Cobb Schools Revising Staff Discipline Policy

Wendy Parker 

Critics of the way the Cobb County School District has been investigating allegations of teacher and staff misconduct are applauding proposed revisions to the process, and they say they're long overdue. 

The Cobb County Board of Education on Wednesday heard a summary of feedback to the proposed revisions, which address what those critics have claimed is a glaring lack of due process.

The proposal, submitted by Northeast Cobb board member Kathleen Angelucci, was prompted after charges were dropped against three Cobb educators who had been removed from their jobs for allegations of child abuse. 

"You've taken the first step in ensuring that people are presumed innocent until proven guilty," said retired Cobb school administrator Stanley Wrinkle. 

Wrinkle, who spoke during a public comment period at Wednesday's work session, has been advocating on behalf of former Green Acres Elementary School teacher Greg Leontovich, who was fired in 2005 after being charged with molestation and was later acquitted by a jury. (Last year he wrote an e-book about his ordeal.)

Former Kell High School principal Trudie Donovan, a Cobb school teacher and administrator for 34 years, suddenly announced her retirement in June 2012, then was charged by Cobb Police with failure to report alleged child abuse. She was cleared in May, nearly a year later. 

Jeff Crawford, a former principal of Awtrey Middle School, was charged with insubordination and failure to report and was fired from his job before his case was dropped.

Those cases were followed by the departure of top Cobb schools investigator Mary Finlayson, whose job was phased out in May budget cuts, and Jay Morrissey, another investigator who has resigned, according to the AJC.

"It took public cases against administrators to bring this to light," said Connie Jackson of the Cobb County Association of Educators, "when this has been occurring at the non-administrative level for years."

Current district policy does not allow teachers or other staff accused of misconduct to have an advocate present while they are questioned by investigators. Accused employees also must submit to polygraph tests. 

Angelucci's proposal would allow for another person -- but not a lawyer -- to sit in on questioning, and would reduce the use of polygraphs. 

The CCAE, a non-union organization representing Cobb administrators, teachers, and staff including bus drivers, cafeteria workers and janitors, has endorsed the revisions. So have Educators First and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. 

Cobb school superintendent Michael Hinojosa said the proposal also will be sent out to principals for their feedback. The measures are likely to be voted on in October.

School board member David Banks has been meeting with Angelucci and chairman Randy Scamihorn to craft the revisions but pointed out what he thought was a major omission. 

"I don't see anything about what we would do if someone is found not guilty," Banks commented. 

Angelucci said that even if an employee is cleared by the legal system, "that doesn't mean that nothing occurred . . . that they automatically get their job back."

She said the district's human resources staff still needs flexibility to make personnel decisions on a case-by-base basis. 

Said Banks: "This is so serious, this is about people's lives. We need to get this right."

Wrinkle said that additional steps include ensuring that the Cobb school district doesn't "destroy someone's career during an investigation" and to "proactively support" re-employing an employee who is found not guilty.

"Restoring someone's reputation and career starts with the district being proactive in supporting that person," he said.