Posted on 12/23/2014 3:50:38 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
MADISON, Wis. – The Germantown kindergarten teacher who stomped on GOP signs at a county fair last summer because she held a grudge against Gov. Scott Walker will be reinstated to teach in the district, according to a statement issued by the school district Wednesday.
Completing an investigation that spanned some four months, the Germantown School Board “has determined that it is appropriate to restore” April Kay Smith to active teaching duties. The board “imposed several conditions to address this situation and to make certain no other similar incidents occur in the future.”
The conditions were not addressed in the statement, and Germantown Superintendent Jeff Holmes could not be reached for comment Wednesday. An administrative assistant in Holmes’ office said no administrators were available to comment.
“The Board of Education wishes to make it clear that it does not condone Ms. Smith’s conduct. For that reason, the board has taken serious, remedial measures to address this situation,” the release states. “However, the Board also concluded that it was a completely isolated event that is not representative of Ms. Smith’s character, or her record of service to our country and our District. The Board also noted that District parents that have had children in Ms. Smith’s class praise her work as an educator.”
Smith, 39, is also to return in “alternative teaching assignment,” according to the release. Again, the statement does not say what that assignment will be and when it will begin.
Smith, a teacher at Germantown’s Amy Belle Elementary School, has been on paid administrative leave after confessing to the incident in Jefferson. The district is statutorily bound to pay Smith during her absence.
She first denied, then admitted to Jefferson County authorities she damaged several signs at the Jefferson County Republican Party booth after the Jefferson County Fair had shut down for the night July 9.
An incident report obtained by Wisconsin Reporter in August notes Smith “confessed to damaging and ripping out the signs.”
“She stated her husband told her to lie and that she’s just so angry with (Gov.) Scott Walker due to the fact that she was a school teacher,” the report states.
Walker’s collective-bargaining reforms, known as Act 10, checked the power of public employee labor unions and sparked the ire of many state and local government employees.
Smith was tracked down by a fair-goer who was relaxing by the GOP tent and disgusted by what she saw.
Roxane Stillman followed Smith around the fairgrounds, calling for a police officer. A Jefferson County deputy finally arrived and interviewed Smith, who appeared “to have glassy and bloodshot eyes and slurred speech,” according to the report. The document states Smith tested .06 in a preliminary breath test, below the legal limit of intoxication.
At that time, Smith told the deputy she was a kindergarten teacher from Germantown, the report states.
Smith was scheduled to appear in late October in Jefferson County Court on a disorderly conduct charge. Instead, she pled no contest to the charge and paid $169 in court assessments, according to online court records.
The Germantown School Board and the administration “will continue to monitor this situation to ensure that the highest possible educational and behavioral standards are observed by all District personnel in working with the children of the Germantown School District,” according to the statement.
Smith could not be reached for comment.
i’am sure they’d let’off a conservative teacher under identical circumstances. /sarc hell no
it was totally indicative of her character, i’d say a defining indicator.
I suggest that the good folks in Germantown attend the next schoolboad meeting by the thousands and give these commies 24 hours to leave the community. If you can’t do that, suffer every transgression and misery that these leftist pigs inflict on you.
Her punishment: paid time out.
FWIW, her crime was a misdemeanor not involving violence to persons or moral turpitude. A suspension was a proper punishment.
However if she were to repeat the behavior in the future, then she should be fired.
She will probably end up with a promotion after her extended paid vacation.
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