Châteauguay teacher suspended following music video complaint

UPDATE : Teacher suspended by New Frontiers will return to work

“I don’t want wahala” [I don’t want any trouble], sings Chad Ashe, hip-hop artist and Châteauguay high school teacher, in the music video for his song Wahala. But wahala, as we say in Nigeria, problems, he got. On November 12, Ashe was suspended with pay for 10 days from his job at the New Frontiers School Board following a complaint against his music video.

That’s the reason he was given for his suspension, he alleges.

In the video published on YouTube on August 27, Ashe can be seen in the courtyard of a house with a woman, sometimes in the pool. They flirt and drink champagne in their swimsuits. Later, they take a walk in a field.

“There is no negativity, there is no cursing [in the song], none of that. And it’s the same thing with the video. There is nothing there that can be deemed damaging,” expressed the teacher, who finds that both the complaint and the suspension are without merit.

“I just feel like I’m being targeted, by I don’t know who yet, because of the popularity that I have among the kids because I’m a recording artist, and because I don’t look like a conventional teacher”, he says. “I look more like a rapper than like a teacher.”  

The English, mathematics and geography teacher says he suspects that racism is also behind this incident. “I’m pretty sure that if you saw the video and I looked like Justin Bieber instead of Chris Brown, I don’t think I would have had the same problems,” he says, adding that it's not the first time that "weird, vague accusations" have been made against him since becoming an educator.

Screen capture from the video called "Chad Ashe & D3an - Wahala." (Photo : YouTube)

According to Ashe, he attended an initial hearing on November 18, where he was informed that an investigation was underway. Following a second hearing on November 25, no decision on the status of his suspension was announced.

Ongoing investigation

When questioned by Le Soleil de Châteauguay, New Frontiers initially declined to comment. However, in an email sent on November 26, the school board’s director general, Rob Buttars, said that the situation with Ashe was brought to their attention “via parental concerns.”

“We are working with Mr. Ashe to look into the concerns raised and are working to resolve the situation in the best interest of everyone concerned,” added Buttars, who didn’t confirm whether the music video was the reason for the suspension.

For his part, Ashe assures he contacted his union because he wants to defend himself. “[The New Frontiers School Board] is going to have to explain why it took such a drastic decision when this could hurt my career. Because sometimes, just accusing somebody is enough.”

Chateauguay Valley Teachers' Association president Nick Ross declined to comment, as the investigation is still ongoing.

Chad Ashe was working at Gabrielle-Roy high school as part of an exchange program with the Centre de services scolaire des Grandes-Seigneuries when the complaint was made. Along with his students in the Option-études program, he was scheduled to return to Howard S. Billings High School for the second half of the school year.