Teacher’s Trial Begins TodayBy Rusty Garrett
TIMES RECORD • RGARRETT@SWTIMES.COMA lawsuit over whether teachers should be paid for time spent monitoring students outside the classroom will go to trial today in Crawford County Circuit Court.Judge Mike Medlock will preside over the case filed by former Coleman Junior High School civics teacher Steve Jones against the Van Buren School District.The suit, originally filed in 2003, claims Jones and other teachers were not paid for non-instructional duty time that they were required to work. It has been certified as a class-action suit.A 2003 law requires teachers be paid additional compensation if they work more than 60 minutes of non-instructional time in a week. Lemley said there is a dispute over whether passing periods — the three to seven minutes between classes — and before and after school duty and lunch duty are noninstructional time.After the Van Buren School Board voted to fire Jones in 2006, the suit was amended to include a wrongful termination claim. Jones was fired for missing a meeting in 2005 and leaving a meeting early in 2006.The termination issue will be tried at a later date.Attempts between Jones’ attorney Brian Meadors and Kevin Lemley, the lawyer representing the school district, to negotiate a settlement ended Feb. 13 when the school board voted 6-0 against accepting an offer that would have involved a $400,000 payment by the district.Lemley told board members the plaintiffs have contended a decision in their favor could cost the district more than $2 million.The trial will begin at 9 a.m. in the new circuit courtroom in the remodeled county courthouse annex on Fourth Street.
I'm no huge fan of public school teacher unions but.... it sounds as if this school administration thinks it's o.k. to not pay workers for required hours of labor (meetings, training, whatever you want to call it). I'll bet all the salary employees claim "comp time" for these meetings and take extra 3 day weekends once they've banked enough!
Pyro
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This part of the story highlights the reason unions are (GAY).
"— the three to seven minutes between classes — "
That is part of what is at dispute. I can understand wanting to get paid for taking a rotating shift of lunch duty. Or getting paid for standing by the busses as the kids load up duty.
But if you read the artical their contract states that they must be paid if "they work more than 60 minutes of non-instructional time in a week."
Sounds to me like the school was following the contract and was rotating the bus and lunch type duties to keep everyone under the 1 hour requirment
Then this damn sea lawyer goes HEY, did you notice that when you add up the work day the 3-4 min between classes in not accounted for. We can sue them and get money!
This is certainly a far cry from the sweat shops of the last century and pales in comparison to legitimate gripes that occure every day.
This is the same as when the Liberals describe the Bush govornment as "the closest thing in recent history to Nazi Germany"
It's just flat wrong and I'm ashamed that you fall for it.
Love ya Bro.
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