FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2022
CONTACT Aaron Johnson Aaron@narrative-project.com 475.305.9324
RACCE, Mother Calls for Immediate Termination of Wilby High School Teacher Caught on Video Shoving Female Student
WATERBURY, CT - Waterbury advocacy group Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (RACCE) is calling on Wilby High School Administration to immediately terminate a teacher seen on video shoving a female student in the halls of the school. In response, Robert Goodrich, executive director of RACCE, and Maxine Rudolph, mother of the student involved, have both issued the following statement: “Despite the assurance from a Wilby High School Vice Principal that this teacher would be terminated for this incident, there has been no concrete steps taken by the Wilby administration to protect this student from their attacker,” said Goodrich. “In addition to those assurances being false, they were made by a first-year administrator who appears to be untrained and misinformed. Those assurances allowed a mother to make a decision to send their child back into an environment where an abusive adult would be. Deepening our disappointment and raising greater concerns about the school climate and culture at Wilby is the fact that an investigation was conducted and it resulted in the teacher being placed back in the same classrooms and school within three days. There must be zero-tolerance for an educator to put their hands on a student. For this teacher to still be in a classroom is a gross mismanagement of this appalling incident and sends the wrong message to this city’s youth. This person must not be allowed to continue teaching at Wilby High School or anywhere within the Waterbury School District. The lack of action from administrators both condones this teacher’s actions and puts future children at risk.” “It was ridiculous. It was unnecessary. It was uncalled for. She was embarrassed and very much disturbed,” Rudolph said. “She doesn’t want to be back at school. She feels like it’s not fair that he has no consequences. The school has done nothing and now he’s back in school. Meanwhile, she sits at home dealing with her emotions and she doesn’t feel protected. I have to send multiple emails to get a response. I’ve asked for videos that my daughter is in that I can’t even see. I don’t feel like he needs to be working with anyone’s children at all. I don’t put my hands on my daughter and I’m not going to allow someone else to do it. ”
Video of the incident involving a Wilby High School teacher and student.
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About Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education (R.A.C.C.E.) Our mission is to challenge systems of oppression by advocating for culturally competent educational practices. Therefore, we believe the most effective way to triumph over systemic forms of oppression is to have an educational system that serves the historically underserved and underrepresented. This can only be accomplished if we advocate for an educational system that is positioned to provide culturally competent school professionals and curriculum, human services, and disciplinary policies, which combat: generational poverty, achievement gaps, implicit and explicit biases towards race, ethnicity and gender.