Scott High School teacher Todd Dewhurst has resigned midyear following a history of suspensions for actions that include sleeping in class, verbal harassment, and leaving students unsupervised.
The Toledo Board of Education unanimously approved his resignation during a board meeting last month. Since 2014, Mr. Dewhurst, a former social studies teacher who was paid $50,155 annually, was suspended multiple times, most recently in February.
According to public records provided by Toledo Public Schools, Mr. Dewhurst was placed on both unpaid and paid suspensions for violations including failure to properly supervise students, failure to perform job duties and responsibilities, and “other good and just cause.” He was most recently suspended in February, although records do not specify why he was disciplined at that time.
He was first placed on paid leave Feb. 12, 2016, after falling asleep in class, records show. He said at the time he had been on medication that made him drowsy and was allowed to return to work on March 30, 2016, with the agreement that he was no longer taking the medication.
Mr. Dewhurst’s troubles continued as he was given a three-day unpaid suspension on March 17, 2017. The district charged Mr. Dewhurst with three violations — sleeping in class, teaching the wrong course, and leaving students unattended. A hearing for teaching the wrong course was upheld by a hearing officer while the district did not conduct a hearing for the other two violations.
TPS records show that on Jan. 30, 2018, the district’s management requested disciplinary action against Mr. Dewhurst following reports of harassment and testimony about a “complex set of concerns regarding Mr. Dewhurst’s professional performance as a teaching employee of the school district.”
In February, 2018, Mr. Dewhurst was placed on a 20-day suspension without pay as a result of the harassment investigation. TPS spokesman Patty Mazur said that the harassment was verbal.
Mr. Dewhurst was not available for comment, and Toledo Federation of Teachers President Kevin Dalton declined to comment.
First Published April 10, 2019, 6:13 p.m.
