Weems v. North Franklin School District

109 Wash. App. 767
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJanuary 10, 2002
DocketNo. 19024-2-III
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 109 Wash. App. 767 (Weems v. North Franklin School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weems v. North Franklin School District, 109 Wash. App. 767 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

Sweeney, J.

— This is a dispute over the termination of a school district special education director and psychologist for misconduct. A district can terminate a certificated employee for material and substantial performance deficiencies, but only if the deficiencies are unremediable. However, a district need not consider remediability to terminate for conduct which “lacks any positive educational aspect or legitimate professional purpose.” Sauter v. Mt. Vernon Sch. Dist. No. 320, 58 Wn. App. 121, 131, 791 P.2d 549 (1990). Here, Dr. James Weems, the director of special education and the school psychologist, falsified records required by both state and federal agencies to feign compliance with state and federal law. The question before us is whether this conduct is adequate grounds for termination because the conduct lacked “any positive educational aspect or legitimate professional purpose.” We conclude that it is and affirm the judgment of the trial court to that effect.

We also reject Dr. Weems’ claim that the record on appeal is inadequate and fails to comply with the statute. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court, which affirmed the decision of the hearing officer terminating Dr. Weems.

FACTS

Dr. Weems does not challenge the hearing officer’s findings. Our fact summary is based on those unchallenged factual findings.

Dr. Weems was the director of special education and the school psychologist for North Franklin School District. In 1996 the District accused Dr. Weems of altering and backdating student files to feign compliance with federal special education law which required maintenance of the [771]*771records, and issued a letter of probable cause to terminate him. In response, Dr. Weems either denied the alterations, did not recall making the alterations, or said he altered the files to provide a correct date, or to replace a document forged by another employee.

The Education Service District, on behalf of the Office of Superintendent of Public Education, monitors individual school district compliance with various state and federal regulations.1 The Service District uses a Child Count Verification to monitor the District’s special education program. A Child Count Verification is a random check of school district files to determine compliance with special education regulations. Regulations mandate that each student have an Individual Education Plan annually and a Summary Analysis performed triannually.

The District’s special education program was subjected to a verification review in February 1996. The review resulted in a higher than acceptable error rate. And a second verification review was scheduled for March 26, 1996.

The Service District employees are not supposed to tell the school districts which files they intend to audit. But here a list of 41 student files to be examined was faxed to the District at 5:40 p.m. on March 25. The list was faxed so that the selected files would be available to the reviewers on the following morning.

Dr. Weems received the list of selected student files and stayed late to review them. He also asked his administrative intern, Sue Leschinski, to stay late as well. Dr. Weems supervised Ms. Leschinski. Dr. Weems and Ms. Leschinski worked on special education files into the late hours of March 25 or early hours of March 26. They were the only staff people to do so.

They altered a number of the files targeted for audit, and altered them significantly. In one instance, a student’s file contained a Psychological Assessment Summary dated [772]*772April 22, 1993, and was signed by both Dr. Weems and Ms. Leschinski. But the assessment was actually typed on March 26, 1996. The assessment purported that Ms. Leschinski had administered and signed the test on March 29, 1993. But Ms. Leschinski was a preschool teacher in 1993. And she would not have been involved with the psychological testing of a junior high school student. Dr. Weems participated in the creation of the document.

In another student file a Summary Analysis was backdated to 1995 when the actual analysis was performed in 1996. The discrepancy was discovered because Dr. Weems’ notes referred to the student’s pregnancy as being “last year.” The student was actually pregnant in 1995.

Another student file contained a Summary Analysis dated November 15, 1994, by Dr. Weems. But the analysis contained scores from a test that was not actually administered until October 17, 1995. And the analysis dated 1994 was purportedly signed by a staff member who worked for the District only during the 1995-1996 school year. Moreover, his case load list showed the student had last been evaluated in 1991, not 1994.

Other student files reflected the same kinds of alterations.

Dr. Weems either denied changing the records or tried to explain away others, and also argued that any damages were not misconduct anyway. The hearing officer did not believe Dr. Weems primarily because he presented no evidence that the documents were altered to reflect actual occurrences. And he failed to show any forgeries that required correction.

The hearing officer concluded that documents were backdated on March 25 and 26, 1996, to reflect compliance with required regulations. “[T]he creation of back-dated documents and alteration of dates on other documents were done with Dr. Weems’ participation, under his direction, or with his approval.” Hearing Officer’s Findings of Fact, Conclusions and Final Decision (Hearing Officer’s Decision) (Nov. 21,1977) at 9. From this, the hearing officer then held [773]*773that the District had probable cause to terminate Dr. Weems, and upheld the termination.

Dr. Weems appealed the hearing officer’s decision to the superior court. The District contacted the court reporting firm that recorded the administrative hearing and requested that transcripts of all administrative proceedings be filed with the court. But the testimony of Dr. Douglas Gill, one of Dr. Weems’ witnesses, was missing. Dr. Gill’s testimony had been tape-recorded because the court reporter was late on the day he testified in the hearing. Both parties had agreed to tape-record Dr. Gill’s telephonic testimony and have it later transcribed.

Dr. Weems made an issue of the missing testimony in superior court. The trial court judge allowed Dr. Weems to retake Dr. Gill’s testimony, which he did. And the District also stipulated to Dr. Weems’ characterization of Dr. Gill’s hearing testimony — essentially that it is not misconduct to change documents to reflect critical facts.

The trial court affirmed the hearing officer’s decision.

Absence of Dr. Gill’s Testimony

Dr. Weems first argues that the absence of a complete record requires reversal. RCW 28A.405.330 provides in relevant part:

[T]he school board shall at its expense file the complete transcript of the evidence and the papers and exhibits relating to the decision complained of, all properly certified to be correct.

Standard of Review

Statutory construction is a question of law, which we review de novo. Cockle v. Dep’t of Labor & Indus.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
109 Wash. App. 767, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weems-v-north-franklin-school-district-washctapp-2002.