A dispute at a Kaohsiung County school over whether it's appropriate for teachers to wear shorts and sandals has evolved into a shouting match that includes accusations of incompetence among the school's administration.
At issue is whether teachers at Zi Guan Middle School (梓官國中) should be allowed to wear shorts and sandals in the classroom.
The school's principal Huang Che-yuan (黃哲元) thinks the attire is inappropriate.
But teachers say their boss is raising the dress code issue to divert attention away from allegations of his incompetence.
Huang, in turn, says it's the teachers that are attempting to obfuscate the fact that they had broken school rules by wearing inappropriate attire to class.
The principal added that dressing too casually might set a bad example for students.
"I have never said that teachers can't wear shorts," Huang said. "But it's extremely disgraceful if teachers wear shorts that would show their underwear whenever they bend down."
The principal also claimed that parents have complained about teachers wearing shorts, sandals and sleeveless shirts to class.
But teachers say Huang is calling attention to the dress code issue because they have on several occasions questioned his ability to perform his job.
According to Liu Ya-ping (劉亞平), chairman of Kaohsiung County Teachers' Association, teachers Wu Hsun-yu (吳訓裕) and Wu Feng-chuan (吳豐全) have had several run-ins with Huang.
One sore point in particular was the principal's hiring of a teacher that had been accused of having a sexual relationship with a student.
"Huang repeatedly ignored our complaints until this January, when the teacher offered to quit due to parents' strong protests," Wu Hsun-yu told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Wu had demanded that the principal be punished for hiring the teacher, but governmental organizations were unwilling to do so.
Huang said that the hiring of the accused teacher had followed procedures and that the alleged misconduct took place at another school.
He also said that the teacher had performed well during his time at Zi Guan.
The fuss over school attire broke out on Friday after teachers protested a suggestion by Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) that two teachers be punished for wearing shorts in class.
Yu had been visiting the school that day when he noticed the teachers wearing shorts.
On Monday, roughly 20 teachers wore shorts and sandals to school in support of Wu.
Upset by the controversy, a handful of parents say they have launched a signature drive in a bid oust teachers they say not are qualified to serve in their jobs.
But Liu, the teachers' representative, said teachers cannot be fired based on the outcome of a signature drive.
The County Commissioner, Yu, whose remarks led to the brouhaha over teachers' attire in the first place, called upon education authorities to step in and settle the matter "in a rational fashion," otherwise "he would have to do it himself."
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