Fired middle school science teacher plans appeal

Ryan Haraughty will appeal the Shawnee Mission School Board’s decision to fire him from his position as a middle school teacher.

“We are planning our defense and hoping people are fair and impartial because I don’t think that has completely been the case thus far,” Haraughty said.

The Shawnee Mission School Board voted Nov. 9 to terminate Haraughty from his position as a Mission Valley Middle School science teacher, citing “repeated use of sexual innuendo and sexual banter in the presence of students” and “creating and permitting a sexually hostile environment at school.”

Several hundred people attended the Nov. 9 meeting and a number of students and parents spoke in Haraughty’s defense. During a question and answer session led by Superintendent Gene Johnson and Shawnee Mission East area board member Donna Bysfield on Nov. 17, several parents and students continued to request that the board reverse the decision and reinstate Haraughty.

Shawnee Mission Board President Larry Winn III said the only thing that might lead to reconsideration or a meeting to discuss reinstatement would be something in the arbitration process that would “convince board members they did not have all the information they should have at the time.”

“I have not seen anything that would indicate that at this point,” Winn said.

Based on the information he had Nov. 9, Winn said he stands by his decision.

“I can’t forecast if they would change their mind, but they sure as heck would want to make sure to the extent possible they have accurate factual information,” Winn said of board members. “But the logical place that will occur would be through the hearing (process).”

At the Nov. 17 meeting, Johnson said if Haraughty decided to appeal, the district would go through the arbitration process.

Haraughty is a member of the Shawnee Mission chapter of the National Education Association, which will represent him throughout the process, Sheryl Siegele, NEA chapter president, said.

“Right now our chief legal counsel (from the Kansas NEA), David Schauner, has been working with Mr. Haraughty,” Siegele said.

Because of the holiday season, it is not likely the arbitration process will get under way until the beginning of 2010, she said.

“Of course we believe it was an incorrect decision and so that of course is what our case will be trying to prove,” Siegele said.

A state-trained arbitrator, independent from the board of education, the district and the NEA, will be agreed upon by both sides. From there, the arbitration process will continue like a court case, Siegele said. Lawyers from each side will present their case, witnesses are brought forward and the arbitrator will decide whether the board made a correct decision. If the arbitrator rules in favor of Haraughty, he would be reinstated, Siegele said.

In the five-and-a-half years Siegele has been president of the Shawnee Mission NEA chapter, this process has been employed twice. Those cases did not result in reinstatement, she said.

But the NEA hopes to have Haraughty reinstated “so the parents, students and the entire community can enjoy everything he contributes in a classroom,” Siegele said.

Haraughty had 15 days after Nov. 10 to make his final decision as to whether he would appeal the board’s decision, Siegele said. The appeal would officially be filed on Monday, Siegele said.

In 1993, the Kansas Due Process Act changed the arbitration process from being a decision made by a committee to a decision made by a hearing officer that is binding to both the teacher and the school board. Using a hearing officer, the process takes anywhere from 45 days to six months, said Cynthia Menzel, spokesperson for the KNEA.

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