Over the weekend, the regiononereport received information from several anonymous sources that a teacher, a Housatonic High School faculty member, had been suspended. After some investigation, we found out the following: 1. The teacher’s classes were covered by Dave Bayersdorfer. 2. The teacher, who we will leave unnamed, had resigned. 3. A new teacher was hired as of Friday, March 9.
We do not recall hearing ANY of this at the last Region One Board of Education meeting: not in a report from the Superintendent, not in a report from the Assistant Superintendent, not in a report from the high school Principal, not in a report from the Vice Principal. Is this not information that should be given by some member of the administration in a report to the Board?
We checked with Region One Board Chair Phil Hart at 12:30 Sunday afternoon, March 18, who told us he has no knowledge of such events.
We confirmed with Dave Bayersdorfer that he did indeed get called in to substitute for a teacher in this time frame.
In describing the “Duties of boards of education,” the Connecticut Statutes Sec. 10-220 says among other things that “Each local or regional board of education shall. . . employ and dismiss the teachers of the schools of such district subject to the provisions of sections 10-151” [which describes the procedures and conditions for dismissing a teacher]. In other words, the BOARD OF EDUCATION hires and fires teachers.
Rumors about a history teacher who was suspended and is no longer teaching at the high school have been rampant in the region for more than a month. At a Kent Center School board of education meeting in February, a Kent parent raised the issue and allegedly the superintendent confirmed that the teacher was suspended and that an “investigation” was being conducted. (Unfortunately, CATV’s camera wasn’t there to record the meeting.)
The Region 1 Board of Education has not been informed of anything regarding the history teacher who is no longer teaching at the high school. If he was dismissed, the superintendent exceeded her authority in dismissing him because, according to the statute, it is the board that has the authority to hire teachers. If a new teacher was hired, the superintendent exceeded her authority because according to the statute and past practice, it is the board that has the authority to hire teachers.
If the chairman of the board is telling the truth and he knows nothing about this matter, the superintendent doesn’t even have the excuse that she informed the chairman of the board and he didn’t inform the other board members. If the chairman of the board is lying and he was told about these events, then he has exceeded his authority in withholding information from the rest of the board.
This is just the latest in a long, cascading series of secretive, behind-closed-doors maneuverings that have become standard operating procedure in the Regional School Services Center.
Thus far, this teacher has not been fire nor has a replacement been hired, exactly. The teacher was suspended and then did not return to work, I believe he took sick leave. Monday the 19th of March the rumor circulated that he had resigned. He is replaced by a permanent sub; the position will presumably be posted for next year.