CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A class assignment to write about killing a student in a Chesapeake middle school got one teacher arrested, according to court records.
The News 3 Investigative Team continues to dig into situations where teachers that have gotten in trouble for bad behavior.
The incident happened in January 2022 inside of an English class at Crestwood Middle School in Chesapeake.
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News 3 recently learned about the arrest after a Freedom of Information Request to the Department of Education regarding teachers who lost their license in the state.
The class assignment was to write “ways to kill” one particular student in the class, according to court records. It states the idea for the assignment came from another student in the class, but the teacher went along with it.
The students reportedly pulled out their tablets and began to write various ways to kill the selected child in the class.
Documents outline how the ideas from the students included chopping him up, throwing him out the window, burning him alive and feeding him to a dog.
That night the child told his parents and authorities got involved.
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When asked by authorities why this happened, records state that the teacher said it was hard to engage the class and the student at the center of the assignment didn’t appear upset, but the teacher agreed it was an inappropriate assignment and told police it was an error in judgment.
The teacher pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
This was the statement from the Chesapeake School District after we reached out about the situation for comment:
The teacher “was employed as a teacher at Crestwood Middle School from August 31, 2020, through April 8, 2022. Our practice is that we do not comment further on such situations involving personnel. The safety of our students is our top priority, and Chesapeake Public Schools expects all employees to act with the utmost professionalism to provide a positive learning environment for all students.”
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The National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, (NASDTEC) is a clearinghouse that helps identify red flags when teachers are applying for licenses across the country.
They report about 6,000 of the 3.5 million public school teachers get adverse action taken against their license for a wide variety of issues. In many cases, the teacher does not lose their license.
Troy Hutchings, NASDTEC Senior Policy Advisor, said the teacher might say something in class they shouldn't or have an inappropriate conversation.
Leaders at NASDTEC said there could be many reasons why a teacher gets adverse action taken against their license and rarely is it due to inappropriate sexual behavior.
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NASDTEC offers a free preventative and correction online coursefor teachers and leaders nationwide that think there should be more emphasis on preventing problematic behavior before it happens.
NASDTEC Executive Director Jimmy Adams said Delaware has a good program in place for new teachers that help teach ethics and how to handle difficult situations that teachers are routinely put into.
Adams said he thinks every teacher should have to undergo a refresher class about professional ethics every five years.
They stress the vast majority of teachers are phenomenal people, who never get into trouble and are working to educate and inspire the children of America.
As for the teacher in Chesapeake, he surrendered his teaching license.
