[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 3.20.2002]R-rated movie costs Gwinnett teachers their jobs
Mel Brooks film was shown to high school students By ANDREA JONES
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer Two South Gwinnett High School teachers have been forced to resign for showing a bawdy Mel Brooks movie to some special education students. Greg Runyan and Jack Pollock, who taught students with emotional and behavioral problems, showed Brooks' "History of the World Part 1" to about six high schoolers during two class periods March 8. The 1981 comedy takes an R-rated romp though historical happenings. It stars Gregory Hines and is narrated by Orson Welles. A South Gwinnett student told an administrator they'd watched the movie, and the teachers were removed from the classroom the next day, said schools spokeswoman Sloan Roach. "The school turned it over to [the school system's] Human Resources Department," Roach said. "The teachers resigned in the midst of the investigation." Pollock, who also was an assistant football coach, was a first-year teacher in the Gwinnett school system. Runyan had been at South Gwinnett since August 2000. Runyan, reached at his Snellville home Tuesday night, refused to comment. School officials reported the incident to the Professional Standards Commission, the state agency that oversees teacher certification, and to the Department of Children and Family Services, Roach said. DFACS is routinely alerted in cases involving inappropriate conduct in schools, Roach said. "We're looking into the issue because of the nature of the movie," she said. Blockbuster Video describes the comedy as rated "R" for nudity and language. It also lists it as inappropriate for children. |