A South Shore teacher who was suspended because of his music video will soon be returning to class.
Chad Ashe accused the New Frontiers School Board of racism for the disciplinary action against him, after the 34-year-old rapper was suspended from his job at the New Frontiers School Board for showing students one of his music videos
The suspension will be lifted next week.
“I’ll be back to school on Monday,” Ashe told Global News.
Ashe says he had a meeting with officials from the school board and Howard S. Billings Regional High School on Tuesday, where he found out he’d be able to teach again.
“The meeting was very tense,” he recounted. “I asked questions, the principal and the school board would only answer me with ‘no comment.'”
In addition to being a teacher, Ashe makes music.
A complaint about the video for his song Wahala, which shows him with his real-life girlfriend in bathing suits by a pool drinking wine, was what got him in hot water.
He says during an ice-breaking exercise, he told some 13- and 14-year-old students that he’s also a recording artist. They asked to see his work, so he obliged.
He claims he was told just one complaint sparked the investigation and suspension.
“It’s not fair that one person could taint my name on paper,” he said.
Ashe still feels strongly that there was a racial component to the suspension.
“I don’t think that this would have went as far as it did if it wasn’t for the way I look. I truly don’t,” Ashe told Global News.
He says he’s been blown away by the support he’s received from the community since he went public.
A parent of one of his students even started an online petition demanding the school allow him to get back to teaching. It has garnered over 1,000 signatures.
“It’s amazing. I would like to thank everybody that supported me,” he said.
In a statement, the New Frontiers School Board confirmed his return to class.
“It is felt that the situation has been resolved in the best of interest of everyone involved, but especially for our students,” the board said in an email statement.
Unhappy with how the process played out, Ashe says he will be filing a grievance through his union.
For now, he says he’s excited to get back to his students, but worries it might be his last session at New Frontiers,
“They’re going to let me finish my contract, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be back at the school board next year because I was vocal about it,” he said.
He says he’s already had offers from other boards and sees the whole ordeal is a teachable moment,.
“Life is life. You know, there are going to be times where it’s unfair. There are going to be times when it’s fair. When it’s unfair, fight for what’s yours and don’t back down, never back down.”