Brighton Collegiate teacher fired after possible 'inappropriate conduct'

BRIGHTON - A teacher from Brighton Collegiate High School has been fired while police investigate an improper relationship between him and a student.

9NEWS is choosing not to name the teacher because he has not been charged.

Brighton police confirm they received the "allegations of an improper relationship" Oct. 30. Police say they cannot say who the teacher is or give any other details about the investigation.

"We found that the conduct was sufficient enough that warranted dismissing this employee, we have a no tolerance position on inappropriate conduct on the part of staff in this case," Principal Kirk Salmela told 9NEWS on Thursday. "Our focus is naturally on the situation at hand. We're being supportive of our teachers and students right now."

The Brighton Collegiate Board of Directors sent parents a letter Tuesday informing them of the termination.

In part, the letter said, "last week, one of our students reported to staff a situation that they felt uncomfortable with regarding one of our teachers. We have concluded that there may have been inappropriate conduct on the part of the teacher. We have no reason to believe that the relationship was sexual, but it was inappropriate and will not be tolerated."

"We found the actions of our staff member were questionable. We do not have any room with in our school community for questionable conduct on the part of staff. And that caused a separation of the employee from our school community and we feel that sends a strong positive message," Salmela told 9NEWS.

He says students are safe.

"We have no reason to believe this was sexual in nature," Salmela said.

In the last two years, three teachers from Brighton Collegiate High School, formerly known as the Brighton Charter High School, have been charged with sexual assault on students. One is Carrie McCandless, who at the time was married to former school principal Chris McCandless. David Mundy Jr., the son of the school's former board president, and Social Studies and German teacher Ralph Kelly were also charged.

BCHS falls under Brighton School District 27J which released a statement that reads in part:

"The School District 27J Board of Education will be meeting in executive session on Tuesday November 10 to discuss contractual issues with regard to Brighton Collegiate Charter High School. They may determine at that time that further action is warranted.

"In 27J, nothing is more important than the safety of our students, no matter what school they attend."

Read the full School District 27J statement. 

"All we know right now there is an investigation on the way, we expect to get the results of the investigation beginning of next week. When we get the results, then we'll know what the most correct and appropriate reaction will be at that time," Todd Cordrey, board president, Brighton School District 27J, said.

Rocky Biggs' daughter is a junior at the school and has been there since it turned into a high school.

"There is a lot of bad things that do happen at the school, but there is definitely a lot of good things that happen at this school," Biggs said.

Biggs says many students "love" the teacher that was fired.

"He hasn't been charged with anything," he said. "If you're gonna charge him, let's charge him with something and find out if he's guilty and if he's not, give him his job back."

Biggs says there is no more drama club at the school now that the school has fired the teacher.

Selene Zamora, a 17-year-old senior at the school, says all the problems at the school have interfered with the learning process.

"To hear that some teachers are like that, it actually kind of disrupts your learning at the same time. You're trying to learn something and here, again, some teachers come and do that stuff," Zamora said.

Biggs hoped the public wouldn't unfairly judge the school based on the actions of a few.

"Don't jump to conclusions right away," he said. "Don't blackball the school. The kids are good. They're trying. I wouldn't let my daughter go here and wouldn't drive 15 miles a day, one way, to pick her up, if I didn't believe in this school, the system. As a parent, I worship the school. I think it's great."