Gilroy
– In response to a Public Record Act request made by The Gilroy
Dispatch this week, the school district made public the details of
its settlement with former teacher Kristen Porter.
According to the settlement of Porter’s grievance, in which she
claimed she was wrongfully terminated in March, Gilroy Unified
School District paid Porter her wages through the end of the
contract year, as well as related benefits. Porter received a total
of $17,931.85.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – In response to a Public Record Act request made by The Gilroy Dispatch this week, the school district made public the details of its settlement with former teacher Kristen Porter.
According to the settlement of Porter’s grievance, in which she claimed she was wrongfully terminated in March, Gilroy Unified School District paid Porter her wages through the end of the contract year, as well as related benefits. Porter received a total of $17,931.85.
The settlement agreement was reached on Sept. 15 and the dollar amount paid by the first of October. Porter filed her grievance on March 22, after being immediately terminated by the district on Friday, March 19. As a temporary employee who had not yet completed 75 percent of her contract, GUSD was allowed to dismiss Porter “at the pleasure of the board,” according to Education Code. Now, Porter has received what would have been her salary and cost of benefits for the months of April, May and June, as well as health benefits for May through September, which she would have received if she remained employed by GUSD.
During Thursday night’s regular school board meeting, President Jaime Rosso announced that the agreement was being released to The Dispatch after Porter and her representatives signed a confidentiality waiver, and with approval from board members.
As part of the agreement, the district, Porter and her union representatives agreed not to disclose any of its terms. Porter has said only that she is happy with the settlement agreement.
In an August tort claim, Porter’s attorney contended the district wrongfully terminated Porter because it failed to provide required teacher evaluations, retaliated against her for exercising her “academic freedom” in class and before the board, and disseminated false and defamatory information to the public. In addition to payment of lost wages, Porter also requested reinstatement or payment of three months’ wages and benefits, and $25,000 in damages.
The district held a name-clearing hearing on May 26 in response to Porter’s charges that the district defamed her. A Sept. 15 letter from Superintendent Edwin Diaz included in the settlement says his statements in The Dispatch – to which Porter was referring – would be mis-read if interpreted to suggest she did something dishonest, immoral, or dangerous to children.
The agreement is not “an admission of liability or wrongdoing.”
In a letter to The Dispatch, Diaz says the district is not required under the Public Records Act to provide the settlement agreement because it is protected in maintaining confidentiality in grievance proceedings. With permission from Porter and her union representatives, GUSD released the agreement to resolve the public records request and avoid any potential litigation, he said.
Porter, who had taught English for 10 years in another district, was not re-hired by GUSD this spring, after her first full-time year at GHS. Then, after challenging the board to openly review GUSD’s evaluation process, she was unceremoniously dismissed from her classroom and replaced with a long-term substitute.
Diaz and union representatives have said that grievance settlements like Porter’s do not necessarily go to the school board for approval. In this case, the board authorized the district to settle within a certain monetary range.
