Former Summit High School art teacher and local potter John Kinder had his teaching license revoked Sept. 12 for offering a student marijuana, smelling of alcohol during the school day and leaving his class unattended, according to the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission, the state’s education licensing and regulatory agency.

Kinder was employed by Bend-La Pine Schools during the 2022-23 school year, when these incidents took place. He had been licensed to teach art since 2007 and was hired by the district for a full-time teaching position in April 2016.

He was placed on paid leave after the incidents in February 2023, said district Communications Director Scott Maben. Bend-La Pine Schools hired another art teacher for the school after Kinder resigned from the district in June 2023.

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On or around Feb. 2, 2023, while skiing at Hoodoo Ski Area, Kinder offered a 15-year-old male Bend-La Pine Schools student “a ‘hit’ of marijuana from a vape pen and some hallucinogenic mushrooms,” according to the commission’s report.

On or around Feb. 10, 2023, Kinder was late to work, had slurred speech and was overheard talking about his late night drinking, the commission report said. Summit High Principal Michael McDonald observed Kinder “having difficulty forming words” in the morning, according to the report. After McDonald left to contact a school resource officer, Kinder told his class a substitute teacher would be there soon and left school for a nearby park. McDonald found him there, where Kinder “admitted to struggling with alcohol,” according to the report.

Kinder was told not to contact any students during the ensuing district investigation. Kinder subsequently spoke to one to three students in person and text messaged with an additional four to seven students about what had happened, according to the report.

The commission received a misconduct report from Bend-La Pine Schools in June 2023 and began its own investigation a month later. Though it was requested, Kinder did not participate in an interview with the commission in November. Kinder was able to request a hearing in May but did not do so, and his license was revoked by default. The commission required Kinder complete an approved drug and alcohol evaluation before he could apply to have his license reinstated.

“Licensed educators are held to high standards for professional practices and ethical conduct, with the goal of protecting children. The District is satisfied with the conclusion of this case,” Maben said in a statement.

Kinder is a local potter and has donated thousands of bowls to NeighborImpact’s Local Bowls event over the past two decades. Kinder also sells his pottery in local stores and was a ceramics professor at Central Oregon Community College.

Kinder told The Bulletin Tuesday he felt it best to resign and that he is now working on the issues that previously affected his professionalism.

Kinder completed a drug and alcohol program immediately after the incidents and has continuously remained sober since, he said.

“I continue to seek help with mental illness, depression and anxiety as well as pursue my career in ceramics education and the ceramic arts,” he wrote in a text message. He said he has no plans to reinstate his license because he’s felt “mis and underrepresented by my teacher union and school administration.”