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Garfield Choir Teacher Expects To Be Fired For What Happened On New Orleans Trip

Kyle Stokes
/
KPLU News
Around 30 supporters of Garfield High School choir teacher Carol Burton, who believe the teacher faces termination over her behavior on a school trip to New Orleans, gathered at Seattle Public Schools headquarters.

Garfield High School’s embattled choir teacher, Carol Burton, said she expects Seattle Public Schools will fire her for her conduct during a choir trip to New Orleans last March.

Superintendent Larry Nyland has not yet made a decision in the case, a district spokeswoman said Thursday. But after conversations with Seattle Public Schools lawyers, Burton's attorneys have told her to expect to receive a letter of termination from the district as soon as Friday.

An investigation into the New Orleans trip — prompted by allegations a male Garfield student had inappropriately touched two female classmates in the girls' hotel room — found Burton had shrugged off district policy barring males and females from entering each others' rooms and had also consumed alcohol during the trip.

But the inquiry also revealed district's central office did not inform Garfield staff the male student had a history of sexual misconduct in his past. If it had, Burton said her principal wouldn't have allowed the student on the field trip in the first place — meaning, in her view, the district itself bears some blame for this chain of events.

"My wrongdoing did not cause [the male student's] behavior," said Burton, who has been on administrative leave since March. "Firing me doesn't prevent further sexual misconduct by students. This does not solve the problem."

The District's Rationale

Still, investigator Carl Blackstone — a former U.S. Attorney the district hired to look into the New Orleans trip — faulted Burton for taking the district's field trip policies too lightly. By allowing students to break the rules designed to keep males out of female students' hotel rooms, and vice versa, Blackstone concluded Burton created "much greater opportunity" for something to go wrong.

Burton, who has lead Garfield's choir for 14 years, expressed regret for drinking, but said termination for drinking two-and-a-half alcoholic beverages during a five-day trip was excessive. Her attorneys have proposed the district could suspend her from ten days, cut off her stipend for running the choir program and bar her from overnight trips for three years.

"It wasn't excessive. I crossed the line. There is no excuse for it. I would like to think I would be given a chance to remedy that," said Burton in an interview across the street from district headquarters on Thursday.

What The Report Found

The report of sexual misconduct on the choir trip touched a nerve at Garfield. In 2012, a female Garfield student alleged a fellow student sexually assaulted her during an overnight trip. The district recently reached a $700,000 settlement with the girl's parents.

During the choir trip, Blackstone's report says a 17-year-old male student — referred to as "Student 1" after district officials redacted his name during KPLU's public records request — "repeatedly" touched two female classmates on their breasts and buttocks. Though Student 1, a junior, said the touching was meant to be "playful," the female students say he eventually crossed the line.

On one occasion, Student 1 tried to lie on top of one of the girls. Another time, the report says Student 1 "climbed on top ... and tried to get between her legs." The girls reported Student 1's misbehavior to Burton on a Sunday, who informed Garfield principal Ted Howard upon their return to Seattle on Monday.

District field trip rules forbid students from entering hotel rooms where classmates of the opposite gender are staying. Blackstone said Burton objected to the rule as discriminatory against heterosexual students and did not take real steps to enforce it.

But there was something else Garfield staff say they didn't know: almost a year earlier, a private high school had suspended and ultimately expelled Student 1 for similar behavior during his freshman and sophomore. The central office employee who enrolled Student 1 in Seattle Public Schools did not add his disciplinary records to the district's PowerSchools database — the place where Garfield High School staff would've been most likely to see it.

"Had GHS officials and Ms. Burton been aware of Student 1's expulsion from [the private school], GHS would have denied him permission to go on the New Orleans field trip," Blackstone concluded.

What's Next

Jacque Coe, Seattle Public Schools' chief communications officer, said Thursday the district is investigating the employee who did not pass along Student 1's disciplinary records — a district supervisor named Beryl Miller.

"The initial phase of the investigation is complete," Coe said in an email, "but the entire investigation is not and therefore, no decision has been made regarding Ms. Miller."

When asked via email whether the district had changed any practices for informing schools about incoming students' disciplinary history, Coe replied: "As for district practices, work is currently underway to review if additional checks and safeguards are needed."

If Burton is terminated, her attorney, Kevin Peck, says she will appeal the decision.

Kyle Stokes covers the issues facing kids and the policies impacting Washington's schools for KPLU.