Florida teacher, 56, is fired after showing children PENIS-shaped chewing gum wrapper she said ‘generous’ freshman had gifted her
- Joanna Herring was a language arts teacher at McArthur High in Hollywood, Fla
- Herring, 56, was fired earlier this month and has a slew of allegations against her
- She allegedly showed her students a penis-shaped gum wrapper
- She is also accused of yelling at her students, making racially insensitive remarks, showing up late for class, and failing to post student grades
- Herring is appealing the action to try to get her job back, according to a petition
A Florida high school teacher was fired after being accused of showing her students a penis-shaped gum wrapper that she said a freshman gave to her.
Joanna Herring, 56, was a language arts teacher at McArthur High in Hollywood for 15 years, according to her LinkedIn page, until her firing earlier this month.
A district complaint obtained by the Sun Sentinel revealed a list of allegations against Herring that include the teacher yelling at her students, making racially insensitive remarks, showing up late for class regularly, failing to post student grades in a timely manner and missing parent-teacher conferences.
Herring is appealing the firing to the Division of Administrative Hearings in an attempt to get her job back, according to a petition filed Friday.
Joanna Herring, 56, a language arts teacher at McArthur High in Hollywood, Florida, was fired earlier this month after allegedly showing her students a penis-shaped gum wrapper
In a petition filed Friday with the Division of Administrative Hearings, Herring denied the allegations.
Herring, who is being represented by the Broward Teachers Union, has worked as a teacher in the district since 2007 and her salary this year was $52,069, the Sun Sentinel reported.
‘No cause exists for the termination of Respondent’s employment by the Broward County School Board,’ the petition states.
According to the complaint that led to Herring’s firing, the allegations of inappropriate behavior is from the 2021-2022 school year.
‘Students reported that Herring showed the class a gum wrapper shaped in the form of a penis that she said had been gifted to her by a student from a previous class who left it on her desk,’ the district complaint states.
A student told district investigators that, ‘there was an incident where she showed us a male private part made out of a gum wrapper, saying it was a gift from one of her freshmen and that she didn’t want to throw it out because it was ‘so generous.’
Another provided a statement that detailed the discomfort they felt with how Herring reportedly discussed black people.
‘When the school year first started she kept speaking on black people,’ the student stated. ‘How her family is racist and when they came down to Miami/Broward they told her there was “too much black people.”‘
Herring has a long list of allegations made against her in the 2021-2022 school year, including yelling at her students, making racially insensitive remarks, showing up late for class regularly, failing to post student grades in a timely manner and missing parent-teacher conferences
In another instance, students said that Herring became upset when a student interrupted a conversation she was having with another student, according to the complaint. So she ‘put herself in a corner of the classroom with her back to the class, stating repeatedly, “Tell me when she’s done, tell me when she’s done.”‘
‘Once the student stated she was done, Herring returned to the front of the classroom,’ according to the complaint.
‘Herring has continuously failed to use professional judgment and maintain professionalism with students, staff and stakeholders,’ the district’s complaint said.
Records detailed in the Sun Sentinel show Herring previously received a three-day suspension in 2019 for excessive absenteeism, failure to attend faculty and department meetings and failure to adhere to emergency Code Red lockdown procedures.
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