An Atlanta Public Schools tribunal upheld the two-day unpaid suspension of a teacher who allegedly asked his students to call him “daddy” and failed to disclose a decade-old arrest.
Nicolas Alarcon, 37, appealed the superintendent’s December recommendation to suspend him after an internal investigation into allegations he referred to himself as “daddy” in class, told students to call him by that name and made some students feel uncomfortable. The investigation includes handwritten statements from 20 Inman Middle School seventh graders, 11 of whom said he referred to himself as “daddy” and eight of whom said he asked students to call him that.
The district investigation also determined that Alarcon, hired in 2008, failed to disclose on his job application a 2007 arrest for aggravated battery.
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Alarcon denied ever telling students to call him “daddy,” but told APS investigators he once said “Daddy is not happy” after several students failed to turn in homework on time, according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through a public records request.
The teacher also wrote in a statement to the district that he thought his arrest, which students discovered years later when they found his mugshot online, had been expunged because he had completed a pre-trial intervention program and paid restitution. He said the charge stemmed from an incident in a parking garage during which he defended himself and his fiance from an attacker.
Alarcon said his attorney told him that he would not have to disclose the arrest on job applications, but Alarcon said he later alerted a Sutton Middle School principal to the arrest after a student told him that his mugshot was being passed around on social media. Alarcon said he found out late last year that the application to seal the case had never been filed.
The teacher has been on “temporary reassignment” since November when two students lodged complaints.
Alarcon did not respond to a reporter’s email requesting comment. In a statement to the district, he said he has been “an exemplary teacher in every respect” and asked to return to his position so that he “may continue to inspire my students” and prepare them for college and careers.
APS spokesman Ian Smith said Alarcon appealed the two-day unpaid suspension, which he has not yet served. A tribunal of educators appointed by the school board met earlier this month to consider the teacher’s appeal. The tribunal voted to uphold the suspension, and that recommendation will go to the school board in June.
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