Disciplinary Action Taken Against Special School Staff for Forcing Donations from Faculty and Staff

Gyeongnam Office of Education Building Exterior

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] The Gyeongnam Provincial Office of Education has decided to discipline officials of a special school in the Gyeongnam region who were suspected of coercing faculty members to make donations.

The Office of Education announced on the 18th that it reached this conclusion after receiving such allegations through the National Petition System in April and conducting an audit.

According to the main audit findings, the vice principal who pressured faculty members to pay donations over the past two years was requested to be given a warning by the foundation.

Regarding the former vice principal who, at the request of the foundation officials in 2017, awarded the highest bonus grade to teachers who made larger donations when paying performance bonuses to contract teachers, it was deemed appropriate to take no disciplinary action considering that he is currently retired.

The school administrative director, who was found to have abused power by demanding face-to-face approvals from teachers, was concluded to warrant a disciplinary action equivalent to a salary reduction.

Additionally, two foundation officials were reported to the relevant local government for requesting the former vice principal to allocate bonus grades based on donation amounts or for making inappropriate remarks to faculty members.

The Office of Education not only requested disciplinary actions but also pointed out that the foundation should immediately terminate all ongoing donation collections from faculty members.

The vice principal and others reportedly denied the allegations, stating that they merely encouraged donations.

An official from the Office of Education explained, "Considering that many teachers felt psychological burden and pressure, and that the monthly donation amounts, including those from themselves, their families, and acquaintances, ranged from as low as 100,000 KRW to as high as 300,000 KRW, which can be seen as excessive by social standards, we judged that inappropriate conduct had occurred."

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