Carol Burton, fired for violating field-trip rules, will return to the school Monday, the Seattle Public School District says.
The Seattle school district says Carol Burton, the Garfield High School teacher who was fired for her behavior during a field trip, will return to her former job as choir teacher on Monday.
The announcement comes more than two weeks after Burton, 51, was placed on administrative leave while the district decided her fate, a move that followed a monthslong ordeal during which students protested her termination and she fought her dismissal in court.
A King County judge ordered Seattle Public Schools to reinstate her late last month, though it was unclear in what position.
In a statement Thursday night, district spokeswoman Stacy Howard said Burton and the district had reached an agreement on her job. She is not allowed to participate in overnight field trips for two years and must attend “appropriate” trainings, Howard added.
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Superintendent Larry Nyland fired Burton in August because she violated the district’s field-trip rules during an overnight trip to New Orleans in March 2015, during which a male student allegedly groped two female students.
Retired Judge George Finkle, who presided over Burton’s termination hearing, wrote that her misconduct was significant, but given her contributions to the Garfield community, her mistakes shouldn’t have resulted in her termination.