The teacher accused of ridiculing a student’s weight in front of a classroom of students at Streamwood High School has been fired after Elgin School District U46 officials investigated the incident. A video of the action shot by the victim on his cellphone had “gone viral” on You Tube and Facebook, had been reported in newspapers across the country and even inspired an article on People magazine’s website.
John Heiderscheidt, U46’s coordinator of safety and security, said in a written statement Thursday that “on Feb 18, 2015, School District U46 concluded its investigation regarding the substitute teacher allegedly bullying a student during class. The investigation included the report of the victim, the other students in the classroom, the substitute teacher and the video posted by the victim’s sister. School District U46 will not allow the substitute teacher back at our schools.”
Heiderscheidt added that the incident has been reported to the Illinois State Board of Education. Since people hired as substitute teachers must hold state licenses issued by the ISBE, that could result in the man not being allowed to substitute teach in any schools in Illinois.
The incident took place on Thursday, Feb. 12. A Streamwood High freshman named Stephen, who told reporters for CBS2 News that he weighs 330 pounds, said another student in his math class scrawled a stick-figure-style face on the smartboard at the front of the classroom.
The teen began using his cellphone to shoot video of what happened next. The video shows the substitute teacher stepping up to the smartboard. The teacher adds antennae to the face. A student says, “It looks just like Stephen.” Then someone writes “Stephen’s Ugly (expletive)” next to the drawing, though he misspells the boy’s name at first, erases that version and writes the name again.
Heiderscheidt refused to reveal the identity of the teacher or to say how long and how frequently the teacher had been hired as a substitute for District U46. The video was posted on the Facebook page “District U-46 Uncensored” by Stephen’s sister.
“This behavior is not what we want by anyone in our schools, especially by those trusted in positions of authority,” Heiderscheidt said. “We immediately acted on the information to the fullest extent of our legal authority. We appreciate the student and his family for making this report. We will continue to work toward eliminating bullying from our schools.”
“Our school is taking an active approach to end bullying,” said Streamwood High Principal Terri Lozier. “We have a responsibility to provide a positive learning environment for all students and we encourage our students and staff that if they see something, say something.”
