Teacher Who Sang ‘Toxic’ By Britney Spears During A Karaoke Session In Class ‘Relieved Of Duty’
Was his singing that bad?
Andrew Abelkis / YouTube An Austin Independent School District registered substitute teacher was asked to end his day early after he was caught singing Britney Spears’s hit song, “Toxic,” on karaoke in the middle of class while students were recording.
Unfortunately for the substitute teacher at Bowie High School in Austin, Texas, Britney Spears’s ex isn’t the only thing that’s toxic.
The substitute teacher was asked to leave after the first period for the amateur karaoke session.
A video of the teacher singing 'Toxic' by Britney Spears has gone viral.
What many people believed to be a funny skit played by a prankster dressed as a substitute teacher actually turned out to be a registered substitute teacher for the Austin Independent School District.
The unidentified teacher was placed on campus to cover a class when he walked into the classroom and started singing karaoke.
KXAN received a tip from someone that led them to believe that it wasn’t a real substitute teacher because of the circumstances of the situation, leading them to ask AISD about it.
The tip said that the teacher had been arrested, but that was confirmed not to be true.
Bowie High School student Andrew Abelkis sent in the video of the substitute teacher singing on his own karaoke machine with his own amateur light show to the tune of “Toxic,” belting out the lyrics as he goes and showing no signs of shame.
After the recording was discovered — soon after the school's first period — the substitute teacher was immediately removed from the campus.
A statement from AISD, stated “All processes were followed, it was simply a case of a substitute not following our practices.”
AISD said that while the substitute teacher didn’t have a formal AISD badge, they were checked into the front office’s visitor system which requires a background check to verify that he was indeed a substitute.
They also confirmed that the sub picked up another job at Austin High School after the Bowie High incident and “was relieved of his duty.”
The public is angry about the school district’s reaction to the substitute’s solo.
Many people believe that the school district reacted too harshly to the substitute’s actions, some exclaiming “Are children only allowed to be scared and miserable at school? Fun isn’t allowed anymore?”
There were jokes that the only reason the substitute was asked to leave was because of his vocals, who many others defended and thought were good.
“You should hear his Christina Aguilera set!” someone joked on social media, but some took it more seriously, defending that fun methods of teaching like these are what helped students learn.
“Funny. Growing up it was the teachers that taught outside of the box that captivated the attention of students you knew were going to fail or drop out… & years later these kids have said so… Now you follow a curriculum that does more harm than good or [you’re] canceled…” said one person.
But maybe it wasn’t as serious as some people made it out to be, because another AISD spokesman said “I’ve heard worse Britney Spears covers, but the lights are a bit much.”
Fortunately, the substitute teacher was only asked to leave early and wasn’t fired from his position as a substitute, otherwise, they’d have to hear his cover of the new Adele album.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.