September 11, 2003
The
Board of Directors of the Little Rock School District held a special session at
5:35 p.m. on Thursday September 11, 2003, immediately following the regularly
scheduled agenda meeting, in the Boardroom of the Administration Building, 810
West Markham Street, Little Rock, Arkansas.
President Judy Magness presided.
MEMBERS
PRESENT:
Judy Magness
Tony Rose
Larry Berkley
Mike Daugherty
Baker Kurrus
Katherine Mitchell
MEMBERS
ABSENT:
None
ALSO
PRESENT:
Morris L. Holmes, Interim Superintendent
Beverly Griffin, Recorder of Minutes
I. CALL TO ORDER
President Judy Magness called the
special meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. and stipulated a quorum without roll
call. All members of the Board were
present.
II. PURPOSE
OF THE MEETING
The printed agenda for the special meeting contained the following action
items:
A. Personnel Changes
B. Review of PTAS – Attendance Component
C. Student Expulsion / Reinstatement Petition
D. Employee Hearing
III. ACTION
AGENDA:
A. Personnel
Changes
Beverly Williams presented a report of
recommendations for personnel changes, including a proposed salary placement
schedule for Interpreters and Instructional Assistants. Mr. Berkley made a motion to approve the
personnel items as presented. Dr.
Daugherty seconded the motion and it carried
unanimously.
B. Review of
PTAS – Attendance Component
Sadie Mitchell and Lloyd Sain presented a
recommendation for modifications to the Professional Teacher Appraisal System
component related to teacher attendance.
Ms. Mitchell and Mr. Sain reviewed the process used to develop the
revisions and Board members questioned the need to revise the document they
previously approved in May 2003.
Mr. Rose invited Katherine Wright Knight, CTA
President, for her viewpoint on the changes.
She noted that a committee of administrators and teachers had met over
the course of two days to develop the changes, which would make the attendance
component more acceptable to the CTA membership. The membership was scheduled to meet to review and approve the
PTAS and she felt that without the changes to the attendance component, the
evaluation instrument would not be accepted by the union membership.
Dr. Holmes recommended approval of the
revisions. Dr. Mitchell made a motion
to accept the recommendations presented by the administration. The motion died for lack of second.
The Superintendent asked the Board for guidance and
further direction on moving forward with the PTAS process. After a lengthy discussion, the Board stated
that there was no action necessary as the document was approved with an
evaluation component in May and that their intent was for that document to
stand as approved. Mr. Kurrus noted
that the PTAS document was acceptable to the CTA when it was approved in May
and that it was difficult to understand the need to water-down the attendance
component. It was understood and agreed
among the Board members at that time (May) that one of the most important
incentives in the process of teacher evaluation was attendance. Several Board members spoke to the
importance of having the teacher present in the classroom for optimal
achievement by the students.
Prior to the Board going into an executive session,
Dr. Mitchell presented Board President Judy Magness with a gavel in recognition
of her service on the Board. Ms.
Magness did not run for re-election, and this was to be her final meeting as a
Board member. Dr. Mitchell expressed appreciation
for Ms. Magness’ dedication, commitment and devotion to the children of the
LRSD. Ms. Magness left the meeting at
7:00 p.m. Vice President Rose presided
for the remainder of the meeting
C. Student
Expulsion / Reinstatement Petitions
Mr. Rose moved for an executive session at 7:10
p.m. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Berkley and passed unanimously.
Dr. Watson presented a petition for a student to
enter the LRSD after being expelled from Catholic High School. The student was in the tenth grade at
Catholic High and was expelled for harassing, tackling and swinging his belt
towards other students. An incident at
Catholic High had resulted in disciplinary action against several other
students, but this was the only student who had requested placement in the
LRSD.
Dr. Watson recommended enrollment and placement at
the Alternative Learning Center for a minimum of one semester. After the probationary period, the student
could qualify for placement in a regular school setting. Mr. Berkley made a motion to approve the
administration’s recommendation for placement.
Dr. Mitchell seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
D. Employee
Hearing
The Board immediately convened a closed employee
hearing. Attorney Jack Kearney
represented the employee. Khayyam
Eddings represented the LRSD.
A Department Director for the District recommended
termination of an employee after a history of reprimands for tardiness,
excessive absences, and suspicions of reporting to work under the influence of
alcohol. He presented documentation of
a specific instance where the employee’s behavior resulted in his referring her
to the Safety & Security office for drug and alcohol testing.
The letter of termination from Interim Superintendent
Don Stewart, dated June 16, 2003, recommended termination for 1) testing
positive for alcohol and 2) refusing to take a drug test. The employee appealed the termination and
has been on administrative leave since that time.
John Anderson and Bennie McDonald, Safety &
Security officers for the District testified to their contact with the employee
on June 12, 2003, the day she presented at the office of Safety & Security
for the alcohol test. She was transported
to Arkansas Medical Testing Laboratories where two alcohol breathalyzer tests
were administered. The first one indicated a .039 rating; the second test
indicated a .032. The lab report
indicated that individuals who rate at .02 or greater are considered
intoxicated and should not be allowed to drive, perform safety-sensitive
duties, or operate heavy equipment. The
employee would not sign or consent to drug testing.
The employee testified that she suffered from severe
and chronic illnesses and that on the night prior to June 12, she had been ill
and had trouble sleeping. She told the
Board that she had prepared a ”toddy” which consisted of one shot of alcohol,
honey, lemon and tea. She denied being
intoxicated, and said that she drove herself to work and to the Safety &
Security office when directed to do so by her department director.
The employee asked the Board to overturn the
administration’s recommendation for termination. She stated that she was confident in her abilities to do her job
and that she was a good employee. Her
attorney, Mr. Kearney, argued that there were good reasons to find that the
employee was not properly referred for testing and that she was being denied
the opportunity to pursue her livelihood.
He stated several incidents where proper documentation was not evident
and stated that the department director was acting in bad faith to
terminate.
The Board retired to deliberate at 8:50 p.m. and
returned to the boardroom at
9:00 p.m. Mr. Kurrus thanked the
attorneys present, and stated that normally grounds for termination deserve
that sanction. However, he made a
motion stating:
“Rather than accept the administration’s
recommendation for termination, we would ask that the employee be placed on a
six-month strict probation. Any further
violations of attendance policies, drug or alcohol abuse would result in
termination.”
Mr. Berkley seconded the motion, and stressed that
“any similar or continued behavior in violation of policies will result in
termination.” He further remarked that
everyone should be given the opportunity for documented progressive
discipline.
The motion carried unanimously.
Dr. Mitchell stressed to the employee that she was being given an opportunity to have her job back, but that she would be expected to follow the rules and that any violation of District policies would result in termination. Dr. Mitchell also encouraged the employee to take advantage of all assistance available to her to maintain her health.
IV. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the Board,
the meeting adjourned at
9:15 p.m. on a motion by Mr. Kurrus, seconded by Mr. Berkley.
APPROVED:
_ 09-25-03 __ Originals
Signed by:
Tony
Rose, Vice President
Larry Berkley, Secretary