South Windsor High School Teacher Resigns Over Sexually Explicit Poem Read in Class

The South Windsor High School English teacher who shared Allen Ginsberg’s sexually explicit 1968 poem “Please, Master” with students in his class has resigned, according to the Hartford Courant.

The Courant reports that the resignation of David Olio, who has taught at the school since 1996, will be effective at the end of the 2015-16 school year and he will remain on administrative leave until then.

The resignation was a mutual decision reached by Superintendent Kate Carter, the South Windsor Education Association and Olio, according to the Courant.

The incident occurred on Feb. 25 and Carter notified Olio in March that the district had begun the termination process.

According to Carter’s letter notifying him of the termination process, via NBC Connecticut, Olio asked students if they had a poem to share on Feb. 25 and one student showed him his copy of “Please Master” and despite the student’s objections, Olio “insisted” on sharing it with the rest of the class after reading through it.

Olio then shut the door and told his third-period AP English class, “I’m not going to say what happens in AP English stays in AP English, but...” before turning off the lights to project the poem on the white board, according to NBC.

Olio then used his school computer to show them a YouTube video restricted to adults of the author reading the poem and later led students in a discussion about the poem, according to NBC.

Read more of Olio’s resignation at the Hartford Courant here.