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Schools

Board suspends teacher for epithet

Social studies teacher Dohn Bear required students to use a racial slur as an answer to a quiz on the film Rosewood.

By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published August 3, 2005

LARGO - The Pinellas School Board approved a 10-day suspension Tuesday for a middle school social studies teacher who asked his students to write a racially charged word on a quiz.

Before the vote, board members Linda Lerner and Mary Russell pushed for a two-day suspension instead, arguing that teacher Dohn Bear was trying to impress upon students the harmfulness and historical context of the word.

But a majority agreed with superintendent Clayton Wilcox that Bear showed poor judgment.

Bear, a white teacher at Riviera Middle School in St. Petersburg, required his students to write the word n----- on a Feb. 24 test about the movie Rosewood, which tells the story of a black Florida village wiped out by white mobs in 1923.

When some students wrote "African American" or "black person" on the quiz, Bear initially marked the answers wrong. He later gave them credit, but the father of a black student complained, saying he found the word n----- offensive.

Bear has said his goal was to stop students from using the word in casual conversation.

He recently accepted the 10-day suspension, signing an agreement that says he "created an environment where his intentions could be misunderstood, and students and parents could take offense to the assignment." He also admitted to violating district policy by showing students the R-rated movie without permission.

Wilcox initially recommended that Bear be fired, but softened his recommendation to a 10-day suspension after discussions with district and teachers union lawyers.

Lerner argued Bear's motives were good.

"I criticize Mr. Bear for not following our policy," she said. "I compliment him for doing what was in his heart. ... This is about the values of this district and it's about teachable moments."

Russell said she was concerned the case would prompt other teachers to refrain from tackling sensitive topics in class.

In other action Tuesday, the School Board:

Heard Wilcox address complaints by teachers that they have been asked to follow the student dress code. Wilcox said he urged principals to promote staff decorum and suggested it might be hard to enforce the new dress code, which requires sleeves, if teachers did not wear sleeves, too. He said he did not mandate a teacher dress code.

Gave preliminary approval to a $1.24-billion budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year. The district's property tax rate would increase to $8.39 for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, up from $8.12 last year.

Much of the increase is due to voter approval in November 2004 of a tax increase to finance a teacher pay raise and other improvements. A final vote on the budget is set for Sept. 13.

[Last modified August 3, 2005, 00:35:13]