More fallout from teacher's participation on 'The Bachelor'

(5/01/07 - KTRK/SUGAR LAND, TX) (KTRK) -- There are new developments about a local teacher who's competing for love on the ABC reality show "The Bachelor."

We told you last month about Amber Alchalabi and how some parents were upset that she missed several days of school to tape the show. Now the district has taken action and it includes the principal at Amber's school being re-assigned.

Tammie Carpenter has worked for Fort Bend IDS for 15 years. She's upset about being reassigned, saying, "They can't really do anything to me. I've done nothing wrong."

Earlier this year, Carpenter signed a confidentiality agreement with the producers of "The Bachelor," promising not to talk about Amber's participation in the show. The school district tells us Alchalabi was absent from class for 22 days while taping 'The Bachelor.'

It's policy for any administrator to let the school district know when any employee is going to be absent for more than three consecutive days. The school district not only didn't know Alchalabi was gone so long, it says it didn't even know she was gone, didn't know she was participating in the show until after the fact.

Carpenter admits she made a poor judgment call in not telling her own supervisor, but in regard to her punishment, she says, "It's unfair. I'm the scapegoat."

Some parents agree.

"It absolutely was unfair," said Laura Winters, president of the Colony Bend PTO. "She made the best judgment that she could with what she had to work with. This has never happened before."

Winters says she's seen a flood of emails in support of the principal and teacher since this story first broke. She expects there will be an uproar among supporters.

"I think that it's ridiculous," she said. "No harm has come from this at all."

The company that produces the show for ABC has refused our request for comment. Carpenter says she will now likely quit and look for work elsewhere. Ft. Bend ISD won't say if the teacher involved with 'The Bachelor' has been reprimanded. We do know that she's made it to the final four in the show.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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