PORTLAND, Maine — A former special education teacher at Portland Public Schools filed a lawsuit against the school district and former Superintendent Xavier Botana, claiming they fired him for speaking out about staffing shortages in the classroom as a retaliatory move.
The federal lawsuit was filed Wednesday by Eric Poulin, who worked in a K-1 classroom at Ocean Avenue School from 2020 to 2022.
Under Poulin's supervision, an education technician named Benjamin Conroy was arrested on several felony charges, including sexual exploitation of a minor, dissemination, and possession of sexually explicit material, as well as unlawful sexual contact with a minor. The alleged victim was a student in Poulin’s classroom.
Poulin’s contract was not renewed.
He spoke with district leadership about staffing shortages and their impact on the health and safety of students before and after the arrest of Conroy, according to the lawsuit.
Portland Public Schools is responding to the lawsuit.
"This lawsuit is not unexpected," the district said in a written statement. "At the Portland Public Schools, we consider the decision as to whether to nominate a teacher for a continuing contract to be one of the most critical decisions we make and the standard we use is whether the teacher under consideration is the best person to meet the needs of our students. Mr. Poulin did not meet this standard. We cannot choose the easy path of avoiding litigation over the best interests of our students, and therefore, Mr. Poulin was not given a continuing contract to teach here."
Poulin's attorney denied NEWS CENTER Maine's request for comment.