After an hour-long executive session on Dec. 10, Ignacio School Board members voted to retain a high school teacher who was recommended to be fired in September after a Sept. 1 confrontation with a student. But immediately following last week's action, the board put the teacher, Harris Murphy, on administrative leave, with full pay and benefits.
Murphy, who was starting his second second year as a science teacher at IHS, challenged the firing recommendation from Supt. Rocco Fuschetto and took the issue to arbitration hearing with local Magistrate James Casey. The board action last week was because Casey recommended on Dec. 8 that Murphy be retained. Casey said findings of fact hadn't been proved to support the district's grounds for dismissal for insubordination.
Board member Luke Kirk cast the only dissenting vote on the motion to place Murphy on administrative leave. Superintendent Rocco Fuschetto said that had to include a time frame, but one was not mentioned.
Back in September, Fuschetto recommended the firing based on a Sept. 1 confrontation Murphy had with a 15 year old male student, "which resulted in Mr. Murphy tackling the student in the hallway. Mr. Murphy was subsequently criminally charged with misdemeanor child abuse. Mr. Murphy's conduct violated district policies regarding teacher conduct and student discipline, the IHS Code of Conduct, and state and federal law. Mr. Murphy's conduct constitues insubordination, neglect of duty, and other good and just cause for dismissal."
The boy was in Murphy's science class and refused to remove earbuds when Murphy told him to, Fuschetto wrote. The boy ignored Murphy and pulled his sweatshirt hood up. Murphy grabbed the hood and started pulling the boy out of his seat, Fuschetto wrote. The boy tried to pull away to go to the office. Murphy kept his hold, and they ended up in the hallway where it was recorded by a surveillance camera.
The struggle continued. The boy's pants fell down. Murphy was able to tackle the boy as he tried to pull his pants up, Fuschetto wrote. Murphy was placed on administrative leave after the incident and before Fuschetto's firing reccommendation.
Fuschetto told the Times in September, "We have to go through a process. According to state statute, I have to present the charges to the board and to the defendant. He has the opportunity to appeal. It would go to a hearing officer who would make a recommendation to the board. Then they can take action. It's a long drawn-out process. I wish they could have voted on it last night (Sept. 15) and be done with it."
The Ignacio Police Department told the Times this week that the misdemeanor charge was still in process.
Casey's nine page recommendation recounted the information in Fuschetto's firing recommendation. He focussed on the hallway video, what he saw on it that he said didn't match Fuschetto's version; and on lack of follow-up by Assistant Principal Rocky Cundiff or Principal Melanie Taylor and failure to hear Murphy's side of the story.
Casey wrote that Murphy had forced the boy to hand over his cellphone, and the confrontation started when the boy tried to take it back. Teacher Jessica Musch, seen intervening between the two in the video, testified that it was the boy who continued to be confrontational, demanding the return of his phone, cursing at Murphy and threatening to get him fired, Casey wrote.
Casey continued, "Mr. Murphy testified that his hand was injured by S.F.'s attempt to retrieve his cell phone from him, and that in the seconds that follwed, he feared that S.F. was reaching for a weapon. The teacher testified that it was only at this point that he placed his hands on the student. The two are then seen engaged on the hallway camera."
Casey said Ignacio Police Sgt. Wes Crume testified that he needed to interview all the students in Murphy's classroom when the confrontation happened, that neither Taylor or Cundiff followed up on his request or provided a list of students present. Crume testified that without those interviews, the investigation was "'lacking some things,' i.e. incomplete."
Under state law, Casey said the burden of proof was on the school district to prove "that the recommendation for dismissal... was for the reasons given in the notice of dismissal and that the dismissal was made in accordance with this article."
He ruled that the district has not proven the basis of insubordination, neglect of duty, or other good and just cause.
"The district rushed to judgment in this case," he wrote, and Murphy was suspended without "the simplest task of asking Mr. Murphy what had occurred. The district's attempt to learn Mr. Murphy's version of the events occurred only after the police were called and Mr. Murphy, upon advice of counsel, refused to discuss the matter."
Casey said he didn't find credible the student's recounting of how the altercation started.
He concluded that the student initiated the altercation when Murphy wouldn't let him have the phone back, and that the 67-year-old teacher could have reasonable fear of physical harm from the "significantly larger" student, or that the student had a weapon. He said Murphy acted properly in twice attempting to have the student remove the earbud and then requiring the student to hand over the cell phone and not return it as the student demanded.
"Why Mr. Murphy should have even thought there was a need to defend his actions to anyone is lost on the hearing officer," Casey wrote.
At the end of the Dec. 10 meeting, Fuschetto objected that Murphy asked for the arbitration hearing and the district had to pay for it. If the district went against Casey's recommendation, Murphy could have appealed, but the district isn't allowed to appeal the recommendation that it doesn't like, he said.
The Times has not been able to reach Murphy to ask him to comment.
