CEA Challenges Rule on Parental Notification of Employee Arrests
Colorado Education Association filed a lawsuit June 30 in Denver District Court against the State Board of Education’s new rule that school districts must notify parents when a school employee is arrested for a felony or other specific offenses. We are seeking judicial review of the new rule, as well as declaratory and injunctive relief. The hearing date for the Motion for Preliminary Injunction on the challenge to the Parental Notification Rule has been set for September 23, 2011 in Denver District Court.
In the lawsuit, we allege the State Board and Colorado Department of Education do not have the authority to impose this rule because doing so oversteps their authority to supervise school districts and the management of district employees. We view the rule as unconstitutional and in conflict with state laws regarding reporting of criminal offenses and protection of school district employees from false allegations.
At the heart of the matter is the legal presumption that school district employees, like all other citizens, are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The new rule will encourage parents and others to assume that school district employees are guilty without any due process.
Once a perception of misconduct exists, employees who are later exonerated will remain stigmatized in the school community and their authority in the classroom and in their jobs will be undermined. The rule does not support its stated purpose of providing a safe learning environment. To the contrary, it will create fear and unrest among students, parents, and school employees in the school community.
Further, the rule is unnecessary. Colorado school districts already assert strong local control in school employee discipline. Anytime an employee at a public school is accused of a crime, the district decides what is best for school safety and student well-being. District officials often choose to place the employee on leave during an investigation, separating that person from students if there is even the possibility of a safety concern.
The Association has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct against students, and we believe every accusation of misconduct against a school district employee should be treated seriously. However, we cannot allow rules to stand that degrade and punish education professionals while having no discernable benefit to parents, students, or other school district employees.
Notification won’t afford parents and students any added protections against someone who may have committed a crime - but will give them plenty of worries and fears about an accused person who didn’t commit a crime.
Let’s face it – bad things happen to good people. A Colorado Springs teacher related to us that she was nearly handcuffed in school for allegedly stealing gas in a case of mistaken identity. A relative of hers in the teaching profession endured accusations of sexual misconduct for two years before the truth came out that the accusers were upset about receiving a bad grade. This single member example shows the court of public opinion is an unjust, ugly place, and we can’t support laws that will drive fine educators into that abyss.
The parental notification rule does nothing to further protect students, nothing to alleviate the concerns of parents, but everything to destroy the career of any school employee wrongly accused. CEA believes the court will ultimately entrust disciplinary issues to the education professionals in our communities who do right by our children every day.
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