Educator defends himself – toilet ban and headbutting: director suspended

She allegedly forbade students to go to the toilet – one child even peed in the water as a result. She allegedly left students unattended for a short period of time and headbutted and punched them in the neck. She also allegedly sent students outside for a break in minus eight degrees and did not help them after they fell.

And she is said to have made derogatory comments towards kindergarten teachers: the education directorate has made a total of eighteen accusations of serious dereliction of duty against the director of a primary school in Salzburg. This led to the teacher’s temporary suspension in May 2023.

Ex-director took legal action against suspension
However, in the ‘Krone’ interview, the woman emphasized: ‘I made no mistakes. And I didn’t give in to the education directorate because I didn’t do anything wrong.” She filed a complaint against the suspension with the administrative court. “Many points are completely incorrect or formulated too vaguely to justify a breach of official duty,” she explained. But the court dismissed the concerns in advance and the suspension was confirmed in October as part of a disciplinary procedure.

However, the court ruling also stated: “Since the allegations are suspicious, it was not necessary to verify their veracity but simply to determine whether they were actual suspicions or mere hearsay.” The person involved complained about this: “Parents and children did not have to testify at all.” Nevertheless, based on the accusations, the court found “inappropriate parenting methods” and violations of the ban on corporal punishment. The suspension was “justly done”.

The Directorate of Education did not want to comment on the case at all: “for data protection reasons”. And the teacher is now in danger of losing her title as principal and being transferred.