Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp, Teacher, Suspended For Making Students Wear Dog Collar/Cone

[Whisper]

Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp, a 47-year-old Zephyrhills High School science teacher in Zephyrhills, Fla., is under fire after photos of her students wearing dog collars as punishment for bad behavior surfaced on Facebook, WTSP-TV reports.

Dubbed the "cone of shame" by the teacher, the photos are causing equal amounts of outrage and laughter from parents and students in the district. Bailey-Cutkomp reportedly used the cone for disciplinary infractions like drinking soda in class.

"I was disgusted, very disgusted," one parent told the station. "...That's a human, not an animal. You're not spaying or neutering that person."

[..]
"She just did it as a joke and said she was gonna punish us by doing it," Medina told WTSP. "But she asked us first and we were all laughing and joking around."

Pasco County Schools Superintendent Heather Fiorentino has suggested Bailey-Cutkomp should be fired for violating the state's ethics codes -- a decision some teachers are protesting.

"Whatever mistake Ms. Bailey-Cutkomp made, it was a mistake that I doubt she will make again," ninth-grade teacher James Washington wrote in a letter to the school board, according to the Tampa Bay Times. "Furthermore, what I have witnessed at ZHS certainly makes me believe that she has much to offer the students."

According to the Times, Bailey-Cutkomp later told investigators that it was "probably" a bad idea to discipline students with the collar.
The teacher is on unpaid suspension following Fiorentino's recommendation but, according to MSNBC, she has requested a special hearing and wants to return to the school.

Nevertheless, Fiorentino maintains that the teacher should be fired, saying in her letter to Bailey-Cutkomp that her actions showed "extremely poor judgement," according to WTSP-TV.

"I am stunned that you would put dog collars on students for any reason," Fiorentino wrote.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1506376.html

[cubby]

Oh good grief......These were high school students, unless she was degrading special ed students, I doubt anyone felt dehumanized because of this, it seemed ot be more of a joke than punishment.

[Aena]

I read somewhere that the kids had a choice, maybe the teacher stated it? If everyone in the class was laughing and joking about it, where is the problem?

[MC30]

Bailey-Cutkomp reportedly used the cone for disciplinary infractions like drinking soda in class.

so was it easier to put a 'cone' around their necks rather than just pick up the soda and throw it away?

[Whisper]

I read somewhere that the kids had a choice, maybe the teacher stated it? If everyone in the class was laughing and joking about it, where is the problem?

yeah at the link theres a video of a kids saying she asked them before she did it and they all thought it was funny

[Aena]

yeah at the link theres a video of a kids saying she asked them before she did it and they all thought it was funny

Thanks @Whisper!That's what I thought, knew I read it somewhere. It isn't like these kids were 1st graders, they are high school students.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

10 News spoke with that teacher, Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp, at her Zephyrhills home on Tuesday. The longtime science teacher now has a new teaching position at Pasco Middle School in Dade City.

She told us, "I will continue to teach. I love my students. I'm sorry this has happened, but what can you do? People will form their own opinions. I just want to be a good teacher. My students and my own children are everything to me."
[...]

While some parents were furious with her behavior, Bailey-Cutkomp had this to say about being fired and a settlement reached by the district:

"The district has many inconsistencies in their story. What happened was taken way out of context and exaggerated. I don't want to go into detail, but they did not get their whole story straight. In the end, what happened was not a settlement. I would call it, rather, an agreement. I have a new job, and I was told that I'm not welcomed at Zephyrhills High School."

Bailey-Cutkomp's new principal at Pasco Middle, Kim Anderson, was not there when we went by her Land O' Lakes home, but talked about her hire with the Tampa Bay Times saying, "I'm very excited she's going to have this new opportunity."

Bailey-Cutkomp admitted, "I'm a private person, but I will say I'm thankful to have a job. I miss my students, and I wish them luck. I see them around town and I hug them. My students are everything."

The school district released a statement saying, "The district did reach a settlement with the employee in question, and as a result, she will be teaching science at Pasco Middle School next year. Since the agreement has not yet been signed and returned to the district, I am not at liberty to discuss the details of the agreement with the third party. I can tell you that Ms. Bailey-Cutkomp is a certified science teacher, and our district has a shortage of certified teachers in this area. We look forward to a productive school year for this employee and the students at Pasco Middle School."

Bailey-Cutkomp did say she is concerned, since she heard there was talk of her teaching certification possibly being pulled. She is hoping that will not happen, and is simply looking forward to returning to the classroom on Monday.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/artic...-at-new-school

[cubby]

I still think it's a tempest in a teapot! It's not like she put the dog cllar and chained them to the wall, or locked them in the cloak room, or hurt them in any way. It's a shame that the school had to lose a certified science teacher over such idiocy, they want teachers who are friendly and approachable and then punish the ones who cut up and play around with the kids, some parents take themselves wa-a-a-a-y-y-y too seriously. Everything is NOT the end of the world for your speshul little snowflake.