School Law - Legal Issues with School Personnel - Essay Example

? Legal Issues with School Personnel 9h, July PART RESPONSE TO THE JANITOR’S LETTER Spring Valley Middle School, 1566E Nowhere St Somewhere, SW 90375 9 July 2013 Mr. Joe Black The Lead Custodian Spring Valley Middle School 1566 E Nowhere St Somewhere, SW 90375 Dear Sir, Re: Response to the Allegations Letter Thank you for taking the initiative of bringing this important issue to my notice. Spring Valley Middle School aims at maintaining high standards, with regard to conduct of all its employees. Sexual misconduct of any kind is not tolerated. Therefore, such observations are important to the management and the whole school, as this will help to pave way for important steps that will ensure the image of our school remains untainted. I treat this concern as highly important due to the weight it carries. I therefore, promise to look into the issue with great urgency, as this has the potential of influencing the institution in adverse ways. An investigation into the issue will be launched soon. However, in the meantime, reserve your judgments toward the involved party, and uphold discreteness of the matter before the confirmation of the reported allegations. Please avail yourself in the coming days, as I might call on you during the investigation process. I look forward to engaging you soon. Sincerely, Michael White Principal, Spring Valley Middle School PART 2 PLAN OF ACTION The following action plan has details of how the investigation into the misconduct of Mr. Smithson will be conducted. The plan will offer guidance and help to address the whole issue, until a solution is reached. This will be done in the spirit of maintaining integrity and high conduct among the employees of Spring Valley Middle School. This case is an issue in the school leadership, which functions in line with the ISLLC standards. According to the second standard of ISLLC, a school should promote an environment of conducive learning for every student (School Leadership Briefing, 2013). However, this case of professional misconduct by one staff member has adverse influence on students, thus, not promoting a conducive environment for their learning, which is why it is paramount for the issue to be addressed. In addition, according to the policies of the Spring Valley Middle School, all staff members should uphold the highest standard of conduct, in order to promote effective teaching for educators, and learning for students. Therefore, such an act has the potential of disrupting the learning process. Statement of the Problem One of the key employees in Spring Valley Middle School is alleged to be involved in a case of sexual misconduct. Allegations from different sources have been made, that the male educator, Mr. Smithson, touches girls in “funny” ways, during his coaching sessions with them. Spring Valley Middle School is committed to maintaining high conduct among the educators, and other employees, therefore, this alleged incident, if confirmed, might have grievous implications on the institution. Spring Valley Middle School Response The Spring Valley Middle School, in accordance with its mission and the ISLLC standards, will develop and implement strategies that will ensure that the allegations are investigated, and appropriate steps are taken, depending on the results of the investigations. All this will be performed in a timely manner. Action 1: Preliminary Inquiry Since allegations of possible professional misconduct have already been received, the Principal will attempt to ensure a timely resolution of the issue by conducting a preliminary inquiry (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2010). After the preliminary inquiry, the next step by the principal will be determined by the inquiry results. a) The principal will close the case, if there is no basis for the allegations. b) The principal will give a letter of reprimand to the offender, and close the case, if he finds the case to be less serious. c) The principal will involve the disciplinary committee if he finds the case serious and the accused person does not contest the results. d) An ad hoc committee will be formed, if the accused person contests the findings of the preliminary inquiry by the principal. e) The individual accused of professional misconduct will be informed of the allegations made against him, before the end of the preliminary inquiry. Action 2: Investigation With great discretion, the principal will initiate an investigation into the allegations of professional misconduct. Tom Brown, Joe Black, and the principal, will be the mainly involved in the investigation. This is because of the high competence level these have with regard to administration. On the other hand, Ann Good will not be part of the investigation due to her low competence in legal, HR, and administration issues. The investigative plan The principal will inform the assistant principal/athletic director, Mr. Tom Brown, about the investigation, as he works closely with the accused person in the sports department. The principal will appoint a committee consisting of three senior staff members. The people with relevant information about the allegations will be summoned to present their evidence before the appointed committee, through an interview process, through which the committee will gather relevant information about the allegations. The students to be interviewed will include Mr. Black’s daughter, and girls in the class of the accused individual. These are chosen because; Mr. Black’s daughter will help to identify her friends, whom she hosted at the pajama party, while the identified girls will provide first-hand information, as some of them are the alleged victims of Mr. Smithson’s misconduct. The staff to be interviewed will include Mr. Black, because, he will testify what he had in the teachers’ lounge about the issue. High confidentiality will be ensured for the participants in the investigation and the interviewees. Interviews will be conducted individually, and the names of interviewees will not be released to other interviewees. However, the name of the accusers and witnesses will be released to the accused, as part of his rights. Investigation Findings, Report, and Release The committee will prepare a report of its findings on the allegations, and this will include their recommendations on the disciplinary act to be taken. The accused will be allowed to contest the decision of the investigative committee on the case, within two weeks of the ruling. If the findings of the investigation by the committee show that a professional misconduct actually took place, and the appeal is unsuccessful, the findings will have to be communicated to the larger community. This will mainly be in the form of a press release. The principal will release a statement to the media about the issue. In addition, the investigative committee will e-mail copies of their investigation findings to specific media houses. PART 3 RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ACCUSED It is possible for an individual to be accused or implicated in a crime, which they did not commit. Different scenarios across the world point to the fact that some accused individuals are falsely accused and reprimanded. This could result because of lying witnesses, false confessions, as well as poor investigations. When this happens, justice is denied to the accused person (Rossmo, 2013). On the other hand, in such cases, the real offender goes free, without facing legal implications for his or her acts. Therefore, the investigative process in a crime or misconduct scenario is important, thus should be conducted with great competence and expertise. In this scenario of Mr. Smithson’s professional misconduct, it might also be possible for him to be accused falsely, if the investigation is poorly conducted. This is the reason why the members of the appointed committee must uphold caution and integrity. Apart from the responsibilities of the committee to ensure fair ruling, the accused, Mr. Smithson, also has a part to play in ensuring that the investigation and the investigation findings are fair. Most importantly is that Mr. Smithson, the accused, has rights and responsibilities during the investigation process. Therefore, adherence to these rights and responsibilities might help to ensure accurate findings by the investigative committee. In the legal system of the United States of America, the accused persons are offered necessary guarantees to ensure their liberty and dignity during the process of criminal investigation, which is conducted by the police, or any other bodies responsible for investigations. The provisions for the rights of the accused are found in the USA constitution. The main aim of the investigative process is to dig up all the evidence, which the complainant holds against the accused. The process of investigation must be conducted in a fair and just manner, which upholds the rights of the accused (Rossmo, 2013). Therefore, this is important in this scenario, as the US constitution protects the accused persons from unjust accusations and punishment. The first right that Mr. Smithson is entitled to in this case, is that of being given a written summary of all the charges or allegations that have been made against him. In this investigation, this right will be fulfilled. Before the end of the preliminary inquiry period, the principal will inform the accused, Mr. Smithson, on the allegations made against him. This way, the accused will be aware of all the allegations leveled against him, therefore, will be able to adopt his personal strategies of how he will address the allegations. Secondly, Mr. Smithson has the right for ample time to prepare, before being summoned before the investigative committee for his hearing. This is important, since the accused needs time to prepare on what he will present as his evidence against the allegations. In this case, before the investigative committee calls on Mr. Smithson for the hearing process, he will be informed in advance about the hearing, and the set date for the hearing, as well as what he should expect during the process. In addition, Mr. Smithson has the right to know the names of all the people, who have tabled the accusations against him. This is because; the accuser has the right to confront his or her accusers. Therefore, by giving out the names of the accusers to Mr. Smithson, he will be able to confront them on the issue, in a good way. In this scenario, before Mr. Smithson is called upon for the hearing process before the investigative committee, the committee will ensure that the list of the accusers, as well as the witnesses is compiled and submitted to Mr. Smithson. Furthermore, Mr. Smithson, the accused, has the right to be informed of the kind of evidence, which the accusers and the witnesses will use against him. Moreover, the accused has the right to refuse to plead guilty to the allegations. Either way, he also has the right to plead guilty to the allegations. In this case, therefore, the investigative committee will rely on the evidence given, as well as the analysis of the evidence, to determine whether the accused is guilty or not. In this scenario, the principal will base some of the major decisions on whether Mr. Smithson pleads guilty to the allegations or not. In no way shall Mr. Smithson be coerced into pleading guilty to the allegations. Finally, the accused, Mr. Smithson, has the right to contest the results of the investigative committee. He can therefore, appeal the verdict and sanction pronounced on him by the investigative committee. In this scenario, Mr. Smithson will be given up to two weeks after the pronunciation of the investigative committee’s verdict, to appeal. This way, basing on the issues he will raise in his written appeal, the investigative committee will address the issues and might reconsider their verdict, if the evidence presented in the appeal is reliable. With regard to responsibilities of the accused individuals, Mr. Smithson has considerable responsibilities, which he must adhere to in order to ensure a fair and smooth investigation to take place. First, Mr. Smithson will be expected to exhibit maximum cooperation during the whole investigative process. Secondly, Mr. Smithson will be expected to uphold the virtue of honesty and truthfulness. This way, he will have to give true testimony, while arguing out his case before the committee. This is important, as honesty and truthfulness in this process will contribute to fairness and justice in the whole investigative process. In addition, the accused will also be expected to show up whenever the investigative committee calls on him. When the investigative committee gives Mr. Smithson a notice for a hearing session, and he fails to turn up, this might result in the hearing taking place in his absence, which is disadvantageous on his side, as well as the side of the investigative committee, therefore, resulting in limited evidence and information for the investigative committee. Part of the responsibility of the accused is to ensure that he submits all the relevant information, which might be useful to this case. This is because, in case the accused opts for an appeal, the amount and value of information he submits might be essential in determining whether the appeal will be successful or not. Therefore, failure to provide all the necessary documents and information pertaining to the case will might result in an unsuccessful appeal for the accused. Nonetheless, before commencing the investigative process, the accused will be informed of his rights and responsibilities, as well as the liabilities he might be exposed to for failing to adhere. Similarly, Springs Valley Middle School is an institution; therefore, in conducting the investigation on the alleged professional misconduct of Mr. Smithson, the institution has to act diligently, in order to avoid false accusations and unfair sanctions for Mr. Smithson. Therefore, it is paramount that the institution, including the investigative committee and the principal, conduct this issue in a manner that will protect the rights and responsibilities of Mr. Smithson. Failure to uphold these rights will result in a liability for the institution, and this is mainly in the form of compensation for the falsely accused individual (Rossmo, 2013). Nonetheless, the investigation into Mr. Smithson’s case will be conducted in the most diligent manner, to ensure fairness and justice for all the parties involved. References NSW Department of Education and Training (2010). Retrieved from https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/staff/child_protect/alleg_emp/respondwoutdisc.pdf Rossmo, K. (2013). Failures in Criminal Investigation. The Police Chief. Retrieved from http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1922&issue_id=102009 School Leadership Briefing (2013). ISLLC Standards Retrieved from http://www.schoolbriefing.com/isllc-standards/ Read More