A California teacher has been placed on leave for allegedly urinating into a canister and dumping it out moments before his students entered his classroom — the incident captured on a cell phone video.
The eighth-grade history teacher in the Rocklin School District, about 25 miles north of Sacramento, is seen unbuttoning his pants and urinating into the container off camera, according to the Sacramento Bee, which obtained a copy of the footage.
As he buttons his pants back up and tucks in his shirt, he can be heard saying in a moment of relief, “Gosh, that’s good — gosh gosh gosh gosh gosh gosh,” the newspaper reported.
He then grabs the container, walks across the room, and says, “Love it, love it.” He is heard apparently pouring out the liquid moments later.
After about one minute, the school bell rings and students are heard entering the classroom, whispering and giggling before recording ends.
“It does not appear that there were any students in the classroom while the teacher was urinating,” the Bee reported, seemingly contradicting its own reporting, which later stated the video was secretly recorded by a student.
The Bee identified the teacher as Dan Champ, who is also a student body adviser at Granite Oaks Middle School. He has been a teacher for more than 25 years, according to state credentialing records examined by the newspaper.
School officials became aware of the video after a parent saw it and alerted administrators. The Bee learned of the incident last week after it obtained its copy of the footage and an email that informed the school’s parents of the teacher’s suspension.
“This afternoon, after school dismissal, a parent and a staff member informed the School Administration of a video showing an employee engaging in conduct inconsistent with our professional standards,” email states. “While the unverified video does not involve any students or other staff, the employee has been placed on leave while Granite Oaks Middle School and the Rocklin Unified School District (RUSD) investigate the incident.”
According to the newspaper:
Why the student secretly recorded Champ isn’t known. However, an eighth-grade student previously enrolled in his class told The Bee that she heard rumors at the beginning of the school year that Champ would urinate into a container between classes. The student’s mother requested that her daughter’s name not be used out of concern for privacy.
“It personally makes me feel disgusted knowing that I was in the room prior to him doing that near the spot that I used to sit,” the student said. The student said she received the video from a friend via Snapchat.
News of the video has ignited a debate among students and parents, the Daily Mail reported, with some questioning if staff is given adequate time for restroom breaks.
Champ has not provided a comment to news outlets.
By all appearances, Champ has been a valued educator at the school.
He runs an educational tour program for local eighth grade students called Champ Tours with his wife, with the couple’s next tour scheduled to visit historic landmarks on the East Coast and a trip to New York city in coming months, according to the Bee’s report.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.