Rantz: Teacher photographed crawling under high school bathroom stall
Jun 24, 2024, 6:04 PM
A teacher in Kent was photographed crawling under a stall of a bathroom at a high school. (Photo obtained by "The Jason Rantz Show" on KTTH)
(Photo obtained by "The Jason Rantz Show" on KTTH)
A local teacher was photographed crawling under a stall of a high school bathroom. The district, while saying they investigated and found no wrongdoing, are being oddly tight lipped on some key details.
A photo has been circulating showing a French teacher at Kentlake High School in Kent crawling under the stall of a school restroom. She is wearing a “they/them” face mask, and looking straight toward the person on the toilet in the stall. It’s not clear when the photo was taken.
The photo has generated considerable interest on social media with some wondering if it reflects something inappropriate from the teacher. A little over a year ago, this school garnered local and national attention when a different teacher was arrested for allegedly grooming a teenage student.
Why did a teacher sneak under a bathroom stall door at a high school?
The district appears hesitant to provide too many details.
It took three emails across two days to finally get a response from an unidentified district spokesperson.
“Situation: Some students have been entering bathroom stalls, locking the door, and then crawling out under the door. As a result, the stall doors are locked and inaccessible for others. We are also aware that staff have attempted to address this issue by unlocking the locked doors,” the spokesperson said in an email to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.
The spokesperson concluded, “Please be assured this situation has been thoroughly investigated, and no inappropriate actions occurred.”
But there are many questions. Is this a boys’ or girls’ restroom? Is the person who took the photo a student, staff member, parent, or someone else from the community? Why didn’t a custodian address the bathroom stall door locks? But we’re not being given more details.
The district isn’t answering some basic questions about the photo
The district spokesperson isn’t explaining if a student took the photo. The spokesperson also won’t say if the teacher knocked on the stall door before entering from underneath. Was there a student inside using the bathroom at the time? It’s unclear in the photo if the photographer was hiding in the stall waiting to snap a photo or if the person was caught off guard.
When asked those questions, the spokesperson simply replied, “Thank you for your inquiry. Please be assured this situation has been thoroughly investigated, and no inappropriate actions occurred.”
Including follow-up emails, “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH attempted to get answers a total of six times. The district’s unwillingness to answer basic and good faith questions should not make any community member feel “assured” that the investigation was particularly thorough.
I don’t suspect anything nefarious on the teacher’s intent, which is why she is not being named in this article. I think we can all envision kids pranking others by locking the stall from inside. But the district makes the story suspicious when choosing to ignore basic questions that any reasonable person would ask after seeing the photo.
This isn’t the first controversy at Kentlake High School
This isn’t the first time Kentlake High School was at the center of controversy.
In May 2023, police said chemistry teacher Jesse Webb communicated with a minor for immoral purposes. It came as a result, they allege, of a physical relationship with one of his 15-year-old students. He was accused of “grooming” her.
Court documents said Webb messaged the student on Instagram to say she looked “hot” in certain outfits she would wear. He then called her “babe” and “cupcake” as the contact continued, the documents say. It also says he told her he wanted to have sex with her, and would kiss her on the neck and hug her behind the school, while confessing his love for her.
Eventually, the teen girl had suicidal thoughts as a result of the alleged inappropriate relationship, according to prosecutors.
Webb pleaded not guilty last year. There is a pending pre-trial hearing scheduled for July 23.
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