The Spanish Fork City attorney’s office filed a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct against a Spanish Fork Junior High School teacher accused of kicking one of his students. Meanwhile Utah State School Board members are considering beefing up teacher discipline standards.
Eighth grader Colton Brown told KUER he was in a push-up position during gym class on October 7th when Physical Education teacher Monte Morgan kicked him in the ribs. The school district responded by placing Morgan on administrative leave and filing a complaint with Spanish Fork Police on October 9th. That’s when the Browns learned that Morgan was already under investigation for a similar incident. The discovery lead Colton’s parents Cory and Lisa to ask this question…
“Why this guy’s still teaching?” Lisa Brown says. “Yeah, why he’s still teaching if he’s already under investigation or if he’s already had a report filed against him?” Cory Brown adds.
Physical education teacher Monte Morgan has since resigned from Nebo School District.
A Spanish Fork Police spokesperson says a parent had filed a complaint five days earlier against Morgan for an incident that allegedly took place nearly one year ago.
It’s unclear whether the Utah State Board of Education will suspend or revoke Morgan’s license because that information is confidential and there are no disciplinary standards in place, except for in instances involving rape or child pornography.
State School Board member Jennifer Johnson is hoping the board adopts a set of proposed standards that are currently being considered. She’s also advocating for increased training for teachers in the area of misconduct and penalties for not reporting such behavior to the state.
“My concern as a policy maker is to try and prevent any of the misconduct, particularly misconduct that affects students or public resources,” Johnson says. “It’s my intent to prevent that, rather than try and deal with that afterwards.”
Nebo School District officials did not respond to a request for comment, nor did the attorney for Monte Morgan.
