UPDATE – Peter Speight, the sex-offender/former teacher in the New Germany, NS area, has agreed to resign and give up his teaching licence in exchange for a big whack of cash. The amount is confidential but it is on top of the $150,000 in back pay that he says he deserves. Whatever. He’s gone and the community of New Germany can breathe a big sigh of relief. Read more at: http://ckbwnews.blogspot.ca/
Dear Peter,
Seriously, dude? Did you not read my last letter? What are you doing?
I get it. We all get it. You want your teaching job back. The same job you had before you pleaded guilty to sex charges. You want to come back and teach grade 3, in your old school, like nothing ever happened. And you want your money back. The money you didn’t make…because you didn’t work…because you were fired…for pleading guilty to sexual offenses. (Do you not hear how crazy this sounds?)
If you had any doubts as to how people felt about you coming back, I would hope last night’s (court ordered) restorative justice session at your old school put those notions to bed. I read in this morning’s paper that more than 100 concerned citizens showed up to say they do not want you teaching their children – ever. The goal was to come up with a reintegration plan to bring you back, but as the coordinator of the session said after it ended, “we couldn’t get to that point because they were too heated about the fact they don’t want him back in the school.”
Peter, Peter, Peter. I’ve taught Grade 3 and let me tell you something about grade 3 students: they aren’t stupid. They hear things and they sense things and they will know on Day 1 that you are the guy who did that weird thing in his car with those ladies. And trust me: their imaginations will make what you did freakier than anything you could ever imagine.
They also aren’t wired to understand that you did something gross and weird a few years ago, but now you’re all better. Their sense of time is a little warped. To them, five years is like five days.
They may also be frightened of you because sex is something they don’t really understand yet. We don’t teach the ins-and-outs of sex until they are much older because most of them aren’t ready for that kind of discussion. What in the world could their parents tell them if they are placed in your class? “Well, dear, if he reaches for his zipper, grab your things and get the hell out of there.” Not a discussion I would want to have with my eight-year-old.
But I shouldn’t have to tell you this. You should already know this because you are an educated, experienced teacher. This leaves me to conclude that you are not rehabilitated. If you were truly sorry for what you had done to your community, especially the children, you would not be putting them through this shitshow. This quest for your old job has become a weird obsession that none of us understand. And we all know where your last strange obsession led.
Dr. SPT 
You took the words right out of my mouth. It’s mind boggling! If the idiot law does reinstate him, I hope shows up to an empty classroom in September. God, if I had kids, I wouldn’t place them in the same city, never mind same classroom, as him.
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I think this is a disgrace. And You call “him” a freak! I think this is going way too far. He resigned so leave the poor man alone! He taught both my kids and they both had a very good year and had nothing but good things to say about him! What are you teaching the kids by this? I agree with all the parents that he should not be able to teach again, but I think some things like this is gone way too far!!!
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Good point, Angie. When I wrote the original post, my thought was that he was going to keep pushing and pushing until the community had no choice but to let him back into the school. He did the right thing by resigning. Kudos to him. Glad to hear your children had a good year. No one is all bad or all good.
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I understand your letter, but upon reading it for the first time it seemed a bit rash. But upon reading it again I do understand your points. I guess it is because I liked him for a teacher for my kids and my kids really enjoyed him and they seemed to have learned a lot that year. It is too bad his sickness had to ruin all that.
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Thanks for that. I understand that some people suffer terribly from obsessions or mental illness. I have a family member who has spent time in jail for sexual offenses. I love him and he has many good qualities, but I would never let my children or anyone else’s children be alone with him. It just wouldn’t make sense.
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Peter taught me in grade 6 (2002) – and I distinctly remember looking up to him at the time. I still fully support his reinstatement, and think that the community acted irrationally and against the view of the supreme court of Nova Scotia in their rallying. Peter set an honorable example by acting as he did after his conviction – he made a sincere attempt to reintegrate with the community, showing children how to cope with, and move forward from their mistakes. It’s unfortunate that the children were not taught an equally important lesson from their parents about how to show empathy to others. Instead they were taught how to bully, and ignore the authority figures of society. I am deeply saddened by this outcome.
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I’m glad you had a good experience in Grade 6. Like I said before, no one is all good or bad. You can be an amazing teacher and still do things that people consider scary. I do have empathy for him but I don’t think it’s fair to extend my personal empathy to other people’s children. If he’s truly reformed and still wants to teach, I think adults are his best bet.
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“This quest for your old job has become a weird obsession that none of us understand. And we all know where your last strange obsession led.”
thats gold right there.
And angie – i wouldn;t say “poor man” is relevent to him in either a financial standpoint, or a moral high ground. you act like he’s a victim. he’s a perpetrator, a sexual deviant and a creep. he deserves all the public outcry and shame he got. “you make your bed…you lie in it”
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I do feel badly for the public tar and feathering he received (from me and others) but the only thing that kept him out of the classroom was a public outcry. The court and the union were bound by their laws and by-laws.
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I CALLED IT!!! (I live in the area btw, but my kids are at the local Waldorf school). My partner is a retired public school teacher, and I have said since this came up that he’s gotten advise from his lawyer to hold firm on reinstatement in the community school classroom so he can get the biggest settlement possible. He isn’t reformed, he’s a creepy predator he’s just moved from sex offenses to extortion, and everyone knows that.
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Well, it certainly is curious. I sincerely hope he is reformed and that he can go on with his life.
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I’m just curious how you feel about your union, and that, essentially, they weren’t standing up for the rights of teachers who felt unsafe working with him. I hear many teachers say that their union is doing them no favors. So stand up to them. Isn’t that what you teach your students? Just curious. I mean, I work in the private sector and I’ve seen people fired for far less.
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I know the union is bound by it’s own rules and by-laws, same as the courts. I would suspect that if he had been reinstated, there would have been other grievances filed and the union would have had to deal with those.
In terms of being fired for less, I am thinking of the bus driver who was fired for swearing in front of middle school students while breaking up a fight on her bus.
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“He’s gone and the community of New Germany can breathe a big sigh of relief”
LOL, is he though? He’s likely living in the community still. I’m sure that will be peoples next “pet peeve” if he is.
I don’t fault him for pursuing the matter. A judge after all, who knows more about the situation than any of us do, said he should be able to return to his job. But the “moral panic” that surrounds anyone suspected or convicted of sex crimes is obviously winning out here. For him now, it’s just about survival, and if he can get a few dollars to start over in New Germany, or in a new location, than I wish him success.
I’m not a fan of this fellow, but, he’s already been dealt with by the justice system, and to go after him even more as some people seem to be proposing, will just create more victims and costs for society.
The media in general loves any cases that involve sex, particularly those that involve teachers, so I expect they’ll keep this story alive for a few more days.
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