Teacher suspended for assigning assassination wish list

Published Tuesday, May 16, 2006

ST. JOSEPH (AP) - A high school teacher who asked students to write about whom they would murder and how they would carry it out has been suspended for one week without pay and placed on six months’ probation.

Michael Maxwell, who teaches industrial technology at Central High School, was notified of the suspension yesterday morning. Superintendent Melody Smith said no further action will be taken.

"I’m just very sad for the school, and I’m sad for him," she said. "This has rocked his world, as it has rocked our world."

Students in Maxwell’s beginning drafting class were asked to complete the assignment while roll call was taken on April 5, not April 21 as the school initially reported. However, students were not required to do the ungraded assignment and could have chosen another topic if they wanted, said Steve Huff, school district spokesman.

It was not clear why Maxwell asked the drafting class to write fiction.

"In this day and age with all the school shootings, how can a teacher encourage students to make a death list?" said Tina Bonnett, whose daughter is in the class.

Maxwell apologized in an interview Sunday night, calling it a "horrible mistake."

Assistant Principal Marlie Williams said the idea for the "writing prompt" came from the book "If ... Questions for the Game of Life" by Evelyn McFarlane and James Saywell. A passage in the book reads: "If you could assassinate one famous person who is still alive right now, who would it be and how would you do it?"

Williams said teachers should not use outside resources, like the book, unless the materials are directly connected to the curriculum.

School officials learned about the assignment May 5 after a parent of one of the students filed a complaint. But district officials didn’t learn about the assignment until a reporter began asking questions Friday.

The district’s human resources director, Doug Flowers, said communication between individual schools and district officials needs to improve. He said Central officials might have considered the matter resolved after apologizing to parents.

"At that point in time," Central officials "thought this wasn’t as serious as it turned out to be," Flowers said.