Shopping trip gets teacher in trouble

FERGUSON, Mo. -- A suburban St. Louis high school teacher has been suspended for taking seven students on an unauthorized shopping trip for more than two hours, leaving five students unsupervised in her classroom.

Ferguson-Florissant School District officials have declined to publicly identify the McCluer South-Berkeley High School teacher, who is on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into last Friday's matter.

Officials say the vocational teacher took seven freshmen students shopping about 11:30 a.m. Friday, leaving the other students in the classroom before returning 2 1/2 hours later.

The teacher later said the trip was to get supplies for a project, the district said.

Regardless, administrators said, the trip was unauthorized and was not in accordance with school policies.

"We take this incident very seriously because we have policies and procedures that dictate when students leave school -- parents are informed, give consent, and administrators know exactly where they are," said Jeffrey Spiegel, the district's interim superintendent.

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On the Net:

Ferguson-Florissant School District, http://www.fergflor.k12.mo.us