An Ohio high school teacher who was fired for two days after calling out sick may have been found enjoying a concert in Nashville instead of being stuck at home due to inclement weather.
Eileen Washburn, an English teacher at Lakota West High School in Beckett Ridge, Ohio, has been placed on unpaid leave as the Lakota Regional School District investigates whether she violated her teachers union contract by attending a concert. .
According to the dismissal review resolution, Washburn took “false sick leave” on Feb. 8 and 9 to attend out-of-state performances and told multiple co-workers where she was going. Available at WXIX.
The educator is also accused of withholding information when asked by school officials during a meeting after the trip was discovered.
“During the pre-disciplinary interview, she refused to answer questions regarding details about her whereabouts and her need for sick leave.”
Lakota West High School is located 32 miles north of Cincinnati.
The school board, under the direction of newly installed interim superintendent Elizabeth Lori, voted unanimously to begin the process of terminating Washburn at Tuesday’s board meeting.
The vote leaves the teacher on unpaid leave until the board votes on her employment status at a board meeting scheduled for April 22.
Washburn can file a written request for a public hearing before the April 22 vote.
In addition to violating the teachers’ union, Washburn was found to have violated state regulations regarding “school board termination” and multiple school board policies, including sick leave and employee ethics.
“Her actions also violate the Ohio Code of Professional Conduct for Educators,” the proposed termination bill states.
Washburn is an ESL teacher, according to the school’s website.
She also serves on the board of the nearby Loveland City School District.
It’s unclear which concerts Washburn attended in Nashville, but he attended several in Music City over the weekend in question, including Drake and J. Cole’s Feb. 8 performance at Bridgestone Arena. A huge show was held.
Mr. Washburn is not the only teacher in the Midwest who has been fired for enjoying music. A Michigan charter school teacher was fired after parents complained about his growing rap career.
Domonique Brown, who goes by the pseudonym Drippin Honey, was a U.S. history teacher at Taylor Preparatory High School in metro Detroit until she was fired this month.
Brown, a former Teacher of the Month, revealed on social media that she was banned due to “one parent’s disapproval”.
The parent’s complaint was filed anonymously in October after she released the song “Drippin 101,” and resulted in months of meetings with school administrators.
As a final act of defiance, Brown filmed a music video of several students singing and dancing to her songs on her last day at school.
