A version of this story appears in TheDailyNorwalk.com
The Board of Education ignored the recommendation of an of an impartial panel and fired Oscar Williams, a tenured middle school teacher, for abusive conduct towards students. Bruce Mellion, president of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers that represents Williams, says the board did not follow the proper procedures when firing the math teacher at Ponus Ridge Middle School.
"This is not an emotional issue but a legal issue," says Mellion. "The administration has to pass a very high bar to terminate a teacher. They did not prove the case. They didn't follow the rules and procedures." Mellion adds that "This has cost the taxpayers." He estimates the cost at $300,000 to 350,000, including the administrative leave and lawyers fees. Williams plans on seeking "recourse," says Mellion. "It will move to a court setting."
The board voted, 7-1, vote to fire Williams after reviewing the 54-page report by the three-member panel. "The findings showed enough evidence for termination," said Board Chair Glenn Ianaccone, who said the panel's findings are not binding. Board Member Steven Colarossi voted against termination and Jack Chiaramonte was not present at the meeting.
In June 2008, Williams, a Norwalk teacher since 2000, was put on paid administrative leave. School administrators cited poor teaching, inappropriate and abusive conduct towards students and his refusal to follow his supervisors. On many occasions, Williams used crude language. He called a student "a punk" and told another one that she "looked skanky." Williams told students to "shut up." He asked a student "how would you feel if your mother was a whore," and later explained it as a "teachable moment." The administration claims that Williams did not show up to meetings and administered the wrong Connecticut Mastery Test.
The panel's recommendation to not terminate Williams hinged on the lack of a paper trail. "There were no written warning or suspensions in Williams' file, " states the report. "The evidence showed that Williams was never disciplined for any reason, including the alleged misconduct giving rise to this matter." In addition, there were only two written evaluations on file in which Williams was deemed proficient. Of the three panel members, one member supported termination.
"This is not an emotional issue but a legal issue," says Mellion. "The administration has to pass a very high bar to terminate a teacher. They did not prove the case. They didn't follow the rules and procedures." Mellion adds that "This has cost the taxpayers." He estimates the cost at $300,000 to 350,000, including the administrative leave and lawyers fees. Williams plans on seeking "recourse," says Mellion. "It will move to a court setting."
The board voted, 7-1, vote to fire Williams after reviewing the 54-page report by the three-member panel. "The findings showed enough evidence for termination," said Board Chair Glenn Ianaccone, who said the panel's findings are not binding. Board Member Steven Colarossi voted against termination and Jack Chiaramonte was not present at the meeting.
In June 2008, Williams, a Norwalk teacher since 2000, was put on paid administrative leave. School administrators cited poor teaching, inappropriate and abusive conduct towards students and his refusal to follow his supervisors. On many occasions, Williams used crude language. He called a student "a punk" and told another one that she "looked skanky." Williams told students to "shut up." He asked a student "how would you feel if your mother was a whore," and later explained it as a "teachable moment." The administration claims that Williams did not show up to meetings and administered the wrong Connecticut Mastery Test.
The panel's recommendation to not terminate Williams hinged on the lack of a paper trail. "There were no written warning or suspensions in Williams' file, " states the report. "The evidence showed that Williams was never disciplined for any reason, including the alleged misconduct giving rise to this matter." In addition, there were only two written evaluations on file in which Williams was deemed proficient. Of the three panel members, one member supported termination.
Posts
It may finally be time that someone looked into what is going on(or not going on) at Ponus Ridge. Usually these personnel decisions are kept out of the media in general. Why the sudden transparency? The administration at Ponus has been very adept at keeping a lid on most of the fallout at this school. It would not surprise to see Mr. Williams counter with a much better result for himself, basically because it appears the "experts" blew it again. Perhaps Mr. Colarossi, being a lawyer, knew better and decided to dissent. Interesting that tax watchdog Chiaramonte was absent. Too bad for Norwalk taxpayers on this one. They are already in the hole, and are about to go further into the abyss. And this just happens to be a case that was publicized. It is the tip of the iceberg, ironically, in a year that the BOE attempts to rein in legal costs.
ReplyDeleteWhy was there no paper trail with appropriate performance reviews? As usual the kids of Norwalk will suffer due this lack of management of personnel. I would recommend that there be some disciplinary action for individuals who did not peform their job and document the inappropriate behavior. Oh wait a second, will we also need to provide legal support because someone did not do their job as a manager and then need to defend the NPS for disciplining this manager?
ReplyDeleteIt is only money that could be spend educating our children - no need to worry.
Keep the pressure on for accountability!
ReplyDeleteThis story infuriates me. Williams will probably get a big payout when in fact he should not have been teaching at Ponus in the first place. My child was at Ponus during Williams’ tenure there and it was common knowledge among students and parents that he was not fit to be a teacher. Why was he given tenure and why was his performance not properly reviewed/documented by Sumpter?
ReplyDeleteWhy did the Ponus principal not start the paper trail? I hope someone looks into this!
ReplyDeleteWhy is the headline that the Union backs the teacher? Shouldn't the headline be: "Ruotolo Strikes Again!"
ReplyDeleteTo those who voted to renew her contract, thanks for costing us still more money.
We paid this guy for one year before we gave him notice to fire him! Outrageous.
Doesn't Supt. Marks realize that all the money she wants for education is being spent by the HR department due to incompetence?????????
We haven't heard from the new superintendent. Isn't anyone going to ask her about this?
ReplyDeleteThe new superintendent could care less, or should she, about what happened in this district 2+ years ago. There are still many live bodies available to be called to question. Ruotolo? Don't ask. Sumpter? Ditto. New BOE? Like The Who once said, "Meet the new boss...same as the old boss"...To be sure, many will "ask" Susan Marks about this case, but it really is not her problem. And that's the way it is...with apologies to the late Walter Cronkite.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that the new superintendent does care very much about what has happened. The fact is that she is still responsible for picking up yet more of the mess left by others.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that Mrs. Ruotolo and the principal are not the only ones to blame. I'd also question the board's legal counsel that didn't stop them from making a bad decision, and I mean bad because the necessary documentation was missing.
No paper trail? What more does it take to make people realize the basics? I agree with an earlier posting that said Mr. Colarossi is more attentive to the true legal issues at stake, and that is the reason he dissented, but it shouldn't take an attorney to understand how badly this situation was handled. While I hope that this ineptitude doesn't end up rewarding a bad teacher, I know this is at least going to cost the taxpayers a lot of money in legal costs.
Accountability, where is thy sting?
While Marks inherited this mess, she still needs to act on it. A paper trail needs to be started on the principal. Marks needs to make sure it is done.
ReplyDelete12:51 you are right on. Ruotolo needs to go. She has proven herself incapable of doing her job. The amount of money she costs the taxpayers is shameful. I'm sure Marks will terminate her by the end of the year. The district needs time to recruit a new competent person. Lets hope they find one fast.
ReplyDeleteThe school principal has the direct responsibility to start a paper trail here. Where is it? Why wasn't it started? What's the real story here?
ReplyDeleteThe district's attorneys aren't stupid. Something else is going on. What is it?
The new supt. asked the BOE to fire the teacher-- it wouldn't have been before the Board of Ed if she hadn't put it there.
ReplyDeleteFor all her talk about accountablity, I haven't seen it. She was silent when Ruotolo got a full year sweatheart deal. She didn't do anything when Colarossi challenged the money paid to interims. It is just more of the same.
Hope I'm wrong- but I don't see much changing.
They also need time to "paper" Ruotolo's file or we will be in the same position again.
ReplyDelete4:14 - I may be mistaken, but I don't think she was on the job yet when Ruotolo and Daddona got their contracts. We don't have a way to know what conversation she had with the board about the contracts, and she certainly wouldn't put her comments out there for the public.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time someone challenged the interims.
The 44 page decesion by the panel, based on fact not hear say, clearly lays out how poor a job the central office administration did in this case and how they did not follow their own procedures. In every single case where a tenured or non tenured teacher has not meet the requirements and has been given full due process with the necessary support I have recommended they vol. resign and they have. This case was a prime example of how to do it totally wrong and by the time it is over waste $500,000 of the tax papers money. So far no one is being held accountable and the waste continues. If you read the decesion, which is public, you will just not believe it and it will make your blood boil. Bruce LeVine Mellion President Norwalk Federation of Teachers
ReplyDelete