Benton Harbor Area Schools Superintendent Andrae Townsel is working to ensure there won’t be a repeat of a bullying incident at the International Academy at Hull that was caught on video and put online last week. At this week’s school board meeting, Townsel said a three-tiered system to intervene and address academic and behavioral problems at the district is being put in motion. The video showed a first grader being attacked by classmates while their teacher could be heard saying “that’s what he gets.” She has since resigned. However, it was noted Tuesday the teacher’s retirement at the end of the year was previously approved by the school board. Townsel told WSJM News he’s looking into what that means.
“From what I’ve seen, I’m looking for instant termination, and it was almost the resignation before that was to get there, and I know that to fire them right on the spot is a process that you go through with a tenured teacher,” Townsel said. “So I will look more deeply into that with our executive director of human resources to have more information around the retirement.”
Some parents wanted to know if the teacher will still get her pension.
“If it’s up to me, then the answer’s no.”
Townsel said the video showing the boy being bullied made him think of his own 8-year-old son, and “moving forward, we do not expect to ever have that happen again.” The Benton Township Police Department is now investigating the incident.
