SEATTLE – A Seattle high school choir teacher fired for drinking and violating other rules on a school field trip was reinstated by a judge this week, and she’s heading back to the classroom.

Seattle Public Schools fired Garfield High School choir teacher Carol Burton in August over an investigation into a March 2015 field trip to New Orleans that revealed Burton and other chaperones consumed alcohol, and two female students were allegedly groped by a male student on the trip, Fox Q13 reports.

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Burton appealed her termination and argued that she only consumed 2 ½ alcoholic drinks on the 5-day trip, and district officials were partially at fault for not alerting her to the offending student’s history of similar behavior. She also argued that the district’s field trip policies were unclear.

On Tuesday, nine months after her termination, a King County judge sided with Burton and ordered Seattle Public Schools to reinstate the 51-year-old choir teacher.

“Retired Judge George Finkle, who presided over Burton’s termination hearing, wrote that her misconduct was significant, but given her contributions to the Garfield community, her mistakes shouldn’t have resulted in her termination. If he had the option to reduce her punishment, he said he would have imposed a one-year suspension,” The Seattle Times reports.

“Thank God, it’s over,” Burton shouted as she pumped her fists at a news conference after getting the news. “I’m back, baby.”

District officials were less excited.

“We are disappointed that the district’s decision was not upheld. Seattle Public Schools determined she violated policy … and the district believed it was important to send a clear message that student safety is a top priority,” the district said in a prepared statement.

“The judge agreed with the district that Ms. Burton engaged in misconduct, but he reversed the district’s decision to terminate her. We will continue to review the findings to determine next steps.”

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Burton, who was named the 2016 Outstanding Music Educator of the Year by the Washington State Education Association teachers union, told Fox Q13 that she planned to be back in class today.

“It’s been 13 months away from the kids that I love, the community that I love, the program that I built,” Burton said. “Just for the resilience of the kids, they’ve hung on and kind of just hoped out of hope that I would get back, and so I’m just overjoyed.”

Burton allegedly told The Seattle Times a district lawyer informed her attorney should would receive a fresh termination letter at the end of the week, according to Fox Q13.

Burton posed with a copy of the decision and her attorney for a picture posted to Facebook last night.

“OMG I’m so glad Ms. Carol Burton. We need you back in concert choir because we are have (sic) the worst moments in choir,” Jose Calindo Bonilla posted in response. “Hope to see you asap …”

“So happy for you!” Angela Peck added.

“Yes! Yes yes yes!” Angela Iadanza wrote.

Others who posted responses to the news online are quite as thrilled.

“Public employees are nearly impossible to fire for misconduct,” getharvey posted to MyNorthwest.com. “Yet another example.”

“Welcome to the world of teachers unions,” 90spowerballad wrote.

“No wonder the classrooms lack funds. Districts have to spend funds defending their decisions to fire a person who broke school policy and who lacks the common sense one would expect from an adult,” Why_Man wrote in the Times comments.

Commenter mossback 5 added:

So what lesson should we expect the students to take from this?  Break the rules and it’s OK, as long as you have:

  1. a) A union
  2. b) A good lawyer
  3. c) A mob who will rally to your cause regardless of what you did

Check all that apply.

Not saying the district is clean – mistakes were made on both sides.  I’m just tired of people pontificating about the need for consequences until it comes time for them to weasel out of something.