Did your teachers accept your excuses for being tardy when you were in school, or were you given a detention anyway? Well, a school board had to deal with someone who was late nearly one third of the time—but it was a teacher!
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A state-appointed arbitrator has told the New Brunswick, New Jersey, board, which had tried to terminate the veteran teacher for chronic tardiness, that because he was not given due process, properly notified of his transgressions, nor given a 90-day period to remedy the problem, he cannot be fired but only suspended without pay until January, according to the New York Post. The teacher was tracked as being tardy 111 times in 2 years.
Speaking exclusively to CBS2 New York, the teacher explained that eating breakfast every morning often caused him to leave home late. He also said that there was a long line to clock in at the start of the school day, but he was only late a few minutes for preparatory periods and not for classes with students.
But in the written decision, says Fox5 New York, the arbitrator said the teacher’s various explanations were “unpersuasive.”
The Post says the teacher had told the arbitrator that despite his late arrivals, he delivered a “superb educational experience to his grateful students,” a statement that the arbitrator called out for implying that the quality of his work outweighed his numerous episodes of lateness.
According to media sources, the teacher says when he returns, he will be more punctual.
Guess he was trying to demonstrate to the kids the importance of breakfast.
I wonder what subject he taught. I also wonder how he dealt with students tardiness. If he was lenient,then I understand why he failed to discipline his students. However; if he did discipline them for being tardy, then he should have been fired as he cannot claim ignorance of the consequences of his actions. Did it ever occur to him to get up early and thus allowing more time to have breakfast and to get to work on time?