:
She is not allowed to participate in overnight field trips for two years and must attend “appropriate” trainings, Howard added.
end of update.

I do not have any details, still awaiting a press release. This comes from a Soup for Teachers post written by Ms. Burton. Director Harris weighed in and said this:
The matter was settled today. Ms. Burton is going back to Garfield to teach.
There was apparently an issue over whether Burton would be allowed to lead field trips.  We will have to find out if that was settled as well. 

One person said this:
By the way, the student who had been teaching the classes has also been punished now, for the crime of embarrassing the superintendent and his staff.
To which another person said:
Not only are they punishing her, but also those teachers who released her from their classes to cover the choir classes.

Comments

Catherine said…
I await a more complete report... if they are punishing students and staff for stepping up and doing the right thing when the district could not... sigh.
5/19/16, 11:52 PM
Anonymous said…
I don't know the whole story but if this is true district should reconsider and present the student with a certificate of appreciation. They have a LOT of bad relations with the community that they are supposed to be serving that they need to repair.

-SPS Parent
5/20/16, 6:36 AM
Eric B said…
Sometimes it seems like they're trying to put out a fire with gasoline. Of course they shouldn't punish the student. She's already suffering whatever natural consequences come from missing one or two classes most days (extra work, lower grades, etc.). There's an ever-so-slightly better reason to punish the teachers, but not much more than pulling them aside and saying that they really shouldn't have done that. I don't see that anything should be put in the teachers' personnel file. The only possible reason for punishment of the teachers is if they waived tests or assignments.

Yeesh.
5/20/16, 8:46 AM
Anonymous said…
Did Ted Howard know about it all along? If so, isn't he the one who should be punished for allowing it?

HF
5/20/16, 8:58 AM
Patrick said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
5/20/16, 9:20 AM
Patrick said…
If it's true that SPS is punishing the student who taught choir in the absence of a qualified sub, and the teachers who released the student from her regular classes, it's deeply embarrassing. She should be getting a medal. The Board should step in. I know they can't reverse the academic decision about punishing the student, but they could thank her and send her a letter of appreciation she could send along with her college applications.

Times like this I think the best thing would be for a sinkhole to open up underneath SPS headquarters because that's the only way we'll ever get rid of the vindictive self-serving bureaucrats who run the place. I know there are plenty of conscientious hard workers in SPS too, but they seem to be outranked in the senior positions that make the decisions.

As far as Ms. Burton, it sounds like the best possible outcome at this point.
5/20/16, 9:24 AM
Outsider said…
I believe this is the motto of SPS, chiseled into the lintel over the door to their headquarters:

Postquam in foramen, profundum effodiunt
5/20/16, 9:27 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Okay Outsider, not having taken Latin - what does that mean?
5/20/16, 9:35 AM
Anonymous said…
Burton is at Garfield today and they welcomed her back guite openly

As for the punishments... those are what as I have no evidence of that here

- SPS Grunt
5/20/16, 9:50 AM
Anonymous said…
Google Translate says: "When you are in a hole, dig deep."

Roosevelt Dad
5/20/16, 9:51 AM
Outsider said…
That's the great thing about mottos in Latin -- they sound very sophisticated, but no one knows what they actually mean.

Disclaimer: any grammatical error in the motto is the fault of Google translator, not me.
5/20/16, 9:53 AM
Maureen said…
I second the question about Ted Howard. Seems like he should be right in the center of this, but his name never seems to come up.
5/20/16, 10:01 AM
Jet City mom said…
Im surprised Ted hasnt been promoted to working in Sodo by now, which seems to be the usual route for principals who have repeated issues with their role. He must really want to stay at Garfield.
5/20/16, 10:14 AM
Po3 said…
Add me to the list of people wondering how the principal seems to always walk away from issues at GHS unscathed.
5/20/16, 11:22 AM
Anonymous said…
His nickname is Teflon Ted for a reason... he is a legacy Principal as well

- SPS Grunt
5/20/16, 12:04 PM
Anonymous said…
Good to see the teacher is back . . .

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/garfield-highs-choir-teacher-to-return-to-former-job/
5/20/16, 11:01 PM
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