NHC teacher suspended after smoking on Zoom in front of students
NHC teacher suspended after smoking on Zoom in front of students By Ann McAdams | January 8, 2021 at 1:05 PM EST - Updated January 8 at 5:00 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Chalk it up to another bizarre situation that might not have ever happened were it not for COVID-19. WECT has learned a New Hanover County high school teacher was suspended from her job without pay, after getting caught smoking on a Zoom call in front of her students.
The situation happened during the first semester, and involved a class of marketing students at New Hanover High School. The students were working remotely, and the teacher was in her own home. WECT spoke to the teacher, whose name we have decided not to publish, to confirm many of the details that had first been relayed to us by students and parents.
On Jan. 24, Roland-Grise Middle School band teacher Peter Michael Frank became the third New Hanover County Schools employee to be arrested on charges of sexual misconduct involving a student since 2018.
Frank, 47, has since been charged with nearly 30 felony counts for crimes that allegedly took place between 1999 and 2019.
The search warrant issued three days after Frank’s arrest allowed law enforcement to obtain his personnel file, which revealed he had been repeatedly counseled by New Hanover County Schools for “inappropriate relationships” with students.
It further stated that Frank allegedly told law enforcement he was attracted to middle-school-aged girls. Searches of his phone and computers allegedly turned up photos of the “clothed-backsides of female students.”
The McKinney-Vento Act
On Thursday, Rebecca McSwain, a school social worker and the local McKinney-Vento liaison, stressed to the New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force the importance of families knowing their potential rights ahead of the order’s nearing expiration date.
This school year approximately 600 identified New Hanover County students are qualifying for McKinney-Vento services.
The federal law protects children without fixed, adequate or regular nighttime residences, guaranteeing them school stability while their families are without secure housing.
While the central protection of the act is to keep children in their school of origin when it’s in their best interest, the students are also granted other rights; those include access to school transportation when requested by the parent, and the ability to immediately enroll in school and participate in all activities without the normally-required documentation.
After Brunswick County identified increased Covid-19 activity within several schools, its
When students return from the holiday break, all grade levels will learn remotely through Jan. 19.
This week Brunswick County Schools reported 41 cases among its students and staff members, including 31 cases at Town Creek Elementary and one person at the central services office.
After making close contact with a positive individual, 321 people were directed to quarantine, including 135 staff and students at Town Creek Elementary.
Due to a staffing issue, Town Creek Elementary turned Wednesday into a teacher workday as it simultaneously dealt with the outbreak in the building. On Thursday all grade levels at the school learned remotely, and Friday was the start of the break for all students.