Summary Robert, a sixth grade student, brought a gun to Mr. Chaddock’s language arts class. When the teacher asked the student to surrender the gun, the student refused. The teacher then offered an alternative solution: having the student place the gun in the teacher’s desk drawer. The student again refused to comply. Although Mr. Chaddock felt confident in the fact that the student would not harm his classmates, he was not confident about how the student would react if he felt threatened, so he decided not to further engage the student. Mr. Chaddock continued class as he would any normal day. Shortly before class ended, the principal, who had heard about the gun incident, called for Robert to report to the office. Once there, she demanded he hand her the gun. Feeling threatened, Robert pulled the gun out, pointed at the principal…show more content… The only “possible” just cause that Mr. Chaddock violated would be willful neglect of duty. Although Mr. Chaddock may not have acted in a manner in which we would expect a prudent and reasonable person to act, upon close examination of the events, he did make multiple attempts to separate Robert from the firearm. When Robert refused to relinquish the firearm, Mr. Chaddock used his knowledge of the student and the student’s temperament and decided that Robert would be less of a threat if the situation was left alone and he was engaged in class. Based on these facts, it can be said that although Mr. Chaddock’s actions were negligent, there was not a willful intent on his part to neglect his duty to protect the students. Although Mr. Chaddock is guilty of having poor judgment, he should not be dismissed from his position. There should be a suspension served, and the board should use this opportunity to create an explicit policy regarding situations with firearms. Changes in Future
