Georgia Fair Dismissal Act doesn’t apply to school administrators
The Clarke County Board of Education ousted Cedar Shoals High School Principal Tommy Craft without providing a reason for his termination. When board members refused to explain their decision to Craft or the public—citing the school board attorney's advice—Cedar parents like Chris Hale were frustrated. “It's an unfair situation for Dr. Craft and for us as parents —just the not knowing exactly why,” Hale said. Absent any explanation, Craft says politics, not performance, led the school board to let him go. He's even accused two board members of holding a grudge against him for a decision he made two years ago to pass over board member Sidney Anne Waters' son-in-law for an administrative position at the school. According to the school system’s attorney, Terrell Benton, the school board long has refused to comment on personnel decisions. The state Fair Dismissal Act—passed more than 30 years ago—offers some protection to teachers when their contracts aren't renewed. The law gives tenured teachers—typically a teacher who's taught at a school four years or more—the right to appeal or at least request a reason when the school board opts not to renew his or her contract. But changes to the law in 1995 meant most school principals no longer have that right. That doesn't mean school board members can't explain their reasons to fire a principal, Benton said, but he warns them they may expose the school system—and taxpayers—to a lawsuit.
Benton's advice is not uncommon in Georgia, where principals often are shown the door without an explanation. The state legislature removed administrators from the Fair Dismissal Act in 1995, approving a bill sponsored by the Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA), an entity that represents all 180 of the state's school districts. Principals are public figures, said GSBA's Angela Palm, and the law protects their privacy and protects taxpayers from lawsuits. But professional organizations like Georgia Association of Educational Leaders (GAEL) and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE), each of which represent about 2,500 administrators in the state, see a different perspective. When local school boards aren't required to give a reason, they're rarely willing to explain, said Jim Puckett, GAEL's executive director. “Certainly the board doesn't want to have to defend itself in a lawsuit, so they have to determine the balance between risking going to court or the public relations issue because parents and the community are worried about what's going on. But typically, boards will err on the legal side.” But if school board members don't have to give a reason for firing a principal, maybe they don't have one, PAGE spokesman Tim Callahan said. “The idea of a fair dismissal law is that it protects people who may not always be politically correct or are willing to step on some toes,” Callahan said. “... I don't know if it's made principals more accountable. It's probably made them more gun shy and a little less willing to take risks.”
Source: Athens Banner-Herald, 1/27/08, By Benjamin Price