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Westview Teacher Dismissed for Allegedly Threatening Student

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A Westview teacher was dismissed after allegedly threatening a student and for failure to duties to properly supervise students in the agriculture workshop.

Mr. Bill Fuqua, a tenured agriculture teacher at Westview High School, was dismissed following an investigation into allegations filed against him by an angry parent.

Charges against Mr. Fuqua stem from a report the Weakley County Board of Education administration received on March 9, 2020, that Mr. Fuqua threatened a student during a school-sponsored event.

Mr. Fuqua believed that this student made derogatory statements to one of Fuqua’s young family members. Mr. Fuqua determined the student at issue was not the person who made the derogatory comments and tried to apologize to the student and his father. Further, the student’s parent, who made the complaint, also alleged during the FFA alumni meeting, students were in the agriculture shop practicing for skills competitions and were operating power equipment without adult supervision and without proper safety equipment.

According to the charges for dismissal, during the course of the investigation into the matter, Mr. Fuqua admitted he made the threat, according to school officials.

The investigation determined Mr. Fuqua failed to supervise students in the agriculture shop and failed to require the use of required safety equipment.

“Based upon the threat of bodily harm to a student at a school-sponsored event and the determination that Mr. Fuqua has failed to properly supervise students in the agriculture shop and failed to require the proper safety equipment, I have no choice but recommend his termination as a tenured teacher with the Weakley County Board of Education,” Mr. Frazier said.

There were five points of cause for the dismissal.

Mr. Frazier states in the charges for dismissal, “As Director of Schools for the Weakley County Board of Education, I have no alternative but to recommend the dismissal of Mr. Fuqua as a tenured teacher in the school system for the charges herein stated.”

The Weakley County School Board was presented with the above information at the May 7 meeting. The board acted in accordance with Mr. Frazier’s recommendation by voting to dismiss Mr. Fuqua.