A distant grammar school teacher who was caught browsing porn while conducting lessons has been fired.
David Chidlow was dismissed from Maidstone Grammar School in Kent for viewing the profiles of women 74 times while the school was in session.
Mr. Chidlow acknowledged regularly moving between the website and the live lecture on Microsoft Teams during a virtual misconduct hearing conducted by the Teaching Regulation Agency.
For both GCSE and A-level students, Mr. Chidlow, 59, served as a business studies and economics instructor. He started working there in September of last year.
A formal disciplinary hearing followed by the school’s inquiry happened in May 2021. The panel also decided last week that Mr. Chidlow should be fired for serious misbehavior.
The panel was informed that in February 2021, a staff member’s work device had been identified by the school’s surveillance program for key phrases “I take my life.”
These key phrases sparked an inquiry, which revealed that Mr. Chidlow had been using his school laptop to browse an adult website in February and March of 2021. He was also seen clearing his internet history on the explicit website.
In the most recent hearing, Mr. Chidlow also acknowledged that he was actively emailing women for sexual enjoyment while looking for photographs on the pornographic website.
The teacher’s laptop had been remotely monitored by the school without his knowledge, it was discovered during the trial.
The panel said that while the instructor “had shown some insight into his behavior,” they did not think he “expressed regret” toward the students, the school, or the teaching profession.
He was deemed to have engaged in intolerable professional misconduct, and the panel advised the Secretary of State to prohibit him from teaching as a result.
A ban order would be “proportionate,” according to Sarah Buxcey, the Education Secretary’s representative who made the decision.
According to her, a ban order must be put in place in order to preserve the public’s faith in the profession. I am especially aware of the finding of dishonesty in this instance and how it will affect the profession’s image.
“I have since thought about the issue of a review period.” In this instance, the panel has advised against making any provisions for a review period.
A review period offers a judge a certain length of time to contest the public body’s judgment.
Furthermore, Ms. Buxcey said, “I have concluded that Mr. Chidlow should not be eligible to petition for restoration of his license to teach because of the nature of the charges found established against him.