It’s understandable when a teacher is placed on administrative leave for slapping a student on the head. It’s even necessary when an educator is arrested for sleeping with their students. But being let go for uttering the word vagina? That’s new.
It might sound odd but that’s exactly what Allison Wint is claiming according to the Detroit Free Press. The substitute teacher, who specializes in art, had been working at a middle school in Michigan since January when she was let go. While showing reproductions of paintings by Georgia O’Keefe (who work has been seen as erotic), she spoke of female genitalia.
"Imagine walking into a gallery when (O’Keefe) was first showing her pieces, and thinking, 'Am I actually seeing vaginas here, am I a pervert? I’m either a pervert or this woman was a pervert,'" Win recalls saying. She admitted to using the term about 10 times.
While she claims that’s the reason she was terminated, Harper Creek Superintendent Rob Ridgeway insists Wint was let go for not sticking to the curriculum and not running the controversial topic by him beforehand.
"She was not terminated due to uttering the word 'vagina,' "Ridgeway said. "We do not shy away from controversial issues. We work very diligently to ensure that all students, staff and contracted personnel are treated fairly with respect and privacy."
He added that she was fired for other, undisclosed policy violations. Wint, however, says she hadn't received disciplinary action before.
