PANAMA CITY — An Arnold High School teacher is facing termination after she admitted to making inappropriate comments with sexual innuendos to students.
Katherine Slimp was suspended without pay and the School Board on Tuesday voted to begin proceedings to have her fired.
A memo to Superintendent Bill Husfelt from Sharon Michalik, executive director of human resources, states Michalik met with Slimp and Arnold principal Keith Bland “regarding a student’s accusation that she called him a ‘worthless piece of sh**’ and concerns about her instruction.”
Slimp denied using profanity, saying she called the student a “worthless piece of crap,” the memo said.
In another instance, a female student put her cellphone down her pants and invited Slimp to retrieve it. Slimp replied with derogatory comments implying the student was promiscuous. Slimp said she made sexual comments because the whole class was making sexual jokes at the time, the memo quoted Slimp as saying.
“This is very rare. This is not by any means what goes on in our classrooms any day of the week,” Michalik said.
Slimp was suspended with pay last week, but the superintendent recommended elevating disciplinary action on Tuesday.
“Our teachers work so hard with our students, and this is unacceptable on every level,” Michalik said.
Michalik said the district moved swiftly in removing Slimp from the classroom when her comments came to light. It had only been a month since the district placed her in a teaching position at Arnold High School.
Allegations of poor classroom instruction and inappropriate dialog with students built up the entire time.
Administration gave a verbal warning to Slimp regarding her comments and suggested remediation for her lack of engagement in teaching students.
Slimp offered excuses and little remorse, Michalik said in the memo.
“I’ve said many things before that were worse and not reported,” Slimp admitted in a meeting with administrators. “I had conversations while at Everitt, but it was dealt with at the school, not the district.”
Slimp’s inappropriate conversations with students containing sexual innuendoes were reported in the middle school and high school settings. Other statements collected from students and co-workers revealed that Slimp was attempting to dig up things about other teachers to distract administration.
Slimp could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
In other action:
- A $25,000 contract between the district and the LEAD Coalition was approved to pay a salary to the coalition coordinator Janice Lucas to provide seed money as Lucas seeks additional grants over the next year to expand programs that provide children alternatives to getting involved in drugs and street violence.
- Board members Ginger Littleton, Joe Walker and Steve Moss were sworn in for another term. The gavel was passed on from Jerry Register to Moss as the board’s new chairman, and Littleton accepted the vice-chair spot.
- The board voted to eliminate outdated language from salary schedule and experience for pay purposes.
- Members adopted the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allowing the USDA to reform school meals.
- The board updated student discipline policy to specify school the superintendent’s authority to offer students caught possessing or under the influence of alcohol or other substance the option for alternative placement over expulsion.