School District Refutes Teacher's Claim He Was Set To Be Fired For Serving Pancakes During State Test
LANCASTER, Pa. (CBS) -- A Pennsylvania school district is refuting a teacher's claim he was set to be fired for serving pancakes to students while they were taking a state standardized test.
Kyle Byler, a social studies teacher at Hand Middle School in Lancaster, initially told Lancaster Online he was suspended for making pancakes for his eighth-grade students while they were taking the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment on Monday.
Byler claims that after Assistant Principal Marian Grill questioned why he was serving students pancakes during the test, he was called into a meeting where administrators told him he was going to be terminated.
"I don't understand what I did wrong, to be honest with you. There was no infraction whatsoever," Byler told Lancaster Online. "At no point was it any distraction for any of the students. They worked their butts off."
However, the School District of Lancaster told CBS Philly in a statement that there was never any discussion of dismissing the 38-year-old Byler.
"There was never any dismissal action on the [School] Board's agenda," the district said in a statement. "In any event, no teacher can be dismissed without the School Board first approving a written notice that offers the opportunity for a School Board hearing, and that step has also not occurred."
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The school district says that Byler will return to Hand Middle School this week.
The school district stated that they provide a free breakfast and lunch for all students every day, including testing days, and added that the teacher needed permission to serve food in the classroom during testing.
"All teachers serving as PSSA test proctors receive specific training on testing protocol. Had permission been sought by a teacher to cook in the classroom during PSSA testing and serve food to the students, the response would have been that such activities would distract the teacher from the required duties as a test proctor," the school district said.
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Lancaster Online reports around 100 concerned parents showed up to the school board meeting on Tuesday night to support Byler.
The school district did not confirm to CBS Philly if Byler was suspended by the school. Lancaster Online reports Byler is expected to return to work Thursday.
