Piedmont High School teacher resigns after inappropriate conduct with students
PIEDMONT, Calif. - A Piedmont High School history teacher who was found to have engaged in inappropriate and unprofessional conduct with students has resigned, the Piedmont Unified School District announced Friday.
The controversy surrounds teacher Mark Cowherd, accused of years of inappropriate behavior with students in the classroom and on school trips: A touch on the elbow, texting special nicknames. “Who asks students if they will sleep with him while he doles out their grades?” asked a mother at the meeting. “He is not a hero, not a champion and should not be a guardian to them.”
Some recent graduates filed a complaint and the school district agreed with their allegations, though they found no criminal wrongdoing and he was not fired.
“We do have a case of inappropriate and un professional from a teacher and that's what our investigation showed as well," said Piedmont Unified Superintendent Randall Booker.
Cowherd’s discipline lasted three weeks on administrative leave and then he was welcomed back into the classroom.
Earlier this week, parents and students packed a Piedmont City Hall meeting demanding Cowherd be fired.