SEQUIM — Former Sequim High School teacher David Trapp — who was dismissed from the classroom for what was described as “harassing and bullying” behavior — has agreed to settle his dispute with the school district instead of proceeding with an appeal of the decision.
Trapp said Wednesday that the district will honor his existing contract through the end of the school year, although he won’t return to a Sequim classroom.
The agreement also allows Trapp to discuss the case publicly — indeed, he said, he insisted on it.
Sequim Schools Superintendent Garn Christensen said the settlement agreement is not final until approved by the School Board. He declined to discuss it until that approval takes place.
The board is scheduled to accept Trapp’s resignation Monday, the same day the appeal of his dismissal was to start.
Two incidents
Incidents on Nov. 17 and 19 led to Trapp being dismissed in December.
In the first one, according to district documents, Trapp engaged in a “physical skirmish” with a student over a soft drink bottle in which Trapp stepped on the student’s foot and reached inside the student’s sweatshirt pocket to grab the bottle.
The student and his father reported that the skirmish left a red mark on the student’s abdomen, and said the mark looked like fingernail scratches.
The second incident involved a student who had dislodged a poster from the wall, according to the official account.
Witnesses said Trapp was yelling at the student and had physical contact with him — according to district documents, Trapp pushed the student and left what was described as “a red mark in the middle of [the student’s] chest that was about the size of a softball.”
No contact, teacher says
In Trapp’s versions of the events, there was no contact with students.
He described the student with the soft drink bottle as someone who was “always messing around” and who was not allowed to have food or drink in class.
Trapp said that when he tried to confiscate the bottle, the student held it out just long enough for Trapp to touch it, then jerked it back and tried to stuff it in his pocket. Trapp said he thought it was falling and went after the bottle.
As for the red mark, Trapp said, “I always thought he scratched himself. He would have to lift up his sweatshirt and T-shirt to do it.”
The second incident was a poor “copycat” report based on what a student had heard about the first one, Trapp continued.