ARRESTED on assault charge.
Jan 10, 2008 - The school board decided unanimously to to uphold charges for dismissal of Roger M. Taylor. This doesn't mean termination. If the charges against T
aylor are found to be true, the board will have to make a final decision to fire him.
A school system investigation concluded Taylor was involved in inappropriate conduct with a female high school student, as well as several other female students.
Taylor, a tenured teacher at Montgomery Central High School, has been suspended since Nov 27. Accused of kissing one of his students, one student also said Taylor wrote on a quiz "+10 points because I love you." Another student said Taylor typed on his graphing calculator "I love you" and inserted one of the girl's names. He then projected this message on the wall in front of the entire class, according to the report.
The school district notified the Tennessee Department of Education of Taylor's suspension, as required by law. Taylor has 30 days to appeal.
TT - Some thoughtful posts at the news site. One caught our eye.
Teachers who are allowed to make inappropriate comments in front of students continuously without retribution sometimes feel they are invincible.That strikes close to what Dr. Robert J. Shoop, author of Sexual Exploitation in Schools: How to Spot It and Stop It, concluded about about educators who are exploiters. (p 68)
My daughter had this teacher and was offended on a regular basis by his comments and the way he made some of his students feel. There is definitely more to this story and eventually it will all come out. I have no idea if he is guilty or not, that is up to the court system.
What I can say is that in my opinion, his removal from his teaching position will not be a loss, especially to those students who didn't play his games.
A unifying principle behind educator exploitation is an overactive sense of entitlement and a sense of invulnerability. By looking for commonalities between individual abuse cases, and then appraising educator sexual abuse in the broadest possible perspective, it is clear that many exploiters act as if their position of respect and access confers upon them a license to behave as they please without fear of consequences.Whether Taylor is charged or not, the issue of boundaries is one that is serious and profoundly disturbing. And it isn't as if teachers are unaware or untrained in avoiding just such conduct. Every single teacher on this web site was given training and advice on appropriate behavior. That they choose to ignore the rules is because, as Dr. Shoop points out,
[T]he molesters apparently believed that their positions entitled them to act with impunity. These individuals declined to accept conventional limits on their behavior, essentially insisting on extending their power into other realms as well. By virtue of the job, educators necessarily get to tell students what to do. Some educators, however, fail or refuse to recognize the essential separation between legitimate deference and manipulation and abuse. Exploiters take the legitimate power that an educator needs and deserves and distort it into personal license to act without restraint.TT - Parents are right to be alarmed when a teacher kisses a student and makes uncomfortable remarks or acts inappropriately. It isn't too much to ask teachers to behave like responsible adults and teach children boundaries.
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ARRESTED Feb 9, 2008 - Taylor was arrested on a charge that stems from allegations of inappropriate conduct with a student. The girl is 15-years-old.
PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED (From Leaf Chronicle) A public hearing has been scheduled for Mar 4 for Taylor to plead his case before the school board. Each side will have an attorney present a case to the School Board.
DECISION NOT TO DISMISS - March 4 - The school board found Roger Taylor guilty of conduct unbecoming of a teacher and insubordination of not following guidelines established by Tennessee Code Annotated. He was found not guilty on charges of inefficiency and neglect of duty.
They voted 5-2 not to terminate him. Taylor will remain suspended without pay for the rest of the semester in which he must undergo sensitivity training. He will be reinstated in the fall without back pay,
