AIDS-Stricken Teacher Vows to Fight for Class

Vincent Chalk spent Wednesday working behind a desk instead of teaching in a classroom, but he vowed to fight a federal judge’s ruling that he couldn’t teach deaf children because he is afflicted with AIDS.

“I’m disappointed because now I have to wait longer to be back in the classroom,” Chalk said at a press conference Wednesday in front of his employer’s offices at the Orange County Department of Education in Costa Mesa.

“I’m disappointed, but I’ll have to accept that. I’m still hoping to come back to the classroom.”

Chalk, 42, of Long Beach, met reporters a day after U.S. District Judge William P. Gray refused to stop his transfer from an Orange County Department of Education classroom to a desk job.

Chalk said he intends to appeal the ruling. For now, he plans to work as a grant writer for programs for deaf children at the Department of Education.

Chalk, who has taught seven years in the Department of Education, sought a ruling from Gray to continue teaching the hearing-impaired at Venado Middle School and University High School in Irvine.

The case is believed to be the first in the nation to address the issue of teachers with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and was also unusual in view of recent court rulings that have upheld the rights of students who were exposed to the AIDS virus to continue attending classes.

Gray made his decision after noting that no one knows the full extent of the risk posed by a teacher with AIDS.

The judge also said, “If I put the fellow back in the classroom and I’m wrong, it could well be catastrophic.”

Chalk on Wednesday questioned the judge’s decision. He also wondered about the judge’s awareness of how the AIDS virus is transmitted.

“I don’t think he (Gray) looked at the total amount of legal evidence before he made his decision. He kind of went along with the emotional issue and sentiments,” Chalk said.

Chalk also took exception to Gray’s use of the word “catastrophic,” saying the judge’s use of the word was a disservice to the parents of his students because it did little if anything to increase their understanding of AIDS and would serve only to heighten fears and negatively influence worried parents.

“When the judge said that, he took two steps back in the understanding and educational process of AIDS in general,” Chalk said.

“I don’t feel I’m a risk to any child.”

Last February, Chalk contracted pneumonia. Further medical tests revealed that Chalk, a homosexual, has AIDS.

Chalk has said that he and his doctor reported his illness to his supervisors and later to Dr. Thomas Prendergast, the Orange County epidemiologist, who subsequently said Chalk poses no health threat to students.

Despite the opinion, county education officials decided that Chalk should leave the classroom. Chalk objected and filed suit.

Chalk said he understands parents’ fears, because many of them are dealing with “fear of the unknown.”

“In that sense, and in the long run, I feel they have to be cautious. But the medical evidence has been overwhelming on my side,” he said.

Wednesday night, in an AIDS curriculum meeting at the Orange County Department of Education, two parents who know Chalk called him an excellent teacher.

But Carol Corlew, a Santa Ana mother whose hearing-impaired son has been taught by Chalk for three years, said she agreed with the judge that Chalk should not teach.

“I have reservations about that, because I don’t believe we are being told the truth (about AIDS), and I think even the professionals don’t know the truth--yet,” Corlew said. “It’s really just a sad thing.”

However, another parent, Lynn Dixon Gold, said she was angry and disappointed that Chalk was barred from teaching.

“I think it’s irresponsible that parents’ opinion wasn’t requested,” Gold said. “His merits as a teacher don’t appear to be addressed (by the judge’s decision).

“We are reacting out of uneducated fear, and we are sacrificing a life. He’s an excellent teacher, he should be utilizing his gift in the classroom.”

Gold said she has sent a letter, expressing her dismay, to about 90 parents whose children were taught by Chalk last year. She said that when she told her ninth-grade daughter Erica that the judge had decided to bar Chalk from teaching, “she was really saddened because he’s really a good teacher.”

Her daughter paused and said, “He had the time for us. He treated the kids with respect.”