Teacher banned after joking about principal's suicide
A substitute teacher was dismissed from a high school and banned from the entire school district, after making “inappropriate” jokes about the principal’s recent suicide.
A student secretly recorded teacher Josh Carlton delivering an impromptu comedy routine to a theatre class of 20 to 30 kids at the Academy of Arts and Academics in Oregon, western US, according to the ‘Register Guard’ newspaper.
Mr Carlton performed jokes allegedly addressing the recent death by suicide of the school’s former principal, Mike Fisher, on Thursday.
The school’s former principal, Mike Fisher, committed suicide on February 1 while under police investigation for allegedly sexually abusing and raping a student.
“Sometimes I look through old texts, you know, because I’m lonely, and I run into a conversation with my old boss,” Mr Carlton said about Mr Fisher, his former supervisor, in the recording.
“And it’s weird because he was reminding me that I need to get certified to teach science, but I wasn’t reminding him not to kill himself after his 10 years of sexually assaulting and abusing a former student.”
Mr Carlton went on to say he was glad the former principal was dead, according to the Register Guard. He added that his jokes wouldn’t “add insult to injury” because Fisher is “already dead.”
Some of the teens can allegedly be heard gasping in shock during the recording.
“It makes me feel disappointed that it’s still going on almost a year to the date,” one student told the outlet.
“That he would still mention it and speak to kids about it- a lot of people are still in shock, and it’s a fresh wound and it’s shocking and disgusting.”
Mr Carlton taught maths at the high school for 40 days in 2018, Springfield Public School District spokeswoman Jen McCulley confirmed.
“After the concern was brought to our attention he was removed from our system and will not be working in Springfield classrooms moving forward,” Ms McCulley said.
Mr Carlton has taught at many local high schools, according to his LinkedIn profile, including Roseburg High School and Phoenix Charter School.
Mr Carlton expressed regret for the incident, calling the comments to students “an unprofessional choice” in a statement to Yahoo on Tuesday.
Yahoo Lifestyle has reached out to the Springfield Public School District for additional comment.
If you are concerned about the mental health of yourself or a loved one, seek support and information by calling Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
