Teacher linked with
student, 18, resigns
By Hugh G. Willett, news@knoxnews.com
LENOIR CITY - A Lenoir City High School teacher has resigned
because of an inappropriate relationship with an 18-year-old
student, a school official said.
School Superintendent Wayne Miller said agriculture teacher
Rachel Burkhart acknowledged the inappropriate relationship and
resigned Thursday. Burkhart, a Greenback native, is 25 years old
and had been teaching at the high school for two years, Miller
said.
Miller said he first learned from another teacher that Burkhart
had "become involved" with a male senior at the high school. He
said the relationship was sexual in nature.
Lenoir City Police Chief Don White said the department is not
investigating because the student was 18 during the time covered
by the allegations.
Miller said he reported the incident to state child protective
services and state education officials.
"I do intend to pursue the revocation of her teacher's license,"
Miller said.
"When an incident such as this happens, it undermines the
foundation of what every teacher should stand for," Miller
stated in a press release.
LENOIR
CITY, Tenn (WVLT) -- A teacher in Lenoir City has
resigned amid allegations she had an inappropriate relationship
with an 18-year-old male student.
Lenoir City School Superintendent Wayne Miller says the teacher,
Rachael Burkhart, resigned after miller approached her about her
alleged affair with an 18 year old student.
Miller clearly was not happy and it shows in a news news
release, and plenty of other people are just as upset.
Lenoir City High School is the latest to see a teacher depart in
a scandal. 25-year-old Rachael Burkhart resigned after being
confronted with allegations she had an affair with the
18-year-old student.
Lenoir City parent Susie Heath says, "I'm outraged."
For parents like Heath, the idea of a high school teacher
involved with a student is disturbing. It's forced her to talk
to her own middle school daughter about it.
Heath says, "I talk to her about it now, about what's
appropriate and what's inappropriate. I would hope that she'll
never have to face something like that."
We took a look at Burkhart's employment file. She's worked at
the high school for two years. Her record before this appears
clean, with no allegations in the file. Superitendent Wayne
Miller would not talk on camera. He did issue a letter with some
strong words, saying:
"When an incident such as this happens, it undermines the
foundation of what every teacher should stand for. It breaches
the trust that teachers spend their entire career nurturing and
offends everyone associated with education. It saddens me when
one teacher has the ability to so negatively impact our
community. I will continue to work diligently to assure this
does not happen in the future and would like to assure all
parents that any behavior such as this will not be tolerated
within our schools."
Heather Jenkins, who has a brother at the high school now, says
there's nothing new about this problem, but it's time for these
incidents to stop.
Jenkins says, "A teacher ought to be the superior, they ought to
know better."
Because the student is 18, Police Chief Don White says there are
no criminal charges and no investigation.
We tried to contact Burkhart to give her a chance to respond,
but she has not returned our call.