I recently resigned from my teaching position after the school district offered me the option of taking a seperation agreement or continue to be employed (but not teach) and face a 3020a procedure with the New York State Department of Education to lose my teaching certification because I was (and still am) dating a former student. After consulting with my NYSUT union representation, I chose to accept the seperation agreement and resign because I just wanted to get the heck out of that school district that had singled me out and held me to an entirely different standard than all other teachers. Both parties signed an agreement that neither could pursue further legal action based on the issue at hand.
Now I understand that I cannot pursue anything relating to the issue of dating the former student, but for the past 2 years I was singled out and told what I can/can't do in my personal life by the school board and superintendent that led to depression that required me to see a counselor and take anti-depressants just to make it through the day. It also fueled rumors that destroyed my character throughout the area and has made it nearly impossible to get another teaching position.
The basis of this treatment is that I was hired to be the boys varsity basketball coach 4 years ago. For the 3 seasons I coached, I had two board members' sons in the basketball program. There were two problems with this: 1.) we were not very successful because there wasn't much talent and 2.) neither one played as much as their fathers thought they should have. Now here is what I happened to me:
1. I was called to the Superintendent's office with my principal, but without my union rep, and told that the board was getting calls that I was out drinking all the time, stumbling drunk from bars and parties. The problem with this is that any time I would go out (which was actually about 3 times) I was always with other teachers. No other teacher was ever called in and told the same thing, just me. What's more, is that there was a large group of teachers that would go to "Happy Hour" every other Friday and none of them were ever spoken to about drinking all the time.
2. In this same meeting, I was told that the school board members were getting calls that I was having inappropriate relationships with students, one of which was the daughter of one of the board members and the sister of one of the players on my team. Not only did this not ever happen, the girl had graduated several years before and no longer a student.
3. In the same meeting, I was told that board members were getting complaints that I was "touching" myself during games and that people (i.e. the board member fathers) were counting the number of times I would do this during the course of a game.
4. In a seperate meeting, this time with my union rep present, that a board member (also the father of one of the players) found out that I had a profile on Match.com. At this point I was in the middle of a divorce and did indeed have a profile listed there. I was told to remove this profile because it "didn't look good." I did remove the profile after about a month or so. I just recently found out that there are at least 2 other teachers from this same school district with profiles on Match.com and from every indication, they have not been spoken to by the superintendent or school board.
5. In another seperate meeting, I was told that the school board was "sick of hearing about the (my last name)'s" as my ex-wife also taught at the school and it was one of the ugliest divorces ever. As a result, I was told they weren't going to even interview me for a coaching position I applied for, even though they were contractually required to at least interview me.
6. In this same meeting, I was told that I was not to be on Facebook. He said the board was angry and saw it as insubordination because they had told me before to not be on it. I corrected him and said that was Match.com I was told to not be on and that I did indeed remove my profile from there. Then he said that there was a rumor that I was sending secret messages to a student via my status updates, whom I wasn't even a friend with. I named off about 10 other teachers who are also on Facebook and asked if the superintendent was going to meet with them individually like he was with me. He got upset and said he would address it at the beginning of the next school year (which he didn't).
7. In this meeting, I was told that there were rumors that I was involved in a relationship with a senior student (the one I was supposedly secretly communicating with on Facebook) who was babysitting for my two children. I have no family within 800 miles as we moved to be with my ex's family, so once I was divorced I had no other options for babysitting. This particular student had been the primary babysitter for 3 years prior as well. As a result, the superintendent told me I could no longer have this student babysit my children and I was not to be around her at school. When I asked the Superintendent if the board members were going to babysit for me, he became angry and said the board would not be happy with the way I was talking. For the most part, she did not babysit but a handful of times after this meeting as my basketball season was over and I did not really need a sitter. The school actually investigated this, as well as the local PD, and neither found any shread of evidence that I did anything wrong or illegal.
8. At the end of this meeting, he stated that the school board wanted to make clear to me that the basketball coaching position was not a given for me and that I would have to interview for it. He also stated that the board was happy with the way I had turned the program around and that I brought discipline back to the program which is what they wanted. He went on to say that I was the best basketball mind in the area. That prompted me to ask that if I didn't get the coaching position it had nothing to do with my ability to coach, but everything to do with rumors about me to which he agreed. I was not hired as coach and filed a grievance against the district that I dropped once I resigned because they paid me for a year of coaching.
9. I was called 2 days before the start of this school year and asked to meet with the superintendent as soon as possible with my union rep. In this meeting with my rep, the superintendent, and my principal, I was told that there were rumors going around town and on the internet (topix.com) that I was dating a girl who recently graduated. I was told that I had been seen around town with this girl. I was asked if we were dating. I replied that our relationship had changed in that past few weeks with the knowledge and support of her parents. At that point I was told that I was being re-assigned to a non-teaching position where I would sit in a room all day and work on curriculum. He stated he considered moving me to the elementary school (I teach Physical Education) but that he decided against it because "maybe you are a pedophile." At this point he said the school board was willing to work our a seperation agreement to part ways and that if I deceided not to, they were going to pursue 3020a charges to remove my teaching certification.
Now the kicker with this one is that during this whole time that there were rumors of me being with the student while she was still in school up to this last meeting, there was a female teacher also rumored to be involved with a female student. They had been spotted multiple times in public while the student was still in school and were also being talked about in the same rumor and internet forum as I was. This teacher was asked the same question as I was and because she said they were "just close friends" nothing further happened to her. In fact, she was promoted to Athletic Director! Oh, and the girl she was involved with, and still is, is the daughter of the school board president!
I apologize for the length of this post, but as you can see there was quite a bit of stuff that happened. Is there any legal action that I can pursue here or does the fact that I signed an agreement not to pursue the school in relation to my relationship with this former student eliminate all possible options?
Thank you in advance for any and all advice that you may give!
Now I understand that I cannot pursue anything relating to the issue of dating the former student, but for the past 2 years I was singled out and told what I can/can't do in my personal life by the school board and superintendent that led to depression that required me to see a counselor and take anti-depressants just to make it through the day. It also fueled rumors that destroyed my character throughout the area and has made it nearly impossible to get another teaching position.
The basis of this treatment is that I was hired to be the boys varsity basketball coach 4 years ago. For the 3 seasons I coached, I had two board members' sons in the basketball program. There were two problems with this: 1.) we were not very successful because there wasn't much talent and 2.) neither one played as much as their fathers thought they should have. Now here is what I happened to me:
1. I was called to the Superintendent's office with my principal, but without my union rep, and told that the board was getting calls that I was out drinking all the time, stumbling drunk from bars and parties. The problem with this is that any time I would go out (which was actually about 3 times) I was always with other teachers. No other teacher was ever called in and told the same thing, just me. What's more, is that there was a large group of teachers that would go to "Happy Hour" every other Friday and none of them were ever spoken to about drinking all the time.
2. In this same meeting, I was told that the school board members were getting calls that I was having inappropriate relationships with students, one of which was the daughter of one of the board members and the sister of one of the players on my team. Not only did this not ever happen, the girl had graduated several years before and no longer a student.
3. In the same meeting, I was told that board members were getting complaints that I was "touching" myself during games and that people (i.e. the board member fathers) were counting the number of times I would do this during the course of a game.
4. In a seperate meeting, this time with my union rep present, that a board member (also the father of one of the players) found out that I had a profile on Match.com. At this point I was in the middle of a divorce and did indeed have a profile listed there. I was told to remove this profile because it "didn't look good." I did remove the profile after about a month or so. I just recently found out that there are at least 2 other teachers from this same school district with profiles on Match.com and from every indication, they have not been spoken to by the superintendent or school board.
5. In another seperate meeting, I was told that the school board was "sick of hearing about the (my last name)'s" as my ex-wife also taught at the school and it was one of the ugliest divorces ever. As a result, I was told they weren't going to even interview me for a coaching position I applied for, even though they were contractually required to at least interview me.
6. In this same meeting, I was told that I was not to be on Facebook. He said the board was angry and saw it as insubordination because they had told me before to not be on it. I corrected him and said that was Match.com I was told to not be on and that I did indeed remove my profile from there. Then he said that there was a rumor that I was sending secret messages to a student via my status updates, whom I wasn't even a friend with. I named off about 10 other teachers who are also on Facebook and asked if the superintendent was going to meet with them individually like he was with me. He got upset and said he would address it at the beginning of the next school year (which he didn't).
7. In this meeting, I was told that there were rumors that I was involved in a relationship with a senior student (the one I was supposedly secretly communicating with on Facebook) who was babysitting for my two children. I have no family within 800 miles as we moved to be with my ex's family, so once I was divorced I had no other options for babysitting. This particular student had been the primary babysitter for 3 years prior as well. As a result, the superintendent told me I could no longer have this student babysit my children and I was not to be around her at school. When I asked the Superintendent if the board members were going to babysit for me, he became angry and said the board would not be happy with the way I was talking. For the most part, she did not babysit but a handful of times after this meeting as my basketball season was over and I did not really need a sitter. The school actually investigated this, as well as the local PD, and neither found any shread of evidence that I did anything wrong or illegal.
8. At the end of this meeting, he stated that the school board wanted to make clear to me that the basketball coaching position was not a given for me and that I would have to interview for it. He also stated that the board was happy with the way I had turned the program around and that I brought discipline back to the program which is what they wanted. He went on to say that I was the best basketball mind in the area. That prompted me to ask that if I didn't get the coaching position it had nothing to do with my ability to coach, but everything to do with rumors about me to which he agreed. I was not hired as coach and filed a grievance against the district that I dropped once I resigned because they paid me for a year of coaching.
9. I was called 2 days before the start of this school year and asked to meet with the superintendent as soon as possible with my union rep. In this meeting with my rep, the superintendent, and my principal, I was told that there were rumors going around town and on the internet (topix.com) that I was dating a girl who recently graduated. I was told that I had been seen around town with this girl. I was asked if we were dating. I replied that our relationship had changed in that past few weeks with the knowledge and support of her parents. At that point I was told that I was being re-assigned to a non-teaching position where I would sit in a room all day and work on curriculum. He stated he considered moving me to the elementary school (I teach Physical Education) but that he decided against it because "maybe you are a pedophile." At this point he said the school board was willing to work our a seperation agreement to part ways and that if I deceided not to, they were going to pursue 3020a charges to remove my teaching certification.
Now the kicker with this one is that during this whole time that there were rumors of me being with the student while she was still in school up to this last meeting, there was a female teacher also rumored to be involved with a female student. They had been spotted multiple times in public while the student was still in school and were also being talked about in the same rumor and internet forum as I was. This teacher was asked the same question as I was and because she said they were "just close friends" nothing further happened to her. In fact, she was promoted to Athletic Director! Oh, and the girl she was involved with, and still is, is the daughter of the school board president!
I apologize for the length of this post, but as you can see there was quite a bit of stuff that happened. Is there any legal action that I can pursue here or does the fact that I signed an agreement not to pursue the school in relation to my relationship with this former student eliminate all possible options?
Thank you in advance for any and all advice that you may give!
