The teacher who secretly took two vans with mentally challenged students to the Efteling in March this year is appealing against her school. The teacher was summarily dismissed after it emerged that she had done secret ‘Efteld things’. And she doesn’t think that’s right. “It was a great outing,” says lawyer Diederik van Tellingen. “Her intentions were good.”
Suppose you are a teacher in special education, you really want to go to the Efteling with your kids, but your school thinks it is too expensive. Then you can choose to ‘just’ go to something cheaper, such as the Space Expo in Noordwijk, or you can go secretly. After a day of fun in the Land of Laaf, just write a newsletter talking about how much fun the Space Expo was and ask the kids to shut up. Voila: no one needs to know.
Unfortunately. The above scenario seemed to ensure that the Efteld dream of the teacher at the Professor Dumont School in Amsterdam would become reality, until one of the student buses was flashed on the A2. That’s where the secret mission fell through: of course that’s not in the direction of Noordwijk. The teacher, who was responsible for the group of 15 mentally disabled students, was summarily dismissed.
“Her intention was really good,” lawyer Van Tellingen begins to say. “But apart from that, there are also a few untruths in how the story has been presented.” For example, it wouldn’t be that secret: the teacher had discussed it with the director. “He thought both trips, to Space Expo and the Efteling, were a good idea.” However, he thought Efteling was too expensive and that would not be fair to other classes. In addition, she would never have told the students to keep their mouths shut.
“It really felt like a once in a lifetime thing.”
According to Van Tellingen, the fact that the secret party was well-intentioned is also evident from the financial contribution made by the supervisors. One of them guided out of his own pocket. “It really felt like one once in a lifetime-thing. The supervisor enjoyed it so much for the children that he wanted to do this.” Most students are not well off and sometimes come to school without breakfast.
So the idea was nice, but the implementation goes far beyond the rules of the school. Parents did not know where their children were, there was insufficient supervision, students did not wear wristbands, could easily run away and generally cannot swim. To top it all off, the teacher wrote a newsletter to her colleagues. How much fun the Space Expo in Noordwijk was. And of course that’s just joking.
“She shouldn’t have done that,” her lawyer admits. “But she also apologized for that.” According to Van Tellingen, his client does put her hand in her own bosom and everyone can say that she made a stupid mistake. But summary dismissal, with a distorted story that puts her in a bad light, is disproportionate, according to the woman.
During the appeal, the teacher wants to correct the untruths. “Her good intentions completely fade into the background,” says her lawyer. “And that is very difficult for her.”
READ ALSO: Primary school teacher secretly goes to the Efteling with her class and is fired
2023-09-16 09:19:24
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