District court reverses 2023 termination of Hempstead teacher

A Dubuque Hempstead teacher terminated after using a racial slur in front of a black student in May 2023 has been reinstated following a decision from a District Court.  Roger Poling, a business education teacher, was seen on video saying the slur. According to the District Court filing, Poling was repeating a racial comment that a student had made to him, and was not calling the student that slur. Instead, the documents say he was trying to emphasize how derogatory it was for a student to make that statement toward someone. The court filing addressed the viral social media video of the incident, saying that it was only a “snap shot” of the situation and lacked context. The filing asserts that the Dubuque Community District School Board did not render Poling’s termination based on proper standard, and thus, reversed his termination. They claim that the school board failed to issue subpoenas, permitted hearsay, failed to cross-examine and more. As a result, Poling will be reinstated at the school. The Dubuque Community School District is working with the district’s legal counsel to review the decision in its entirety and determine next steps, including discussing potential options for appeal of the decision.