Judge orders hearing in teacher dismissal lawsuit
Fayetteville School Board must hear Dial's appeal
Posted: July 30, 2009 at 6:57 a.m.
FAYETTEVILLE — A judge has ruled that the Fayetteville School Board must provide a dismissal hearing for a McNair Middle School teacher the district did not rehire for the upcoming school year.
Benjamin Dial, of Elkins, was notified April 29 thathis employment with the school would end at the end of the 2008-2009 school year, according to his lawsuit against the district filed on June 23.
The school has refused to allow a hearing, as required under the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, even though Dial's attorney, Charles Kester, requested a hearing before the board in a letter dated May 21, according to the lawsuit.
Washington County Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn signed an order Wednesday requiring the district to provide a hearing under the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act before refusing to renew his contract. Kester said he expects a hearing to be scheduled within 20 days.
The judge's decision does not mean that Dial will get his job back, just that the school must provide himwith the required hearing before deciding not to renew his contract. Dial did not seek monetary damages in his complaint.
Kester said that Dial is hopeful that he'll get a fair chance to plead his case at the hearing.
"He just wants his day in court," Kester said.
Greg Mones, the school's director of human resources, told Dial in an April 29 letter that he was hired as a probationary teacher in August and that he was placed on individual improvement plan on Feb. 27. Dial failed to complete three of the five goals in the plan, according to the letter.
According to the letter, Dial was written up five times from November through March by his principal for job-performance issues, including failure to meet dress code, failure to complete assessments, lownumber of assignments in the grade viewer and others.
The Fayetteville School District does not comment for publication on pending litigation, said Alan Wilbourn, the district's public information officer.
James M. Llewellyn, the school's attorney, was out of the office Wednesday afternoon and did not immediately return a phone message left with his assistant.
News, Pages 3 on 07/30/2009
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