Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for June 27, 2006 KY TEACHER FILES SUIT

From the Paducah Sun...

Dye sues; job still unfilled

By Brian Peach

Tericka Dye has filed a suit in her latest effort to get her job back at Reidland High School as a science teacher and volleyball coach, the only posts that remain open for the 2006-07 school year.

"They have commitments on all the other positions," McCracken County school board attorney Gorman "Butch" Bradley said after talking with Principal Glen Ringstaff, who, along with five other council members, is responsible for all teacher hires at the school.

Ringstaff was out of town and instructed Bradley by phone to say that other positions had received commitments.

Bradley declined to say why Dye's position was the only one the council has not filled. Julie Schroeder, one of two parents on the board, also declined comment.

The other council members are teachers Michael Wood, Brian Bowland and Janice Housman. Bill O'Brien is the other parent on the council.

Dye was suspended in late April after an 11-year-old adult film featuring her surfaced and circulated among students and parents.

Dye's attorney, Mark Blankenship, said successful candidates for vacancies at Reidland were contacted on Thursday night and offered jobs. Dye had reapplied for her job, but did not receive a call.

"If the job's still open, I may ask for an injunction" to stop the hiring, Blankenship said.

He has already filed a lawsuit in McCracken Circuit Court seeking to force the state to hold a hearing to review her case and make a recommendation as to whether she should be rehired. A tribunal was denied earlier this month on technical grounds.

Blankenship maintains that Dye's suspension with pay was illegal and that her suspension was unconstitutional.

State law allows for tribunal hearings when a teacher receives a written reprimand, is fired or suspended without pay. A hearing officer ruled that Dye wasn't entitled to a tribunal because she was suspended with pay.

Blankenship, however, said action against Dye was equivalent to a reprimand. He noted that a May 3 letter to Dye from Superintendent Tim Heller stated, "Your presence in the classroom would cause a disruption to the educational process." He also banned her from school property.

Blankenship said that is as much of a reprimand as if a lawyer were banned from courtrooms across the state.

Scott Majors, a hearing officer with the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General, said the school system followed state law in suspending Dye.

"McCracken County Schools fully compiled with, and Dye was afforded and availed herself of, every procedure and protection provided by" state law, Majors said in his written ruling denying the tribunal.

Majors said Dye's contract "was not terminated but simply not renewed," and that "a teacher is not entitled to any hearing, adversary or otherwise, upon the non-renewal of her contract or upon the grounds assigned for the non-renewal."

A tribunal's ruling is not binding on a school system but only serves as a recommendation. Blankenship said a favorable ruling for Dye could help her get another job if she isn't rehired at Reidland. He said a court injunction granting a tribunal hearing could look good on her application if she's questioned by a future employer about what happened.