HISD sub busted for looking at porn on the job

Houstonist has never been a substitute teacher, but we're pretty sure it could be a boring job at times. From what we can remember, the regular teacher would often leave the substitute some kind of busy-work assignment for the students, so all the sub would have to do is set the kids to work on whatever it was — writing a paper on sexual diffidence in Victorian literature, for example, or making turkeys from the outline of their hands — and then he or she could enjoy a cup of hot coffee or the next chapter of the new Danielle Steel book. Or, you know, they could also use a school computer to look at Internet porn like one HISD sub did last week.

It happened late last week at Johnston Middle School, where the substitute science teacher was busted for surfing porn sites at work. As soon as school officials found out, they had the guy taken off campus with a police escort: "It concerns us a great deal because the adult is the one who's supposed to be the adult in the classroom." HISD spokesman Terry Abbott said. "You can't sit there and look at pornography on the computer. You can cause all kinds of damage to children that way." The 53-year-old man has been a substitute teacher at Johnston since 2005 and has passed annual background checks, KTRK reported — though background checks don't pick up your porn-viewing habits, or a lot more Americans would probably be unemployed by now.

Parents were surprised by the incident, but they said they were pleased by the way the principal handled it: By the time kids headed home for the day, they all had letters for their parents explaining what had happened. School district police and the DA's office are looking into whether the substitute should face any charges.