Overview

• Dorothee Feller told the Landtag the conduct was unacceptable and described it as grave individual misconduct, stressing it does not represent NRW’s teachers.
• Düsseldorf’s Regierungspräsident Thomas Schürmann conceded “egregious errors,” citing the lack of an amtsärztliche order for years, ignored school warnings, and a 2017 rebooking that removed the teacher from her Wesel school’s rolls.
• Disciplinary proceedings are underway against the teacher and the long-responsible caseworker, and regional checks reported by the ministry found no further comparable cases.
• Court decisions upheld the state’s order for an official medical, including psychiatric, examination and criticized the authorities for prolonged inaction.
• The ministry does not yet know how many long-term absences lack official review and will collect the data, as media reports suggest other lengthy cases such as an alleged five-year absence in Bornheim.