Teacher Sues School District

— A Fayetteville High School teacher sued the school district Tuesday claiming breach of contract because administrators want him to take anger management classes.

Ken Swindle, a Rogers attorney, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court on behalf of Tim Hollis, debate and forensics teacher. The suit names the district and Superintendent Vicki Thomas as defendants.

Alan Wilbourn, school district spokesman, declined comment. The district does not comment on pending litigation, he said.

Swindle said Hollis, who is a member of the Personnel Policies Committee for the district, sent an email to several other teachers earlier this month explaining their rights because they reportedly felt intimidated by the school’s principal, Steve Jacoby.

Thomas demanded Hollis write an apology for the May 5 email, which Thomas described as an inappropriate and defamatory message to a teacher.

Hollis was scheduled to meet with Jacoby and Thomas about the email Thursday but canceled the meeting at the last minute.

On Friday, Thomas sent Hollis a memo barring him from school functions until he completes an anger management class at Ozark Guidance Center the school will pay for.

In a copy of the memo included with the lawsuit, Thomas cites Hollis for “continued insubordination, hostility and flagrant failure to follow directives.”

Hollis declined to comment after filing the lawsuit Tuesday. In the lawsuit, he claims the requirement to take anger management classes violates his teaching contract. The lawsuit claims U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission violations.

“Mr. Hollis looks forward to having the opportunity to respond to the underlying EEOC violations by the school and the emails that started this whole thing, but by the actions taken by the school, they are attempting to circumvent the statutory process,” Swindle said.

More than two dozen current and former students and their parents accompanied Hollis and Swindle to the Washington County Courthouse to file the lawsuit Tuesday morning.

“Mr. Hollis is the most transformative teacher I’ve ever had,” said Austin Ross, a 2012 graduate of Fayetteville High School who has known Hollis for three years. “For me, he has changed the way I look at life.”

Tim Dahms, another 2012 graduate, created a Facebook page in support of Hollis. He said administrators at the school are trying to make an example of the teacher for his vocal opposition to changes in the curriculum, such as the small learning communities under development at the high school. Small learning communities are a management tool to make large schools smaller.

“They’re trying to publicly shame him,” Dahms said. “He’s the most mild-mannered man on staff, and they want him to go to anger management.”

Email Withheld

Hollis has been a teacher for 34 years. He has spent 27 years in the Fayetteville School District. He teaches oral composition and is the coach and adviser for the school’s debate team.

Hollis’ contract expires June 30. His current salary is $68,442 plus a $700 stipend for serving as the debate coach.

He has not signed a new contract for next year. The contract year runs July 1 to June 30, 2013. The salary listed on that unsigned contract is $68,442 plus an additional $2,000 stipend as the debate coach.

School district administrators declined to reveal the email that apparently contributed to the disciplinary action. Swindle also declined to provide a reporter with a copy of the email.

Wilbourn said the email was in Hollis’ disciplinary file and not subject to public disclosure.

However, John Tull, a Little Rock attorney, said an email that helps form a basis for a teacher’s suspension would be subject to public disclosure under the state’s public records law.

“They should give you that document ... if it was a part of the decision-making,” he said.

Editor's note

This story was modified from its original version to correct the number of Fayetteville High School students who qualified for the National Forensic League competition.

The high school debate team, which Hollis coaches, received a Recognition of Outstanding Achievement award for winning first place in the 2012 Arkansas National Forensic League competition. The team qualified eight students for the national competition.

Students scheduled to participate in a national competition in Indianapolis next month will meet with school and district officials on Thursday to discuss the trip, Jacoby said.

“The five students are still scheduled to go,” Jacoby said.

As the debate team sponsor, Hollis would have traveled with students participating in a national competition. However, Hollis won’t be allowed to make that trip according to the terms of his suspension.

The district will pay the travel expenses for the students, Jacoby said.

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