Former Teacher Sues Board of Education

A former part-time teacher is suing the Rocky Hill Board of Education in an effort to win a full-time teaching job. 

Margaret Hale of Haddam filed her lawsuit earlier this month. In it, she says school administrators eliminated her part-time teaching job and then gave one of two full-time teaching positions to a recent college graduate. Hale was a part-time English teacher at Rocky Hill High School from Aug. 26, 2008 to June 16, 2011.

According to her lawsuit, filed in Hartford Superior Court, Hale is requesting a court hearing to compel the Board of Education to give her a full-time teaching position. She argues in her lawsuit that under state tenure laws, the board should have given her one of the full time positions. 

On Jan. 14, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jeffery Villar proposed the elimination of Hale's part-time job, citing budget constraints, Hale says in her lawsuit. At the time, the district had two vacant full-time English teaching positions and one of those was later offered to a recent college graduate, her lawsuit says.

Hale expressed interest in applying for one of the two jobs during the spring semester, according to the legal documents.  On June 28, she requested a hearing “to consider issues related to the termination of her contract,” her lawsuit says, but no public hearing was held.

Villar sent a letter to Hale indicating that she was assigned another part-time English teaching position on July 11.  However, the position would not include medical benefits.