A local high school teacher who was suspended for grading zeroes now may lose his job permanently.
Lynden Dorval took a public stance last school year against Ross Sheppard High School’s “no-zero” policy.
Dorval refused to follow it and repeatedly handed out zeroes when assignments weren’t completed.
He was put on leave which sparked a public outcry including a few student-led petitions launching in his defence.
This week, Dorval said he received a letter from Ross Sheppard’s principal, recommending Dorval’s dismissal.
Dorval says he’ll fight the dismissal recommendation and continue to fight the no-zero policy.
“To me, that’s why I’m still doing this,” Dorval told CTV News on Wednesday.
“Otherwise I would just let the termination go through. But I think to keep it in the public mind and eye is the most important thing that needs to be talked about because a lot of parents, even some of the trustees I’m sure, didn’t know these kinds of policies are in place.”
A hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 10. – when Dorval will have a chance to speak in his defence.
“There are a number of untruths in the letter. I’ve spent quite a bit of time at the suspension hearing talking about those untruths and for some reason they’re still repeated in this new letter so I’ll be talking about that and I’ll be talking about why I still don’t think I should be terminated,” Dorval said.
“I knew that it would be very unlikely to go back to the classroom again but I didn’t think the termination would come so soon because of all the publicly but I guess I was wrong.”
Dorval is also considering writing a letter to the education minister.
He says he doesn't agree with a directive called the ‘Behavioural Code System' introduced at the Ross Sheppard about a year and a half ago, that was meant to replace marks of zero with assigning behaviour codes for formative assessments.
Dorval, who has been a public school teacher for 35 years, has said that grading zeroes helps prepare students for the real world.
He says if he is terminated from his job, it would likely be too late to apply to teach at a different school for this year. He said he may consider retirement or working part-time, if he is hired elsewhere.
The Edmonton School Board had said they would be forming a committee to review the controversial marking policy at some city high schools.
Board trustees voted unanimously during an emergency meeting in June to review the no-zero policy.
The committee is expected to begin that review process this fall.
