See You In Court! CABE Monthly Column
“See You In Court!” is written by Thomas Mooney and appears in the CABE Journal, a publication of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.
With the start of the school year, Bob Bombast, veteran member of the Nutmeg Board of Education, invited parents and employees to email him with their various complaints so that he could do his “constituent service.” After receiving the first email, Bob decided to act.
In the email, a parent complained to Bob about her son’s fourth grade teacher and the principal. She explained that her son’s new teacher took roll on the first day of school and had the students introduce themselves. When it was her son’s turn, the teacher remarked, “Wow, you are a scrawny one. Don’t your parents feed you?” Understandably, her son came home upset because he was already self-conscious about his slight frame.
Bob was surprised when he read further. The parent went on to say that she promptly called Peter Principal to complain, who expressed appropriate concern and promised to take care of it. However, sadly, the teacher made the situation worse. At the end of the next school day, she took the student aside and spoke with him privately. The teacher told the student that she was sorry that he could not take a joke, and she promised not to make any more jokes about him so that he would not “go home and cry to mommy again.”
Bob was outraged to hear this, and he told the parent that he would take care of it. With that, Bob asked Ms. Chairperson to add a new item to the agenda for the next Board meeting – “discussion and possible action on a parent complaint,” which she did.
Mr. Superintendent invited Peter Principal to attend the meeting that followed. When the Board reached the agenda item involving this complaint, Ms. Chairperson called for a motion to convene in executive session, and when it passed, she invited Mr. Superintendent and Peter Principal to join the Board in executive session.
Bob started the discussion with a hostile question: “Mr. Principal, what on earth is going on at your school?” Peter responded that he thought he handled the issue appropriately and that he should not be blamed for the teacher’s exacerbating the situation with her ill-advised follow-up conversation with the student.
Bob continued with his harsh tone. “Why didn’t you place the teacher on administrative leave to investigate her first comment?” he demanded. Peter looked at Mr. Superintendent and asked if he should have union representation, but Bob interrupted. “We are just trying to get the facts here. If the Board decides to impose discipline, we will give you all the union representation you could want. Now please just answer my question!”
Peter told Bob that there was nothing to investigate. He explained that the teacher admitted to making the comment when he met with her, and that he had acted appropriately by directing her to be more sensitive with her students.
“Well,” Bob responded, “we saw how well that turned out! Mr. Superintendent, it is clear to me that this teacher must be fired. When are you going to follow through?”
Mr. Superintendent told Bob that he should stand down because the supervision of staff is his responsibility, not the Board’s. Moreover, he said, Board members should not be making judgments about teachers because they must remain impartial in case they must later consider a recommendation for termination.
