Why parents are defending longtime teacher who drew penises on students’ school forms

They say she’s the full package!

Students and parents defended a longtime Colorado teacher who could lose her job for drawing cartoon penises on yearbooks — saying she’s an “unwavering source of support” who shouldn’t get the shaft from administrators.

Supporters of Fairview High School teacher Rebecca Roetto flocked to a school board meeting in Boulder Tuesday night to slam the longtime wellness teacher’s dismissal over “sexual harassment” allegations as trumped up and totally nuts, The Denver Post reported.

“Miss Roetto has spent her career speaking up for those of us who don’t have a voice,” said former student Jennifer Contreras Robles, who’s now a sophomore at the University of Colorado.

“There are real problems at Fairview, and Miss Roetto is not one of them. She is the kindest, most supportive teacher that I have had.”

Roetto, who teaches Wellness in Action and yoga and bowling classes, stands accused of drawing wieners on 10 students’ school forms, along with some yearbooks as an apparent joke in May.

On the day she drew them, students had showed up to class to find dozens of penises scrawled on the building — in what may have been an end-of-year senior prank.

Later in the day, Roetto didn’t have a stamp she needed to mark a “check-out” form for seniors’ graduation — so students quipped that she should simply draw a penis in its place, speakers said at the meeting.

She playfully obliged but a school security guard saw one and reported it. 

In August, she was placed on paid leave following an investigation by the school district, according to the paper.

The district found that she engaged in “misconduct” and exhibited inappropriate behavior with students “that constitutes sexual harassment,” according to the paper.

“Was what happened a mistake? Yes,” said Randi Hart, who worked with Roetto as a substitute teacher. “Should a 20-year career go down the drain because of it? No.”

Parent Katherine Francis also defended Roetto at the meeting, saying her advocacy for students — and criticism of school culture — may be the real reason she was punished.

“I can’t help but wonder if what we’re witnessing today is retaliation for her using her voice to draw attention to these failures in our schools,” Francis said.

She said Roetto was ballsy enough to support students who were the victims of sexual assault and had recently called for more transparency at the school.

Other speakers described Roetto as an “unwavering source of support” for kids and said a dumb mistake shouldn’t result in her firing.

Roetto has been on paid leave since Aug. 7 and didn’t speak at Tuesday’s meeting.

The issue was not on the school board’s official agenda, so board members didn’t comment.

Roetto also runs the school’s Adelante! program, which supports first-generation students.