The Alliance Public Schools Board of Education met in special session Tuesday night for a personnel hearing to take action on the employment contract of high school Special Education teacher Denise Watson. The meeting began with the board appointing Attorney John Selzer as hearing officer.
Attorney Greg Perry presented the School Districts case against Mrs Watson. Mr. Perry outlined the case in three parts....First, Failure to comply with various laws and policys and late filing of IEP reports and assessments. Second, Academic Dishonesty in regards to altering grades. Third, Violating student confidentiality.
The lengthly hearing included testimony from District Special Education Director, Elizabeth Baker, High School Principals George Clear and Tera Digman, District Special Education consultant Rene Anthony, Technology Director Kurt Zadina and Superintendant Dr. Troy Unzicker. The District sited multiple pieces of evidence and documentation of each allegation. After providing testimony, each of the Administrators recommended the cancellation of Mrs. Watsons contract.
Attorney John Hunzeker, who represented Mrs Watson, then called several character witnesses. Three former students and two former colleagues of Mrs Watson testified on her behalf. They all spoke of Mrs Watson as a compassionate and caring teacher who expected her students to do their work and always encouraged them to do their best. All witnesses said Mrs Watson would never give a grade that wasn't deserved. Mrs Watson then spoke in her defense and addressed the allegations against her. She said she took responsibilty for the late and missed deadlines in filing reports and acessments. She said she did not know about altering grades and could have made mistakes in entering them, and regarding confidentiality, she said she kept her door locked when she wasn't in the room. She also stated she was going through a lot of personal issues this past school year, she was adjusting to a new position, both her inlaws passed away, her husband suffered health issues and she got sick herself and the challenges of teaching during the covid pandemic. In closing Mrs Watson spoke of her love of teaching and commitment to her students and wanted to continue.
After hearing over 5 hours of testimony, the Board went into executive session for approximately two hours and 20 minutes. When the meeting resumed, just after one am, Hearing Officer John Selzer announced that after careful consideration of all the evidence that was presented and hearing from the witnesses the Board voted to terminate Mrs Watsons contract at the end of the 2020-21 school year.