Bentonville School Board upholds dismissal of employee

 Tawnya Lewis Tawnya Lewis
Tawnya Lewis Tawnya Lewis

BENTONVILLE -- The School Board voted 5-0 to uphold the administration's termination of a School District employee after an appeal hearing lasting nearly five hours Monday.

Tawnya Lewis was a parent educator in the district's Parents as Teachers program, which helps parents teach their children in the early years before the children begin kindergarten. The program falls under the district's Childcare Enrichment Services department.

Parents as Teachers

The Parents as Teachers program’s goals are “to improve parenting skills, train parents to recognize developmental delays, prevent child abuse, and prepare children for the transition from home to school,” according to the Bentonville School District’s website.

Source: Bentonvillek12.org

Lewis was suspended with pay April 15 and notified of her termination May 20, according to two letters written to her by Superintendent Michael Poore. Reasons outlined for the termination include falsifying documentation, failing to keep accurate records and failing to follow district policy, according to the letters.

The district released those letters and some other documents related to Lewis' job performance in response to a Freedom of Information request by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Lewis appealed her termination to the board. That appeal hearing was closed to the public at Lewis's request. The board's vote on the matter is public record.

Board President Travis Riggs and board members Grant Lightle, Matt Burgess, Brent Leas and Rebecca Powers heard the appeal Monday. Board members Willie Cowgur and Wendi Cheatham were absent.

Lewis attended the hearing along with her attorney, Bryan Vernetti, a former Bentonville School Board member. Vernetti didn't return a phone message and email seeking comment Tuesday. Lewis couldn't be reached for comment.

Documents released by the district Tuesday indicate Lewis received a written warning notice about her job performance April 1. The notice is signed by Lewis; Deb Kee, the district's child enrichment services director; and Dena Ross, director of human resources. The notice form doesn't say who completed it.

The notice indicated supervisors were concerned Lewis did home visits with families by telephone. Visits by phone or video conferencing are allowed but only in extreme circumstances, such as a family being out of the country, according to a statement in the notice.

"The (Parents as Teachers) Personnel Handbook was reviewed with all staff including Tawnya on January 13, 2015 at a staff meeting," the notice states. "Tawnya is responsible for the contents of the personnel handbook and home visits by phone is only one of many discrepancies that were found while her supervisor was completing file reviews."

The notice states Lewis marked the location as "home" on personal visit records when the corresponding parent signature page and data entry indicated contact actually had been made through a "phone call/text."

The notice also states Lewis failed to maintain organized files on the program's children, as required under the parent educator job description, and she hadn't completed exit paper work for children who had dropped out of the program.

Lewis is a former Benton County justice of the peace. She represented District 1 on the Quorum Court for one term in 2009 and 2010. She lost her re-election bid in the 2010 Republican primary election.

Monday's meeting marked the second time in the past year the board has heard an employee termination appeal. The last time was in October when Greg Hendrix, a former Bentonville High School teacher and football coach, appealed his firing. The board upheld the administration's decision to fire Hendrix in a 4-2 vote.

NW News on 07/01/2015

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