Fort Worth, Texas – An attorney for a fifth-grade teacher accused of punishing students for missing school on May 1 said Tuesday that the allegations aren’t true.
Jan Shannon has been removed from her classroom at T.A. Sims Elementary School after parents complained that she made students stand in the sun as punishment for missing class on May 1.
“That accusation is totally without merit,” said Tanya Dawson, an attorney with the United Educators Association who is representing Shannon.
Dawson said she could not comment further on the case, which is under investigation by the Fort Worth school district.
The mother of an 11-year-old student said Shannon made her daughter and about seven other students sit in the sun without a drink for about two hours May 2, the day after many immigrants stayed home from work, school and stores to demonstrate their importance to the U.S. economy and culture.
The mother said students also said the teacher insulted them.
Some parents said they learned what had happened when they asked their children why they were sunburned.
“How does this happen?” the mother, Virginia Aranda, asked in Spanish.
School district spokeswoman Barbara Griffith acknowledged the complaints but declined to comment further.
“The teacher in question has been removed from the classroom pending the outcome of the investigation,” Griffith said.
Sims Principal Rudy Valdez declined to comment.
Sims, with about 815 students, is 75 percent to 80 percent Latino.
The Aranda family kept their daughter home May 1. “I take responsibility for my daughter’s absence,” Aranda said.
On May 2, the teacher told Aranda’s daughter that she would not accept a history project, which the girl thought was not due until May 3, and that it would receive a grade of zero, Aranda said.
The girl understood that she got the zero because she was absent May 1, Aranda said.
Later, students said, they were sent outside to study for two hours. At one point, they asked for water, but the teacher refused to let them get a drink, the students told their parents. One student reported the situation to a vice principal, parents said.
Aracelia Moreno said she kept her 10-year-old daughter home May 1, but they didn’t participate in any public events.
The teacher is “being mean to her just because she didn’t go to school,” said Moreno.
Several parents said their children told them the teacher made them sit in the sun without a drink from 12:45 to about 2 p.m.
