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Suspended adviser settles with school district, will move to another school
Controversy erupted after editorial advocating tolerance for homosexuality was published
April 27, 2007
Amy Sorrell, English teacher and adviser of The Tomahawk,
a student newspaper at Woodlan Junior-Senior High School, said an agreement
has been made between her attorneys, who are working for free, and the
district's attorney, Tim McCawley, that will guarantee her an English teaching
position in the district, but at a different school. She will not be allowed to
teach journalism or advise a student publication for three years.
Sorrell
was placed on administrative leave March 19, just two weeks after the
Tomahawk staff refused to continue publishing the newspaper in protest of
Principal Edwin Yoder's demand to review all content prior to publication. The
new review policy was a result of a Jan. 19 opinion article published
encouraging tolerance of homosexuality.
Sorrell's alleged contract
violations were to be discussed at a public hearing April 28 and her employment
status to be determined May 1, but both were cancelled in light of the
settlement.
Attorney Jim Fenton, a lawyer representing Sorrell, said that
evidence of opposition among school board members surfaced in an e-mail by one
member to the board, which he said demonstrated that a potentially unfair
hearing and decision would be made. The e-mail referred to Sorrell's brief
communication with gay and lesbian groups, who had praised her for her efforts,
and suggested that the board may need to "address that matter," according to
Fenton.
Sorrell also said in a statement Thursday that while she does
not agree with the accusations, she is financially unable to risk pursuing the
matter: "Due to my personal financial circumstance, I am no in a position to
contest the disciplinary action contained in the written agreement between
myself and the school administration."
"We thought she had a pretty good
chance of overturning the [school board]'s decision in arbitration, which would
have taken about a year in which she wouldn't have been paid," Fenton said. "A
combination of that plus we lost all hope that we could convince the board that
we could do anything because there's a level of animosity."
McCawley and
Assistant Superintendent Andy Melin did not return a phone call for comment
before press time.
Fenton also said that Sorrell's settlement was also a
career decision.
"They were threatening to take her job," Fenton said.
"That's a death sentence. As a teacher with a record of alleged misconduct
— what would you do? It would have probably been the end of her career."
Fenton also said that part of the settlement requires Sorrell to apologize for
her "insubordinate" actions over the past few months.
Sorrell said she
hopes to teach journalism again in the future, but she initially will only teach
English at her new school.
Sorrell's attorneys said she has had a
"tremendous" amount of support, which would have been demonstrated at the
hearing that was cancelled.
"It's just another example of a school
district abusing their power over restricting freedom of speech," Fenton
said.
By Erica Hudock, SPLC staff writer
© 2007 Student Press Law Center
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