A substitute teacher who reported an assault at a St. Paul public school last week said she is no longer allowed to work in the district.
Candice Egan filed a police report on March 24, two days after she was pushed several times by a seventh-grader at Creative Arts secondary school when she tried taking the student's cellphone.
Egan got a call from her manager at Teachers on Call early this week explaining that she could no longer sub for the district. "She told me, 'You cannot sub in St. Paul schools. They have asked that we take you off the sub list.' She said, 'Due to the way the situation was handled, they want some distance from you and you're inactive until we investigate,' " Egan said.
Egan sees it as retaliation for filing a police report and speaking with the media after she was assaulted.
The district is reviewing the situation and that is following its practice not to ask substitutes back to work during an ongoing investigation, said Ryan Vernosh, a spokesman for the district. St. Paul Public Schools contracts with Teachers on Call to hire substitute teachers on a daily basis, Vernosh said. There aren't contracts with individual teachers that guarantee placement, he said.
"There are various reasons why substitutes may not be asked to work for the district," he said. "Talking to the media is not one of them."
Egan is a retired teacher, and has been subbing for St. Paul schools for three years. She has worked primarily at Harding Senior High School, Johnson Senior High School, Adams Spanish Immersion and Farnsworth Aerospace Upper Campus.
"I subbed pretty much full time, and it was fabulous. I love those schools, I love those kids," she said.
