5 Ohio teachers resign after leaving school camp to drink

Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Five Ohio teachers have resigned after they slipped out of a sixth-grade camping trip for drinks and dinner, school district officials announced Friday.

The Blade reports the Washington Local Schools in Toledo gave the teachers until Friday to quit after an investigation found they left the YMCA camp in Michigan during a five-day school trip earlier this month. Two tutors who accompanied the teachers on their dinner outings won’t have their contracts renewed for next school year, officials said.

School board President David Hunter said a district investigation found that all the teachers and tutors drank alcohol.

The president of the district’s teachers’ union referred question by The Blade to an attorney, who didn’t return calls seeking comment.

District employees received additional pay to accompany students on the trip. All seven were placed on paid administrative leave May 17 as the district conducted its investigation.

Students remained supervised by parents, counselors and other teachers during the absences, school officials said.

The school district will hire teachers to replace those who resigned, Hunter said. The newspaper reported that a review of the teachers’ and tutors’ personnel files showed none had previously faced seriously discipline and all had received positive evaluations.

“Everything I’ve heard about the teachers we are losing is that they were excellent quality teachers,” Hunter said.