Archive for Monday, June 7, 2010

BSHS chemistry teacher fired during USD 204 meeting

During the public comments portion of Monday night's USD 204 board meeting, Bonner Springs High School chemistry teacher Jacci Leib tells the board her side of a May 14 accident that occurred in her classroom, which resulted in one of her students suffering first- and second-degree burns.

Photo by Melissa Treolo. Enlarge photo.

During the public comments portion of Monday night's USD 204 board meeting, Bonner Springs High School chemistry teacher Jacci Leib tells the board her side of a May 14 accident that occurred in her classroom, which resulted in one of her students suffering first- and second-degree burns.

By Melissa Treolo

June 7, 2010

A science experiment gone awry resulted in a Bonner Springs High School teacher being fired during Monday night’s USD 204 Board of Education meeting.

Jacci Leib was terminated from her position as a chemistry teacher at BSHS following a May 14 incident in which two students were conducting a science experiment involving undiluted sulfuric acid. Mistakes made during the experiment resulted in a fire that led to one of the students, Persephone Hart, suffering first- and second-degree burns on her arm, legs and scalp.

According to her testimony during the public comments portion of the meeting, Leib had been informed that morning she would be transferred to Clark Middle School due to budget cuts.

“I was stunned. I was nauseous,” Leib said of hearing the news. “I considered calling in sick and going home because I was so upset at what was going on in the district.”

Though she didn’t go home, Leib said she had trouble getting through the rest of the day. During sixth-period, Leib said, she left the classroom briefly to, as she said, “compose myself,” feeling confident that her students would follow the posted caveat in the syllabus that dictated students should never work with chemicals without the supervision of a teacher.

As it turned out, she was mistaken. According to Persephone’s mother Stephanie Hart, who also spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting, Persephone’s burns didn’t seem to school officials severe enough for her to be sent home early — she left school that day via her usual route: the school bus.

Hart said she took issue with the fact that not only was she not informed about her daughter’s injuries during the school day — Persephone herself called her mom to tell her what had happened after arriving home from school — but also that Leib had left the classroom unattended.

“I don’t think it’s responsible to expect a teenage student or any student to be in the room with sulfuric acid open and available and walk out,” Hart said. “I just don’t think that’s responsible at all.”

Several former students of Leib’s came and spoke on her behalf during the meeting. One student compared the incident to the 1994 lawsuit brought against McDonald’s in which a woman sued the company after being burned by a cup of hot coffee, making the point that it was the students’ choice to take on the experiment without a teacher present.

The support wasn’t enough, however. Following an executive session the board entered into to discuss non-elected personnel, Leib’s contract with USD 204 was terminated by unanimous vote.

Leib, who didn’t re-enter the board room following the executive session, was unavailable for comment after the vote was taken to terminate her position. Hart said she was pleased with the board’s decision.

“I’m just glad they listened to me,” she said.

• More of this story can be found in the June 10 issue of The Chieftain.

Comments

  1. triedntru (anonymous) says…

    Persephone, while I realize the adult in this case must accept total responsibilty, I hope that your actions haunt you. Your irresponsibility and failure to follow instruction have destroyed someone's career.

  2. MIchael_E_Hart (Michael Hart) says…

    #1 Get your facts straight - don't rely on rumors or snide comments in an article. If you want the real truth ask Persephone instead of making a passive-aggressive attack on the interwebs.
    #2 Persephone was NOT performing an experiment (another student. was). Persephone turned to see the other student's foolish actions and caught a fireball because she was nearby.
    #3 Whoever made the McDonald's analogy was silly, as the person in that case hurt themselves. In this case another student hurt Persephone, who was an innocent bystander.
    #4 Persephone WAS following rules, she was the victim of bad choices by the teacher and another student.
    #5 Lieb destroyed her own career. If she was mentally or emotionally unable to teach, she should have went home, not half-assedly continue on and leave students unattended with dangerous items and no safety equipment.
    #6 The Parents should have been notified immediately. Both Lieb and the school messed that up.