FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A former Flagstaff High School accused of masturbating during a video-recorded Zoom lesson in 2021 has had his teaching license revoked.
Walter Halaberda told the Arizona State Board of Education on Monday he was innocent of any wrongdoing before the board voted to take away his teaching credentials for a five-year period.
In 2021, a student reported catching Halaberda making hand movements during a Zoom lesson that suggested the teacher was masturbating.
Halaberda denied the allegation, attributing the hand movement to his "nervous habit" of rapidly shaking his leg up and down, ABE records show.
The former high school English teacher was additionally accused of having a pornographic website bookmarked on his district-issued computer.
"The District’s Director of Technology stated that it was difficult to be certain how the bookmark came to be on Educator Halaberda’s computer," ABE records state.
Halaberda resigned from the school district in May 2021 after a video of the Zoom call was reportedly shared on social media, records show.
During Monday's board meeting, Halaberda continued to insist that he did nothing wrong.
"I'd like to restate once again that I'm innocent of the allegations before me," Halaberda said during the meeting, "I never masturbated in a Zoom call or accessed porn on any district computer."
The board voted to adopt a recommendation to revoke Halaberda's license, which was made by its professional practices advisory committee.
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