The verdict is in: the Carpinteria Unified School District (CUSD) must reinstate fired teacher Jay Hotchner after alleged “immoral” and “unprofessional” conduct toward students.
Last year, the state Commission on Professional Competence found the Carpinteria Middle School teacher’s dismissal in 2022 unwarranted. But the district immediately sued the commission to fight Hotchner’s reinstatement.
Student allegations against Hotchner included that he was “weird” and “flirty” towards them, such as suggesting he and a female student should “have a sleepover party together and wear ‘footie pajamas.’” The allegations date back to 2018.
In response to the allegations, Hotchner, who worked as a social sciences teacher for 20 years, told the Independent, “The kids appeared encouraged to take otherwise absolutely routine interactions between a teacher and students — and talking and learning and joking around in a classroom — and turn them into something nefarious.”…