The Wapakoneta City Board
of Education met in special session on Thursday, April 27, 2006,
at 7:00 p.m. at Wapakoneta High School.
The meeting was called to order by President Ron Mertz. Roll call was as follows: Sammetinger, aye; Copeland, aye; Kantner,
aye; Mertz, aye; and Frame, aye. Also
in attendance were Superintendent, Keith Horner; Treasurer, Susan Rinehart;
Business Manager, Don Arnett; staff and administrators; students and parents;
community members; and media representative.
The Pledge of Allegiance
was led by President Ron Mertz.
HEARING
OF THE PUBLIC REGARDING ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
William Reese had the following comments: He is upset that the Board has mishandled the
teacher situation. He thinks it is not
in their heart and soul to cheat and he doesn’t condone cheating, but what
teacher can’t tell a student to finish a test?
He feels the teachers are not cheaters; they violated rules. He stated it is stupid and is a bad
rule. Teachers’ jobs are to prepare
students to take tests, and that’s what they get paid for. The teachers should not have been taken out
of the classroom and made to sit around for two hours not knowing what was
happening. It is not fair. He would hate to think that a lawsuit from
this would not be out of the state’s pocket versus local taxpayers. He understands the rules to be interpretable
by the district and not mandated by the state.
He admitted his information is all hearsay. The teachers spend a lot of time and money on their education and
masters degree, and these rules need to be examined more closely so we take
caution with people’s futures and the work they put in to get here.
John McCormick had the following comments: He is addressing the Board on behalf of
Heather, teachers, and the school system.
He is bringing a different perspective, since he is out of the loop and
doesn’t know the particulars. Heather
sent him a letter, and he is just going to highlight his response to her as
follows: He feels something is wrong;
he doesn’t know the particulars. He did
talk to teachers and administrators, and it appears the punishment suggested
does not fit the crime. There are two
legitimate sides, but is this punishment an over-reaction? I know we live in the state’s system and we
have to play by their rules, but these are our teachers, our kids, and our
district. We can set our own bar higher
in favor of our teachers. Please look
at the severity of the punishment for the situation, not as a black-and-white
issue, but with people there are shades of gray. When I think of cheating, I think of someone giving the answer,
writing things down, showing them exact solutions, and doing things that are
lazy. My gut check tells me something
doesn’t feel right to cost someone an eight-year career. Is this a measured response to the offense? The damage is done. Whether Heather remains employed here or
not, that doesn’t change. Lessons could
be learned from this. I believe it was
an honest mistake. Is the school better
now if she is asked to leave, or could she stay and help us to keep this from happening
again? Keeping her would be more of a
reminder. Besides firing teachers or
asking them to resign, have we done anything else to keep this from happening
again? If we have to change or tighten
something up, maybe our instruction or procedures or protocol for procturing
exams or preparation might need to be improved. My understanding is there was a study sheet given prior to the
test, and technically, they broke the rules.
Technically, it’s cheating, but we need some discretionary
interpretation. The state is rigid, but
not always right. He does not see
Heather as a cheater, but she made an honest mistake. Asking Heather to leave will not improve things.
EXECUTIVE
SESSION
Sammetinger moved to go
into executive session for the purpose of discussing dismissal or discipline of
an employee, with action to be taken.
Seconded by Frame. Roll
call: Copeland, aye; Kantner, aye;
Mertz, aye; Frame, aye; and Sammetinger, aye.
Motion passed unanimously.
Upon returning from executive session, it was noted
that five Board members were present.
CONSIDERATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT OF
HEATHER BUCHANAN
Mr. Horner read the
following agreement:
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
This Agreement is made as
of April 27, 2006, by and among Heather Buchanan (“Buchanan”), the Wapakoneta
Education Association (“Association”) and the Wapakoneta City School District
Board of Education (“Board”);
WHEREAS, Buchanan has admitted that
she acted improperly according to the rules for the Administration of the Ohio
Achievement Tests by reviewing materials with her students prior to the test;
WHEREAS,
Buchanan has publicly apologized for this conduct;
WHEREAS,
the parties wish to come to an agreement regarding Buchanan’s employment
status;
NOW
THEREFORE, in consideration of the promises and mutual covenants and agreements
contained herein, the parties to this agreement agree as follows:
1. As
discipline for the conduct identified above, the parties agree to the
following:
a. Buchanan is hereby placed on an unpaid
suspension, effective March 17, 2006, through the end of the 2005-2006 school
year.
b. Buchanan is responsible for payment of the
full monthly premium cost for her medical insurance coverage for the months of
April, May, June, July and August of 2006.
Payment for April and May premiums will be made by May 15, 2006. All other payments shall be made by the 15th
of each month.
The discipline set forth in this Agreement shall be the
only discipline imposed upon Buchanan in connection with the administration of
the March 2006 Ohio Achievement Tests.
2. Buchanan
will be placed on a one-year extended limited contract for
the 2006-2007 school year. Buchanan will either be placed on a continuing contract at the
end of that contract or will be nonrenewed.
The parties agree that by entering into this agreement, they are
superseding Ohio Revised Code Section 3319.11 with respect to continuing
contracts and the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Board and the
Association. Buchanan understands that
she is not eligible for a continuing contract and specifically waives any right
to a continuing contract as of the date of the signing of this agreement and
for the 2006-2007 school year. Buchanan
further understands that she will be eligible for a continuing contract
beginning with the 2007-2008 school year but that she may be nonrenewed
pursuant to sections 5.05.1 through 5.12.9 of the Collective Bargaining
Agreement. The parties specifically
agree that Section 5.12.10 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement shall not
apply upon the expiration of Buchanan’s one-year extended limited contract.
3. This
Agreement shall not affect the interpretation of Article 5 of the
Collective Bargaining Agreement and will not be used
against either party as past practice or precedent.
4. Both
Buchanan and the Association agree to waive any right to file a
grievance or an unfair labor practice charge with the
State Employment Relations Board complaining of the facts and events that gave
rise to this Agreement or the action to be taken pursuant to this
Agreement. The Association is a party
to this agreement for the sole and limited purpose of waiving, at Buchanan’s request,
its right(s) to file a grievance or an unfair labor practice charge with the
State Employment Relations Board complaining of the facts or events that gave
rise to this Agreement or the action to be taken pursuant to this
Agreement. Neither the Association nor
Buchanan make any waiver of any rights, defenses, arguments or causes of action
in regard to any proceedings involving the Ohio Department of Education.
WHEREFORE,
the undersigned, intending to be legally bound hereby, apply their signatures
voluntarily and with full understanding of the contents of this Memorandum of
Agreement.
Kantner moved to approve the following
resolution:
It is
hereby resolved by the Wapakoneta City School District Board of Education that
the Board agrees to and approves the Memorandum of Agreement entered into
between Heather Buchanan, the Wapakoneta Education Association and the Board.
Seconded by Sammetinger.
Roll call: Kantner, aye; Mertz, nay; Frame, nay; Sammetinger, aye; and
Copeland, aye. Motion passed, 3 ayes, 2
nays.
Laura Frame had the following
comments:
I have thought long and
hard about the situation with Mrs. Buchanan, as have my fellow board
members. I have thought about this to
the point that I have had many restless and sleepless nights. Neither Mr. Payne, Mr. Horner, nor the Board
went looking to find this situation. It
was Mrs. Buchanan who made the very bad decision to do what she did. She has addressed the Board and made a very
eloquent plea to explain what she did and to save her job. It has been very frustrating for me
personally to not address the facts of this incident, and the facts of those
surrounding Mrs. Burnett’s case for that matter, to all the concerned people
who have approached me for details regarding these situations. This has been made especially difficult
since the teachers in question have been giving their side of their stories and
we as a board have not been able to do so due to privacy issues. I feel they have opened the door and the
community should be able to look in but it cannot.
I have thought constantly,
probably obsessively so, about Mrs. Buchanan and her pleas to the Board last
week. I have read the letters in
support of her as a teacher. I listened
to Mrs. Holloway, the union president, plead for the return of Mrs. Buchanan to
the Middle School teaching staff. Mrs.
Buchanan has jeopardized the integrity and honor of the Wapakoneta City
Schools. In my mind she has profoundly
affected the ethics and morals of her profession. It was her decision to look ahead at the math test, not anyone
else’s. I have talked to many teachers
about achievement testing in general, mostly teachers outside of our
district. All of them—not one—would
ever have thought to look ahead at the test and make a practice test. They all knew it was terribly wrong to do
so. When we talked about it, it was
almost as if they were describing an innate knowing, it was knowledge that came
just from common sense and from just being a teacher. It is also clearly and repeatedly stated in the Achievement
Testing Administration Manual that looking at the test in advance is a
violation of testing procedures, and so is making a practice test.
(A) No person shall reveal to any student any
specific question that the person knows is part of a test to be administered
under section 3301.0711 (3301.07.11) of the Revised Code or in any other way
assist a pupil to cheat on such a test.
(B) On a finding by the state board of education,
after investigation, that a school employee who holds a license issued under sections
3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code has violated division (A) of this
section, the license of such teacher shall be suspended for one year. Prior to commencing an investigation, the
board shall give the teacher notice of the allegation and an opportunity to
respond and present a defense.
I am not going to read
Section (C) (1). It does not pertain to this situation.
(2) Violation of division (A) of this section is
grounds for termination of a teacher contract under section 3319.16 of the
Revised Code.
3319.99 Penalty.
Whoever violates division (A) of section 3319.151 [3319.15.1] of the
Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
Please consider the
following scenario—A student is given a test in the morning to hold on her desk
until the afternoon when the test would be taken. That is all the direction given to the student by the
teacher. The student proceeds through
her day, having many opportunities to look at the test if she wanted to, but
she does not. She does not look at the
test until she is told to complete the test.
Why? Because I believe any
student would know, without being told, that to look at the test in advance
would be cheating.
Mrs. Buchanan claims to
have not known that looking ahead at the achievement test and making a practice
test was wrong. Why would a teacher who
has a good record do this? Why, when
she has available to her many practice tests from previous tests? Why, when the school district has paid for
Study Island so students can practice at school and at home? If in fact she is a good math teacher and
devoted to teaching math as carefully as she stated last week, then why feel
the need to look ahead? Certainly, by
her own stated teaching methods her students would have been very well
prepared. If she only wanted the best
for her students as she claims, then why not use these methods? I have no answer for this, as her decision
makes no sense to me.
There are actions, choices, decisions, made by people every day that do
affect their lives forever. There are
some actions that do not allow any “do-overs.”
I thought cheating on achievement testing in the teaching profession
would be a decision that would not give a teacher a “do-over,” a second chance. What kind of example has Mrs. Buchanan set
for our students—“yes, cheating is bad but don’t worry, nothing of consequence
will happen to you!” Students should
also be taught that second chances are not always given. I personally supported Mr. Horner’s
recommendation that Mrs. Buchanan resign or be terminated. I thought the option of resignation was a
gift.
But then I listened to the
counsel of the Board attorneys, and realized that there is not a lot of case
law on this matter, because most teachers who have been caught cheating do
resign. As the law side of things was
of no help, so too was the Ohio Department of Education. They have no guidelines for this type of
thing—their advice was “do your own investigation and we will see if we agree
with you.” I thought the Ohio Dept. of
Education would be very aggressive in setting forth a code that shall never be
violated—and that is that—the integrity of achievement testing is paramount and
it shall never be breached. Those who
do breach the integrity of the test shall lose their license to teach. Period.
I especially thought they would treat this seriously since the whole
teaching year is geared to teaching our children how to take and excel at the
test. I believe the administering of
the test should be taken as seriously as the taking of the test.
There is a major component
to this situation which neither Mrs. Buchanan nor the union has addressed. One-third of the 7th grade math
scores will be invalidated for our district.
That means 1/3 of the tests administered by Mrs. Buchanan will receive a
zero. Zero. These are scores that cannot be tolerated. This invalidation will severely and
negatively affect our District report card from the State of Ohio. I believe that the teachers’ union,
teachers, and community should care about this important assessment. I know I do. Mrs. Buchanan has taken away 1 of the 28 indicators our District
will be judged on. Her actions could
drop our district from an effective school district to a district needing
continuous improvement. I wonder what
kind of community support the Board of Education will get if this should
happen.
Personally, I believe
cheating is wrong, and a teacher who does this should be terminated. However, to terminate Mrs. Buchanan would
cost our district well over $100,000.
Possibly $200,000. $100,000
would pay for 4 new teachers, or expand our special ed department, or hire a
slew of aides for most of our elementary teachers. The possible uses of this money are endless. My struggle has been what I personally
believe should happen to protect the morals and integrity of the district
balanced against what is the best business decision for the district. Should there ever be a limit on protecting
integrity and honor? I also worry about
any other future incident by a teacher who does this. What kind of example are we setting now for future infractions?
I still do not know how I
am going to vote but I thank you for listening to me and giving me the
opportunity to express how I feel about this matter.
Dave Copeland had the
following comment:
He agreed wholeheartedly
with Laura. He made the comment that
the issue can relate to anyone’s life, his situation at work. When you falsify something, you have to be
accountable for your actions. You need
to stand up and be responsible. Dave
commented that he is continually bragging about Wapakoneta City Schools, what a
great staff we have, and what a great school system it is. Now he is going to wonder if the people that
he brags to about our school are going to be thinking, “Yeah, that’s because
you’re a cheater and you allow it to happen.”
He said lying has hurt the students and the Board does not encourage the
teachers to teach the test, but to teach the kids how to figure out the
problems. He said we have no choice in
giving tests; it’s a government requirement.
The Board wants to support Keith and they will do everything they can to
support Keith. They are working to
change any procedures for the future to prevent this situation from occurring again,
but he has to ask himself, wouldn’t there be more of our teachers who did not
comply, if there was something wrong with the instructions?
Mr. Horner has the
following comments:
He noted that the support
for the teachers resulted in a standing ovation. He wanted to make it clear that we did not go looking for this
situation. This has been a very
difficult issue on everyone. We did not
pick this fight. No one wanted this
situation, and we hope that the community can get past this. It is still all about the kids. We are not the bad guys. He respects the Board, respects the
teachers, and he does not want to put the teachers, principals, or kids in this
situation again.
Ron Mertz commented that
personally, he does not like the tests.
He thinks they are overrated because they are a snapshot in time of that
day, and it is unfortunate that we are stuck with this test. However, that is the rules. Heather is not a bad person. He has no animosity against her. It is unfortunate that the rules were
broken. She is a great teacher and we
have lots of good teachers that work their tails off to get the kids ready for
tests, and we appreciate everything that they do. He is hoping that this will not change their working relationship
that the Board has with the staff. He
did apologize for not being at the last Board meeting. He had a double heart stent and was unable
to make the meeting. The Board has
heard comments from community members that have discussed taking their kids out
of the district if they didn’t terminate the teachers. He has also heard support for the
teachers. He also wanted to comment
that there is nothing secret about the meeting we are having this evening. It was mentioned at the last Board meeting
and it was also published in the newspaper.
He noted that the Board members have had lots of sleepless nights
mulling over the correct decision, and we are going to move on from here and
let the agreement stand on its own.
Mary Andrews had the
following comment: She is a 5th
grade teacher with 34 years of experience.
She is concerned about what will happen in the future. She noted that there was an inservice in
January this year that was confusing to the teachers because the person who did
the inservice gave the wrong information about what you were allowed to do with
the tests. She is suggesting that maybe
two people should be in the room when the tests are administered and noted that
she does not want to give the test next year for the Board because it is a lot
of pressure and it saddens her that we are at this point.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The next Board meeting is May
15, 2006, at 7:00 p.m. at Centennial Elementary. Centennial students will be recognized at the meeting.
The Facilities, Finance,
and Policy Committees will be scheduling meetings in May.
HEARING OF
THE PUBLIC
EXECUTIVE
SESSION
Frame moved to go into
executive session for the purpose of discussing the dismissal or discipline of
an employee and preparing for, conducting, or reviewing negotiations or
bargaining with employees, with no action to be taken except to adjourn.
Seconded by Sammetinger. Roll
call: Kantner, aye; Mertz, aye; Frame, aye;
Sammetinger, aye; and Copeland, aye.
Motion passed unanimously.
Upon returning from executive session, it was noted
that five Board members were present.
ADJOURNMENT
Sammetinger
moved to adjourn at 9:30 p.m. Seconded
by Copeland. Roll call: Mertz, aye; Frame, aye; Sammetinger, aye;
Copeland, aye; and Kantner, aye. Motion
passed unanimously.
_________________________________
President
_________________________________
Secretary