The Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board approved an agreement last week with a former Duluth Public Schools teacher for him to voluntarily surrender his teaching license.
Matthew Pursi is a former Denfeld High School English teacher and theater director. According to the stipulation agreement and consent order approved by the licensing board and signed by Pursi, he was placed on administrative leave Feb. 11, 2019, by the district pending an investigation into allegations made by a student.
Documents state that a student alleges they and Pursi “engaged in inappropriate communications and actions which crossed proper student/teacher boundaries, prior to the student’s graduation from high school.”
Pursi allegedly met the 18-year-old student while they were both working on the school play in spring 2016 and he would occasionally give the student rides home after play rehearsal.
Pursi resigned March 18, 2019. His attorney, Marshall Tanick, told the News Tribune his client denies any wrongdoing.
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“Mr. Pursi has been a fine educator for more than a decade and has decided to move on to another career,” Tanick said.
State law requires a school board or other school hiring authority to contact the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board before hiring a new teacher to determine if disciplinary action has ever been taken against the individual.
