{"id":613,"date":"2012-04-26T09:01:56","date_gmt":"2012-04-26T14:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulstanley.org\/blog\/?p=613"},"modified":"2012-04-26T09:01:56","modified_gmt":"2012-04-26T14:01:56","slug":"reasons-for-reinstating-school-superintendent-rest-on-foundation-of-sand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulstanley.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/26\/reasons-for-reinstating-school-superintendent-rest-on-foundation-of-sand\/","title":{"rendered":"Reasons for Reinstating School Superintendent Rest on Foundation of Sand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below is an op-ed I wrote for my hometown paper over the county board of education’s decision to reinstate the local superintendent of schools after suspending him with pay because of a felony indictment for carrying a firearm on school grounds.<\/em><\/p>\n

By a vote of 8-2, the Hardin County Board of Education rescinded a previous
\ndecision to temporarily suspend Superintendent John Thomas after his
\nindictment on a single felony charge of carrying a weapon on school
\nproperty.<\/p>\n

In an earlier admission to the board and in a telephone conversation taped
\nby local citizen Jerry Fowler, Thomas admitted to carrying the weapon on
\nschool grounds and said he has done so for the last several years. The issue
\nonly came to light when a school security officer noticed the weapon on
\nThomas and notified authorities.<\/p>\n

The board voted 6-4 to temporary suspend Thomas on\u00a0March 22\u00a0with pay when a
\ntemporary replacement was found. Until then, Thomas would remain on the job.
\nDuring that same meeting the board appointed a committee to find and name
\nthe interim and that is exactly what they did.<\/p>\n

But in some behind the scenes maneuvering, several members of the board
\napparently got together and decided instead to rescind Thomas\u2019 suspension
\nand not act on a replacement from a neighboring county who was willing and
\nable to serve.<\/p>\n

I hope that didn\u2019t happen because that would have violated the state\u2019s open
\nmeeting rule, commonly known as the \u201csunshine law.\u201d<\/p>\n

After asking permission to make a motion to reverse Thomas\u2019 suspension in
\nlast week\u2019s meeting, board member Olga Turnbow gave two reasons for keeping
\nThomas.<\/p>\n

First, the board could not afford to pay the salaries of two superintendents
\nand Thomas\u2019 name was already on a couple hundred diplomas for graduating
\nseniors.<\/p>\n

I doubt you have the slightest notion where your high school diploma is, but
\nnonetheless, do you have any idea who signatures are at the bottom of your
\nsheepskin? And what difference has it made in your ability to ever find a
\njob?<\/p>\n

Here are the issues still facing the board. First, Thomas knowingly violated
\na state law. Second and more importantly, he\u2019s under indictment for a
\nfelony.<\/p>\n

Tennessee state law prohibits anyone from carrying a weapon on school
\nproperty and there is no exemption for teachers or administrators. In
\naddition, the school system has what is known as a \u201czero tolerance\u201d policy
\nfor students carrying weapons on school grounds.<\/p>\n

What type of example are we setting for the graduates on whose diplomas
\nThomas\u2019 signature will reside if the board allows him to stay on the job?
\nThat it\u2019s okay to break the law if you are in a position of authority?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never met Mr. Thomas but from what I\u2019ve heard, he\u2019s a kind and
\nwell-qualified leader. While he came into the position under controversial
\ncircumstances, many teachers and administrators appear to like him.<\/p>\n

From a political perspective, Thomas\u2019 indictment left the board with little
\nchoice but to take action on the issue, but you would have never known it
\nfrom the initial 6-4 vote.<\/p>\n

A $27 million dollar budget can be challenging, but if the system is
\ndependent upon one person to navigate it through such fiscal decisions, then
\nthey have much bigger problems. In fact, isn\u2019t that what other
\nadministrators are hired to do with the board\u2019s oversight?<\/p>\n

Neither the board nor the citizens of this county asked for this issue and
\nthe responsibility lies completely with Mr. Thomas. In the meantime, the
\nsuspension should have remained intact until the legal system has run its
\ncourse.<\/p>\n

If a jury finds Mr. Thomas not guilty or if his case is downgraded to a
\nmisdemeanor (which is what I predict will happen), then he could have
\nreturned to his job.<\/p>\n

If convicted, the board would have had no choice but to permanently remove
\nThomas from his position and find another replacement.<\/p>\n

Board member Jeanell Dennis made a wise, but misguided observation in her
\ndefense of Thomas when she said there is a difference between teachers and
\nstudents; and she is right.<\/p>\n

Teachers should know better. So should elected board members.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Below is an op-ed I wrote for my hometown paper over the county board of education’s decision to reinstate the local superintendent of schools after suspending him with pay because of a felony indictment for carrying a firearm on school grounds. By a vote of 8-2, the Hardin County Board of Education rescinded a previous decision to temporarily suspend Superintendent John Thomas after his indictment on a single felony charge of carrying a weapon on school property. In an earlier admission to the board and in a telephone conversation taped by local citizen Jerry Fowler, Thomas admitted to carrying the weapon on school grounds and said he has done so for the last several years. The issue only came to light when a school security officer noticed the weapon on Thomas and notified authorities. The board voted 6-4 to temporary suspend Thomas on\u00a0March 22\u00a0with pay when a temporary replacement was found. Until then, Thomas would remain on the job. During that same meeting the board appointed a committee to find and name the interim and that is exactly what they did. But in some behind the scenes maneuvering, several members of the board apparently got together and decided instead to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[28,177,225,327,450],"class_list":["post-613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-paul","tag-author","tag-hardin-county-board-of-education","tag-john-thomas","tag-paul-stanley","tag-writer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nReasons for Reinstating School Superintendent Rest on Foundation of Sand - Paul Stanley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.paulstanley.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/26\/reasons-for-reinstating-school-superintendent-rest-on-foundation-of-sand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reasons for Reinstating School Superintendent Rest on Foundation of Sand - Paul Stanley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Below is an op-ed I wrote for my hometown paper over the county board of education’s decision to reinstate the local superintendent of schools after suspending him with pay because of a felony indictment for carrying a firearm on school grounds. By a vote of 8-2, the Hardin County Board of Education rescinded a previous decision to temporarily suspend Superintendent John Thomas after his indictment on a single felony charge of carrying a weapon on school property. In an earlier admission to the board and in a telephone conversation taped by local citizen Jerry Fowler, Thomas admitted to carrying the weapon on school grounds and said he has done so for the last several years. The issue only came to light when a school security officer noticed the weapon on Thomas and notified authorities. The board voted 6-4 to temporary suspend Thomas on\u00a0March 22\u00a0with pay when a temporary replacement was found. Until then, Thomas would remain on the job. During that same meeting the board appointed a committee to find and name the interim and that is exactly what they did. 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