The director of a Toronto day school resigned in a controversy over explicit poetry on his Web site.
David Prashker, who heads the Reform Leo Baeck Jewish Day School, quit Friday following an outcry from parents.
Earlier in the week, six poems written by Prashker had been circulated to a handful of parents in an anonymous e-mail. The writer of the e-mail questioned whether parents should trust the director with their children.
Some of Prashker’s poems used the F word and vivid sexual imagery. One started with the line “the first act of killing is the hardest” and ended with “the second time is remarkably straightforward.”
It isn’t clear when Prashker, who describes himself as a poet, playwright and novelist, wrote the verses.
Whether Prashker should be fired was the subject of a spirited debate in the Toronto Jewish community.
His resignation takes effect Aug. 31. Until then, Prashker is on leave from the school, which enrolls 800 students on two campuses.
