FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — A former Flagstaff high school accused of masturbating during a videotaped Zoom lesson in 2021 has had its teaching license revoked.
Walter Jaravelda is Arizona State Board of Education On Monday, he was innocent of wrongdoing before the board voted to strip him of his teaching license for five years.
In 2021, students reported finding Jaravelda doing hand movements during Zoom lessons. This suggested that the teacher was masturbating.
Jaravelda denies this claim, and the ABE recordings show that the hand movement is due to a “nervous habit” of rapidly shaking the leg up and down.
The former high school English teacher was also accused of bookmarking porn websites on his district-issued computer.
“The school district’s technical director said it was difficult to determine how the bookmarks were stored on educator Haraberda’s computer,” the ABE record states.
Jaraberda resigned from the school district in May 2021 after a Zoom call video was reportedly shared on social media, according to records.
At Monday’s board meeting, Jaravelda continued to insist he had done nothing wrong.
“I want to restate my innocence of the allegations before me,” Mr. Jaravelda said at the conference.
The Board of Directors voted to adopt a recommendation made by its Professional Practices Advisory Board to revoke Jaravelda’s license.
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