A school teacher has been terminated after a physical altercation occurred outside of the Adair County High School gymnasium as a district-wide student exhibition took place inside.
Columbia Police Chief Evan Burton said officers were called by school administration to the parking lot to investigate the apparent altercation on Tuesday, April 1 around 5 p.m. The school district was hosting the Student Exhibition of Learning, and the gym was filled with students, family and school staff.
Chief Burton said the teacher, Brook Beard, contacted the high school principal and reported the incident. Beard and her husband were still on the premises in the parking lot, but the parent had left, he said.
Because law enforcement did not witness the altercation, no charges were filed. Officer Travis Bell opened an investigation and turned it over to the county attorney, but charges would only be filed if one of the people involved sought charges, Burton said.
A verbal altercation apparently took place inside the gym earlier in the evening between the teacher and parent. The physical altercation took place after the parent exited the building and had walked to her vehicle.
Superintendent Jason Faulkner said this week that Beard has since been terminated for violating the school’s professional code of ethics for state certified personnel, state law for conduct unbecoming of an educator, and a violation of the school’s handbook that outlines employee interaction with parents and other members of the public.
“We set high expectations for our students, we should maintain and expect high expectations for our teachers, too,” Faulkner said. If they are not going to do that, how can we expect our kids to.
“If we have two kids at the high school tomorrow who get in a fist fight, they are going to get charged. There are going to be serious repercussions. So how can we turn a blind eye when our staff do it.”
By Sharon Burton
snburton@adairvoice.com
