Teacher in the clear after feeding kids cat food
A local council in western Sweden has withdrawn its written warning against a pre-school teacher who encouraged children in her class to eat cat food earlier this year.
Alingsås council completed its turnaround after the teacher raised the matter with the district court. The council would not comment on Wednesday as to whether it had made the right decision when issuing the warning.
"We have decided to put this behind us and move on," council spokesman Niels Bredberg told newspaper Alingsås Tidning.
The teacher gave the children cat food to taste when the class was working on a project about cats in February.
Local media reported at the time that it was not the first time the teacher had encouraged the children to taste feline feed.
One of the children's parents complained to the principal, Cecilia Knutsson, who decided to take action and warn the teacher.
"You have shown poor judgment in giving the children cat food," wrote Knutsson in the teacher's warning letter.
Knutsson described the teacher's actions as "unethical and inappropriate."
The teacher was given the chance to explain her actions and the educational reasoning behind the tasting. She apologized and promised that there woul be no repeat.
Several parents expressed their support for the embattled teacher.
"We have the utmost confidence in her and her otherwise sound educational work," wrote the parents in a plea to the disciplinary board on the teacher's behalf.
No child was forced to eat the cat food, and besides, the food poses no danger to humans, the cat-owning teacher wrote in her statement.
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Alingsås council completed its turnaround after the teacher raised the matter with the district court. The council would not comment on Wednesday as to whether it had made the right decision when issuing the warning.
"We have decided to put this behind us and move on," council spokesman Niels Bredberg told newspaper Alingsås Tidning.
The teacher gave the children cat food to taste when the class was working on a project about cats in February.
Local media reported at the time that it was not the first time the teacher had encouraged the children to taste feline feed.
One of the children's parents complained to the principal, Cecilia Knutsson, who decided to take action and warn the teacher.
"You have shown poor judgment in giving the children cat food," wrote Knutsson in the teacher's warning letter.
Knutsson described the teacher's actions as "unethical and inappropriate."
The teacher was given the chance to explain her actions and the educational reasoning behind the tasting. She apologized and promised that there woul be no repeat.
Several parents expressed their support for the embattled teacher.
"We have the utmost confidence in her and her otherwise sound educational work," wrote the parents in a plea to the disciplinary board on the teacher's behalf.
No child was forced to eat the cat food, and besides, the food poses no danger to humans, the cat-owning teacher wrote in her statement.
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