Marysville teacher's attorney blasts 'sham' hearing
Sally McCurry, who teaches special education at Agnes Weber Meade School in Marysville, is challenging her 10-day suspension by the county Office of Education, which contends she allowed her son to access a confidential video of a female student ripping posters off a classroom wall.
McMurry's lawyer has called Superintendent Scotia Holmes Sanchez's actions into question.
A Yuba County Office of Education teacher was forced to endure a "sham" hearing presided over by the superintendent, whose office proposed suspending the instructor and later did so, the teacher's attorney said.
"The superintendent was not impartial," attorney Ted Lindstrom said for teacher Sally McCurry in a court filing. Ted Lindstrom said that Superintendent Scotia Holmes Sanchez has no legal training, doesn't understand rules of evidence and generally found in favor of the education office.
Lindstrom, in the legal filing on Jan. 18 in Yuba County Superior Court, said because the superintendent's office proposed the suspension, it's not surprising the Dec. 6 hearing resulted in Sanchez affirming the discipline.
McCurry is challenging her 10-day suspension by the county office of education, which contends she allowed her son to access a confidential video of a female student ripping posters off a classroom wall.
McCurry teaches special education at the Agnes Weber Meade School in Marysville, a two-room facility at Kynoch Elementary for primary and upper-elementary students between 8 and 11 years old with severe language disorders.
Sanchez said Wednesday that she is not familiar with the court filing and that she is not able to discuss an ongoing personnel action, including the assertions made by Lindstrom about her serving as hearing officer to review McCurry's status.
Lindstrom, who declined on Wednesday to comment on the case, said in an earlier filing that a suspension of more than 10 days triggers a California Commission on Teacher Credentialing review.
"Any unpaid supervision is grossly excessive, and selecting 11 days specifically to initiate a credential review is a blatant retaliation for my client complaining about a safe work environment and seeking union assistance," the attorney stated.
Sanchez suspended McCu ry for 10 days, rather than 11, Lindstrom noted in his new filing.
The Office of Education said McCurry used an iPad belonging to the office and her iPhone to record the Sept. 24 video of the poster-ripping incident that happened in her classroom. The principal was aware that McCurry recorded the incident on an Office of Education iPad solely to share with the county staff for educational purposes, according to the statement of charges filed for the teacher's suspension.
An employee of the Office of Education contacted an assistant superintendent about an Oct. 5 exchange between her daughter, a student at the same school McCurry's son attends. McCurry's son shared the video that showed a room with desks overturned, paper all over the floor and the girl ripping the posters, according to the Office of Education.
McCurry, at a November hearing, said her son transferred the video by email from the iPad to her iPhone because she didn't know how to perform the video transfer, according to the county office.
