Frog incident sparks probe of Dennis Township teacher
By DIANE D'AMICO

Published: Thursday, March 26, 2009
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/186/story/440513.html

DENNIS TOWNSHIP Robin Grace has two pet fire-bellied toads, Angelo and Jonica, that live in a tank in her bedroom.
“I just find them so interesting,” she said of her fondness for the amphibians.

So when it came time to dissect frogs in her eighth-grade science class at the Dennis Township Middle School School, she was less than enthused.

Her discomfort in class last week, and a teacher’s response to it, has led to an investigation of whether a prank allegedly initiated by the teacher might require disciplinary action.

The animal rights group PETA has also asked that the school change its dissection policy and discipline the teacher.

A state law allows students to refuse to dissect animals. Schools must provide an alternative project, and some schools have replaced dissections with computer-generated models.
Grace said science teacher Tom Parsons told the students they had a choice of dissecting, watching or leaving the room. Grace said she decided to try to stay in class because she was concerned about her grade.

“I told Mrs. (Beth) Champion on the way to class that I didn’t want to do it, that I’d just watch” Grace said Thursday. Champion is a special education teacher who was assisting with the science class.

Even watching the dissections made her really uncomfortable, Grace said, but Champion seemed to think it was funny and even asked other students to show their frog parts to her. Finally, Grace said, Champion realized how disgusted Grace was and told her she could leave the room.

Grace said when she returned, and went to get her purse, she found a latex glove partially in it.

“I thought it was a used glove from class, and I didn’t want to touch it,” she said. “Mrs. Champion said she would get it, then she said she wouldn’t. She asked another student to get it out, and when he picked it up, there was a frog skin inside. I squealed a little bit, and he said sorry and put it in the trash.”

She said other students told her after class that it was Champion who suggested putting the glove in Grace’s purse.

Later in the day Grace had a language arts class with Champion. She said when she arrived Champion asked her to go back to Parson’s room to get a bag for her. When she got there, Parsons gave her a plastic bag with a frog’s head it in.

“I put it on the end of the long wooden pass and carried it back,” Grace said. “I told (Ms. Champion) it was mean to make me do that, and she said she wanted other kids in the class to see what they had missed. One of the kids was wandering around class with the frog, and Mrs. Champion said ‘show it to Robin because she loves that.’ He was touching me with it, and rubbing it on my face and (Champion) and the other kids were just laughing.”

When Grace got home she called a friend to tell her what had happened, and Grace’s mother, Janie, overheard. She reported it to the school principal.

Robin Grace said both Parsons and Champion apologized to her the next day, saying it was just a joke.

“But then (Champion) said if I had told them I loved frogs and had pet frogs, they wouldn’t have done it, and that I had to communicate better,” Robin Grace said. “It was like it was my fault.”

Janie Grace said she has spoken to both Principal James DiCarlo and Superintendent George Papp, and they were responsive. But, she said, while she was told that action would be taken, the investigation is confidential, and she is worried the school won’t take it seriously.

“The school has a no-bullying policy for students, but what about teachers?” Janie Grace said.

The Press left phone and e-mail messages for Parsons and Champion at the school, but they were not returned Thursday.

Papp confirmed the investigation, but would not comment on the specifics, citing personnel confidentiality. He said disciplinary action against a teacher, if warranted, could range from a meeting with their supervisor to possible tenure charges in the most extreme circumstances.

Papp also said students can opt out of dissections, and that the district has a computer-generated program they can do instead.

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, sent a letter to DiCarlo offering to buy the school a site license for Digital Frog 2.5, a digital dissection program, if they would agree to permanently remove dissection from the curricula.

PETA also asked that Champion be disciplined, saying her actions were discriminatory and harassment.

Justin Goodman, a research supervisor at PETA’s Lab Investigations Department, said requiring dissection is cruel both to animals and students who don’t want to do it. The reported taunting of Grace went a step further, he said, and should be taken seriously.

“It was completely unprofessional and unethical,” he said. “ The school should send a clear message, and the law allowing students to opt out should also be taken more seriously.”

He said even if the incident was just teasing, a teacher should not be teasing students.

“There is research that when females in middle school are exposed to something like this, it just turns them off to science,” he said. “I would be disappointed if all that was done was the apology.”

Robin, who wants to be a marine biologist, said she believes the apologies from the teachers were sincere, but the fact that teachers were involved does make her feel worse.

“If it had been a student I would have taken offense, but not so much,” she said. “Even if it was just a joke, it was one sick, messed-up joke.”