TEA DOCKET NO. 318-LH-0511
HOUSTON INDEPENDENT § BEFORE THE
SCHOOL DISTRICT §
§ PAULA ROBNETT-THEODORIO
v. § CERTIFIED HEARING EXAMINER
§
JONATHAN DANSBY §
§ STATE OF TEXAS
RECOMMENDATION OF
INDEPENDENT HEARING EXAMINER
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Petitioner, Houston Independent School District, (“HISD”), proposes termination of Respondent Jonathan Danbsy (“Dansby”), pursuant to Sections 5 and 6 of Dansby’s continuing teacher’s contract, Section 21.154(4), and Section 21.154 (5) of the Texas Education Code. Section 5 of Dansby’s continuing term contract provides that he may be discharged by the district for one or more of the following reasons:
(a) Immorality, [or]
(b) Repeated failure to comply with official directives and established school board policy.
Section 6 provides that Dansby “may be released at the end of the school year and his employment terminated at that time, or he may be returned to probationary contract employment without increment for a period not to exceed (3) succeeding school years for any reasons enumerated in section (5) or for:
Section 21.156(a) of the Texas Education Code, also incorporated into Dansby’s continuing contract, that he may be discharged at any time for good cause as determined by the Board of Trustees, good cause being the failure of the teacher to meet the accepted standards of conduct for the profession as generally recognized and applied in similarly situated school districts throughout the State of Texas.
IMMORALITY
HISD Board Policy DH (LOCAL), defines immorality as “conduct which the Board determines is not in conformity with the accepted principles of right and wrong behavior or that the Board determines is contrary to the moral standards which are accepted within the District.”
Specifically, during the 2010-2011 school year it has been alleged that Dansby engaged in “immoral” conduct based on the following:
· Telling a student to “shut the fuck up”;
· Telling a student, You don’t know anything and you look retarded.”
· Telling a student, “Your mom is a bad mother, doesn’t know how to raise you, and probably doesn’t care about you.”
· Calling a student “a little bitch.”
· Stating, when the assistant principal found a girl asleep in class and nudging her to wake her up, “It took us so long to make her fall asleep, why did you wake her?”
· Not allowing a student to go to the restroom who had purportedly gotten him into trouble and saying, “Now I am going to make you suffer.”
· Making the unfounded claim that he had no computer access.
· When a student who had been put out in the hall attempted to re-enter his classroom without permission, putting his “hand on her breast and face and pushing her out of the room.”
· When walking out of the school building after being placed on administrative leave pending investigation of the pushing incident, stating to an assistant principal, “I can’t believe it took Deady and HISD ten years and six principals to get rid of me.”
· Calling a student pretty and that you liked the way she dressed. The student reported being scared and uncomfortable.
Paula Robnett-Theodorio is the Certified Independent Hearing Examiner assigned by the Texas Education Agency to preside at the hearing. HISD is represented by Cory Rush and Paul Lamp of Rogers, Morris & Grove, L.L.P., Houston, Texas. Mr. Dansby is represented by Mark Robinett of Brim, Arnett, Robinett, Conners & McCormick, PC of Austin, Texas.
The parties, by written agreement waived the 45-day recommendation deadline. Upon review of the Record, the evidence before the Examiner, and the applicable law, the Hearing Examiner makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.
Findings of Fact
After due consideration of the credible evidence, and matters officially noticed, in my capacity as Certified Independent Hearing Examiner, I make the following Findings of Fact: (citations to evidence are not exhaustive, but are intended to indicate some of the basis for the particular findings of fact.)
1. Jon Dansby is employed by Houston Independent School District pursuant to a continuing contract. (HISD Exhibit 2\
2. Mr. Dansby has been employed twice by HISD since 1969 (Transcript, 542: 15-17), and continuously since 1986 (Tr., 543: 1-5) . He is currently a teacher at Deady Middle School.
3. The Board of Trustees of Houston Independent School District gave written
notice to Mr. Dansby that the superintendent had recommended that his contract be terminated during the term of his contract. (HISD Exh. 1.)
4. Mr. Dansby requested a hearing concerning this matter and the appointment of an independent hearing examiner pursuant to Chapter 21, Subchapter F of the Education Code. A hearing was held on July 29-30, 2011.
5. Michael Alvarez is the principal at Deady. (Tr. 251: 21-24). The 2010-2011 school year was Mr. Alvarez’ first year as principal at Deady and in HISD. (Tr. 251: 25; 252: 1-2).
6. Gerardo Leal was the sixth grade assistant principal at Deady in the 2010-2011 school year. (Tr. 142: 5-8). HISD has employed Mr. Leal for nine years. (Tr. 142: 16-17).
7. Sylvia Wilson has been an assistant principal at Deady for seventeen years. (Tr. 314: 20-25; 315: 1-4). HISD has employed Ms. Wilson for twenty-three years in various teaching, counseling, and administrative positions. (Tr. 315: 5-11).
8. Ashley Tucker was an assistant principal at Deady Middle School in the 2010-2011 school year. (Tr. 109: 13-18).
9. Jose Espinoza is a School Improvement Officer (“SIO”) supervisor is Dr. Dallas Dance, the Chief School Officer for HISD’s middle schools. (Tr. 255: 21-25; 256: 1-6). Mr. Espinoza is Mr. Alvarez’s direct supervisor in HISD. (Tr. 256: 5-9).
Allegations of Immorality
HISD has alleged that Dansby has engaged in immoral conduct. HISD Board Policy DH (LOCAL), defines immorality as “conduct which the Board determines is not in conformity with the accepted principles of right and wrong behavior or that the Board determines is contrary to the moral standards which are accepted within the District.” . District contends that is has good cause to discharge Dansby based upon the following:
1. Telling a student to “shut the fuck up”;
2. Telling a student, You don’t know anything and you look retarded.”
3. Telling a student, “Your mom is a bad mother, doesn’t know how to raise you, and probably doesn’t care about you.”
4. Calling a student “a little bitch.”
5. Stating, when the assistant principal found a girl asleep in class and nudging her to wake her up, “It took us so long to make her fall asleep, why did you wake her?”
6. Not allowing a student to go to the restroom who had purportedly gotten him into trouble and saying, “Now I am going to make you suffer.”
7. Making the unfounded claim that he had no computer access.
8. When a student who had been put out in the hall attempted to re-enter his classroom without permission, putting his “hand on her breast and face and pushing her out of the room.”
9. When walking out of the school building after being placed on administrative leave pending investigation of the pushing incident, stating to an assistant principal, “I can’t believe it took Deady and HISD ten years and six principals to get rid of me.”
10. Calling a student pretty and that you liked the way she dressed. The student reported being scared and uncomfortable.
1. Telling a student to “shut the fuck up”;
B.P. a student at Deady Middle School, told school officials that Dansby told him to “shut the fuck up”, after he approached Dansby and his cousin T.N. talking together. B.P. said that Dansby asked him if T.N. was his girlfriend and then Dansby told B.P. to “shut the fuck up” . B.P. said that after Dansby made this statement to him, he too made the same statement back at Dansby, and that when B.P. made the statement, he said it “loud”. B.P. also states J., S.C., T.N., and other kids were around when the incident occurred. (TR 108: 1) (T.R. 105: 13 – 22).
During B.P.’s testimony B.P. changed his statement and admitted that Dansby did not initiate the statement, “shut the fuck up”, but said Dansby made the statement after he had done so.
B.P. said that he told Dansby to “shut the fuck up”, because he was upset or irritated that Dansby asked him if his cousin was his girlfriend, and because Dansby was, “ …getting on my nerves when he told—he was talking to me.(TR 101:5).
B.P. was not truthful when he made the first allegation against Dansby in his written statement, although he admitted it later. B.P. said that other students were present besides his cousin T.N., but HISD provides no independent witness to possibly corroborate B.P.’s statements other than his own cousin T.N. who also made allegations against Dansby.
T. N. was present during the dialogue, and although she said to Robinett at the hearing that Dansby did make the statement, she did not include that fact in her written statement in the principal’s office which had been taken not long after the incident occurred.
There is no credible evidence that Dansby made any such statement as both B.P. and T.N. have constantly changed their statements surrounding the entire ordeal, and there is no independent corroboration of what actually happened.
T. N. initially states in her written statement Ex. 13, that another student, J. was crying and when she asked him why, he said that Dansby had told him that – he wasn’t going to end up nowhere; he was going to end up in the streets; he had nothing good for him. (TR 87: 5-16).
At the hearing T.N. tells Rush that J did not tell her anything but was just crying a lot. (TR 95:12-15). This is in total contradiction to her statements at Ex.13, and in her earlier testimony.
The allegation that Dansby told a student to “shut the fuck up”, is not supported by credible evidence and good cause does not exist to terminate Dansby’s continuing contract based on this allegation.
2. Telling a student, You don’t know anything and you look retarded.”
T.N. also alleges that Dansby told her that she looks retarded. Dansby denies making such a statement. B.P. says that he does not remember what Dansby was saying to T.N., only that he was talking bad to her. (TR 99: 6-15).
T.N. says that she was talking with J., and B.P.indicated that J., S.C., and other kids were around during the incident with Dansby. HISD does not provide further testimony or statements of witnesses in support of T.N.’s statement that Dansby called her retarded. Coupled with the fact that T.N. alleged that J. stated that Dansby made negative statements to him and then said that J. did not tell her anything, further diminishes the credibility of her statement. It boils down to who is telling the truth, T.N. or Dansby and T.N. has shown inconsistencies in her statements.
3. Telling a student, “Your mom is a bad mother, doesn’t know how to raise you, and probably doesn’t care about you.”
S.C. is a twelve-year-old female student at Deady. (Tr. 59: 18-22). On November 23, 2011, S.C. asked whether Mr. Dansby believed that she had a good mother. (HISD Ex. 12; Tr. 62: 5-10). S. C. alleges that Dansby in response said that her mom is a bad mother, doesn’t know how to raise her and probably doesn’t care about her.
S.C. indicated that the issue of “mothers”, came about as a group discussion in the classroom and she asked Dansby if her mom was a good mom. (TR 76 11-13). S.C. also indicates that Dansby made a second statement about another student J, not having a good mom on that same day. (TR 61:16-25).
Dansby states that the issue came about after S.C. asked a hypothetical question of which she asserted her own mother into the hypothetical. Dansby’s statement was the following when Robinett asked him about S.C.’s comment:
A. Her comment to me was, “If my mother came into this class and disrupted the class and she sat beside me and she talked and cut up, would she be a bad mother?” (TR 574:21-25).
Dansby went further to say that at the time, he was talking to an entire class of students. “I say to S.C., “I agree.” (TR 575:1-2) He further added that he agreed with S.C.’s hypothetical, “ because the behavior of the mother disrupting my class would be a bad mother, in my opinion”. (TR 575: 4-5). Dansby states that those statements were as close as he came to calling her mother a bad mother, and further states that he never said that her mother did not know how to raise her and doesn’t care for her. (575 1-9).
Petitioners claim that Dansby’s comment upset S.C. because S.C.’s mother was her sole provider, and that Dansby did not understand S.C.’s family situation. (Tr. 64: 11-15). That Dansby insulted S.C. and her mother with his comment. (Tr. 64: 11-15), and that S.C. was so overcome after that comment that she left the classroom. (Tr. 64: 25; 65:1).
After leaving the classroom, S.C. went to see Mr. Dyer, who referred her to the counselor, (Tr. 65: 2-11) and eventually, S.C. met with Officer Lopez, a police officer assigned to the school, and stayed with him for the rest of the class period. (HISD Ex. 12; Tr. 65: 24-25; 66: 1-8).
On the same day, S.C. approached Mr. Leal to discuss the incident. (HISD Ex. 17; Tr. 66: 14-23). It was said that S.C. was crying and appeared to be distressed. (HISD Ex. 17; Tr. 145: 14-16) and Mr. Leal asked S.C. to write down what happened. (Tr. 144: 21-25).