Former Stevenson HS Principal Hires Disgraced Teacher
Last spring, Stevenson High School (SHS) in Lincolnshire, Illinois erupted in yet another public relations scandal when 41-year-old homosexual dean and former French teacher Paul Weil was forced to resign when it was discovered that he had sent “inappropriate text” messages to an 18-year-old male student. By the time the texts were discovered, Weil had chaperoned ten student trips overseas (Europe and China), and three more trips were planned.
School spokesman Jim Conrey made this statement last spring: “He’s a good man, and it’s an unfortunate way to end, and it should not overshadow all the good.”
This raises the question, what does “good” even mean any more?
Conrey needn’t have worried about the fate of Paul Weil because former Stevenson High School principal John Carter, who resigned in June 2012, found a place for Paul Weil at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. Carter, who was SHS principal during the time Weil was being investigated, hired Weil to be his assistant principal in Texas.
Unfortunately for Weil, the public in Texas has found out about his checkered past, and now another community is embroiled in a mess.
The Austin, Texas Statesman reports the following:
Police records show the text exchanges began in September 2011 and included: “Pizza delivery boy? Hot” and, referring to a trip the student was taking, “Don’t come home with a venereal disease.”
In one exchange last March, Weil texted the student, “Such a funny boy you are. When are we gonna hang out so I can put you to work? I have long list of things for you to do.”
The Chicago Tribune reported more troubling aspects to the SHS story last spring:
The student claimed Weil also asked to talk to him by phone outside of school hours.
“It was just weird…Sometimes I would not respond or think of excuses but I didn’t say that I didn’t want to talk with him on the phone.”
…
Weil…said he also allowed the student to have alternative punishments for bad behavior, an arrangement he did not afford to others.
The dean [Weil] said he deleted some of his messages with the student earlier this year after the school confiscated student phones as part of an investigation into on-campus drug dealing. Weil was one of the officials who searched the phones for incriminating texts, Stevenson spokesman Jim Conrey said.
Weil said he later resumed electronic contact after the student texted him again, according to the report.
In response to the Texas dust-up, John Carter said, ““There is no doubt that Mr. Weil is an outstanding educator…He is an innovative, creative, and student-centered educator. Whether in his teaching or in his role as disciplinarian, he sought creative ways to teach students.”
As Carter should know but apparently doesn’t, the problem is not with the good Weil did. “Creative ways” of teaching do not efface or mitigate the “inappropriate” actions of Weil. The problem is with his lack of wisdom and judgment, his immaturity, unprofessionalism, and perverse predilections, among which is his sexual attraction to males. Yes, we are still permitted to say that same-sex attraction is disordered and homosexual acts immoral. While it may not matter if our architects, plumbers, and engineers are homosexual, it matters if our teachers (and lawmakers) are, and we should not be afraid to say so.
Despite what the Left says, homosexuality is not analogous to conditions like race. Homosexuality is constituted by subjective feelings and behavioral choices; race is constituted by neither. As such, proper analogies would compare homosexuality to other conditions constituted by feelings and volitional acts, like polyamory, adult consensual incest, or paraphilias. And it is entirely proper to make judgments about what constitutes moral sexual conduct—and express those moral judgments.
If truly repentant and remorseful, Weil deserves forgiveness, but forgiveness does not entail hiring him to work with children or teens. He has lost that privilege. And the Westlake School Board should look closely at the actions and judgment of John Carter.
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