Gilroy
– The school district is poised to authorize further discipline
for the Brownell Academy teacher who read two sexual narratives
aloud to her sixth-grade social studies class.
Gilroy – The school district is poised to authorize further discipline for the Brownell Academy teacher who read two sexual narratives aloud to her sixth-grade social studies class.
The board will discuss the matter in a closed session Thursday.
“We have been working on this rather diligently over the last three weeks,” Superintendent Edwin Diaz, said.
Joanne Lewis, in her fifth year of teaching at Brownell, read the poems to her class a few weeks ago. She subsequently was placed on administrative leave for three days just before Thanksgiving.
Contacted after school Thursday, Lewis declined to comment.
Board members remain tight-lipped about the potential outcome of the incident.
“It’s in the same place it’s been. Staff has been working hard, and it’s a personnel issue still under investigation,” said Trustee Jim Rogers.
Rogers said he could not comment on if board meetings with the district’s attorney included discussion of whether Lewis’ readings of the narratives constituted sexual harassment, something district staff has said is part of the ongoing investigation.
Since the incident, district officials say they’ve been working to restore parents’ trust in the district.
“I think it’s important that parents and the community have faith in what we do as professional educators,” Diaz said. “We want to do whatever we can to ensure that the public has a high level of confidence that the level of instruction being provided is high quality and is appropriate, We will take all the necessary steps to keep it from happening again.”
District staff met with principals and vice principals from Gilroy schools Dec. 1 to discuss board policies addressing appropriate supplemental materials, and Diaz said he soon will send out a letter to all certificated teachers regarding the same matter.
The board has held two closed sessions to discuss possible disciplinary action, which ranges from a written reprimand that would be kept on file to suspension to dismissal.
“We’ve had the district’s attorney assist us in reviewing all components of what happened at Brownell,” Diaz said. “We’ve been working with the board, district staff and the attorney and looking at all the requirements of the law, and investigating whether or not this warrants a dismissal, suspension or any other type of appropriate action.”
The process of considering possible discipline is extensive, Diaz said, and involves a review of the collective bargaining agreement, the teacher’s contract, a review of the state’s education code and other related cases that have been filed.
“We also have to look at whether this is a recurring incident and whether there has been previous action, which there hasn’t been for this teacher,” Diaz said. “All of those things go into determining what would be the most appropriate and responsible action.”
