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Sadly,
but occasionally, professional employees of public school systems across
It
should be remembered that most professional employees of public schools
in The
state law lists a series of grounds to dismiss or demote a professional
employee. One is
“conviction of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.”
Note that a “conviction” is required.
An arrest is not sufficient to dismiss an employee.
In many cases where there is an arrest, but no conviction, public
schools are left in that uncomfortable position of having an employee
subject to criminal, sometimes serious criminal, charges but no
conviction. This is unavoidable under existing law.
The
state law provides that a professional employee may be suspended with
pay for an internal investigation of whether grounds exist for
dismissing the employee. The
suspension is limited to 90 days and, with the agreement of the
employee, can be extended beyond 90 days. But
if a superintendent suspends a professional employee without pay,
state law requires the superintendent to initiate a dismissal proceeding
within five days – a very short time.
The
dismissal proceeding involves a hearing before either a “case
manager” appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in
Raleigh, or before the local board of education, to determine if
sufficient evidence exists to justify a dismissal.
The employee chooses the type of hearing he wants.
This hearing is trial-like and there are standards of evidence to
protect the accused. An
arrest, for even a serious crime, without a conviction, is not evidence
that will justify a dismissal. A
wise superintendent will not start a dismissal process until he has
evidence that will hold up during the hearing.
He simply cannot put his case together quickly enough to meet the
short time for the expedited hearing process provided by state law.
Again, if the superintendent suspends a professional employee
without pay, a dismissal process must start within 5 days.
If law enforcement agencies are involved, particularly for off
campus conduct, it can take weeks for a superintendent to get evidence
that will justify a dismissal and a superintendent will want to avoid a
situation where he has initiated a dismissal but does not have the
evidence that will hold up in the hearing.
As
a result, most initial suspensions are with pay, to give the
superintendent time to investigate.
During the investigation if the superintendent finds that he can
produce evidence that justifies dismissal independent
of the arrest, he is often permitted by state law to then begin
dismissal proceedings. With
that evidence in hand, he can change the suspension to without pay
and begin a dismissal proceeding within the required five days. The
Carteret County Public Schools, the District Attorney’s Office and all
local law enforcement offices have excellent working relationships.
It has been our experience that once a criminal investigation is
concluded, and that can take weeks, the law enforcement agencies share
their evidence with the superintendent.
In some cases, this will allow the superintendent to begin a
dismissal proceeding against an employee before the criminal trial is
concluded. To
summarize, state law provides the procedures for the dismissal of
professional public school employees.
All Americans are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
An arrest is not evidence of guilt.
A suspension without pay triggers a mandatory dismissal
proceeding to commence within five days.
The process includes a hearing to determine if there is
sufficient evidence to justify a dismissal.
Particularly with allegations of off campus criminal activity,
local superintendents often do not get evidence from law enforcement
agencies for weeks after an arrest.
As a result, most suspensions are with pay to give the
superintendent time to determine if enough evidence exists to justify a
dismissal.
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