BERRIEN SPRINGS, Michigan:
A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER at a private Christian elementary school has been placed on paid administrative leave until her contract expires because she became pregnant before she got married.
Christine John, a first-year teacher at the Village Seventh-day Adventist Elementary School in Berrien Springs, said she was asked at a meeting with school officials last week why she was four months along in her pregnancy when she had been married just two months earlier.
John, 24, said school officials told her that premarital sex is an act strictly forbidden by the school system and the Seventh-day Adventist religion.
In the end, she was told her services were no longer necessary.
LEGAL ACTION
Now she's considering legal action. "I was very surprised. Shocked," John told the South Bend Tribune.
"I had no clue what the meeting was about."
School officials said John was placed on administrative leave until her contract expires.
Michael Nickless, communication director for the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, said that under the school's policies, unmarried teachers who get pregnant can be fired immediately.
"In our school system, our teachers are expected to be a positive spiritual example for our congregations and youth," Nickless said in a prepared statement.
"When she chose behaviour contrary to those values, she was placed on administrative leave."
FULL PAY, BENEFITS
He added, "Even though policy allows for immediate dismissal, out of compassion, her present contract continues to be honoured and she will receive full pay and benefits until the contract expires."
John said her contract runs through June 8. A 2003 graduate of the Seventh-day Adventist Andrews University in Berrien Springs, John said she hadn't encountered any disciplinary problems with her job until last week.
The Stevensville resident said that after she became pregnant, she talked to the school's principal about taking a maternity leave.
"I never tried to hide the situation," she said.
Associated Press
