Teacher in trouble for naughty camera phone pics

From the "Aren't Teachers Supposed to Be Marginally More Mature Than Their Students?" file comes the story of the Northwest Preparatory Academy teacher who is in hot water because he allegedly borrowed a student's camera phone, used it to take some inappropriate photos of himself and then gave the phone back to the student. Really smart move there.

It happened last week at Northwest Prep, a charter school on Lyons Avenue in northwest Houston. "The teacher who allegedly committed the offense borrowed the student's cell phone, left the classroom, and took some inappropriate pictures of himself and gave the cell phone back to the student," Erik Singleton, the school's deputy superintendent, told KTRK. "I could tell he was in the restroom because of the particular paint in the restroom. You can also see the sinks in the restroom." School officials sent a letter to parents Friday letting them know what happened, and they suspended the teacher pending an investigation.

The teacher, who has been at the school for two years, could be charged with attempted sexual assault; school officials are meeting with him this morning to discuss whether he'll be dismissed. And though the incident wasn't good, it shouldn't change people's opinion of the school as a whole, Singleton said: "It doesn't shine a very good light on the school. However, this is an individual and not the institution."