While no official action has

yet been taken regarding a proposed fair dismissal policy for Fayette

County School System teachers, members of the Board of Education have

made it clear that they want to protect teachers and plan to implement

a policy that will do so.

"Due process is important,"

said board member Janet Smola, adding that making sure whatever is adopted

is constitutional is also of vital importance.

Receiving particular scrutiny

during Monday's special called board meeting was a policy recently adopted

Fayette County School System

attorney Phil Hartley said that he believes that document is legal, but

there is a point of concern with him as well as Superintendent John DeCotis

about one particular item, which could put the superintendent and the

school board in adversarial positions.

Georgia's current fair dismissal

policy, which applies to teachers hired before July 1 of last year, ensures

protection to teachers after they have accepted a fourth consecutive contract

with the same school system. This practice, referred to by some as "tenure,"

has been eliminated under Gov. Roy Barnes' new education legislation,

so newer teachers do not apply and do not have due process rights like

more veteran teachers do, according to the Fayette County Association

of Educators, which is in favor of a fair dismissal policy and submitted

a written notice to the school board in that regard.

Normally, a teacher who has

met the four-year requirement must be given written notice by April 15

if the school system does not plan to renew his or her contract for the

coming academic year. That teacher is then entitled to a hearing at which

the school system must provide written charges, witnesses and evidence

to back up its reasons for nonrenewal.

The local board must conduct

a hearing and render a decision within five days, according to Georgia

law. The teacher can appeal the ruling to the state's Board of Education,

which has the power to uphold or reverse the local board decision.

Clayton County's policy, passed

in December, says that if the board renders a decision in favor of the

teacher, the case is sent back to the superintendent for reconsideration,

and the superintendent may accept or reject the board's decision.

If the Fayette board made a

practice of doing that, it could lead to some problems, according to Hartley.

If the board decides that there is insufficient cause to dismiss a teacher

but sends the case back to the superintendent, who then insists on dismissing

the teacher, then the board and superintendent are in an adversarial position.

Also, if the superintendent

were to dismiss a teacher under those circumstances, the board's favorable

ruling would provide the teacher with some ammunition if he or she were

to file a lawsuit against the county over the termination, Hartley said.

This scenario is not likely,

Hartley stated, under the current administration. School board Chairman

Mickey Littlefield said DeCotis has proven consistently that he is "pro-teacher."

But Hartley pointed out that

neither the current board nor DeCotis would be in office forever, so the

policy needs to be carefully considered with that in mind.

Littlefield asked if the possibility

of litigation would be increased or decreased should the board not implement

any new policy at all. Hartley said he did not think it would make a huge

difference in those numbers, because it is rare across the state for a

school system to just let a teacher go, and when it happens, the school

system usually bends over backward to ensure things are done right so

that a lawsuit does not result.

Smola asked about the possibility

of a separate tribunal presiding over hearings such as this to keep the

relationship between the school board and the superintendent unaffected.

Hartley said that such a move is possible.

The consensus of the board

was that letting teachers have the right to a hearing is a must. "That's

what teachers are looking for," said school board member Greg Powers.

Also of paramount importance

is having sufficient written documentation relating to any incident where

a teacher is not going to be kept, to make the hearing process go more

smoothly and fairly. "There must be documentation and not character

assassination," Powers said.

Having a fair dismissal policy

would give teachers similar rights to school administrators, according

to the FCAE. Administrators do not have due process rights such as suggested

above, but they can request and receive multi-year contracts. There are

currently 17 administrators in the county with multi-year contracts, the

FCAE stated. Board member Marion Key expressed concern about administrators

with multi-year contracts overseeing teachers without tenure of any kind.

Hartley suggested that he take

the comments of the school board and go back for another look at what

the county could draw up, since the major points seem to be all right.

"I think we're 95 percent

there philosophically," said Littlefield. "We just need to fine-tune

it."