By Attorney Thomas B. Mooney, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

The “Legal Question of the Week” is a regular feature of the CAS Weekly NewsBlast. We invite readers to submit short, law-related questions of practical concern to school administrators. Each week, we will select a question and publish an answer. While these answers cannot be considered formal legal advice, they may be of help to you and your colleagues. We may edit your questions, and we will not identify the authors. Please submit your questions to: legalmailbagcasciacorg. _________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Legal Mailbag:

Over the last month, I have been arguing with a mother who has it out for a teacher in my school. Unfortunately, she has a point. This teacher is rather awful. When she keeps it together, she can teach effectively. But she has a short fuse, and when she gets frustrated, she lashes out at her students. Unfortunately, her students are only third graders, and given their tender years they are ill-equipped to handle her mood swings.

Yesterday, this mother was in my office, and she told me that I am a complete coward for not building a case to fire this teacher. I explained to her that I have been on top of the situation, but that personnel matters are confidential. In truth, I have written two disciplinary letters, warning this teacher that future emotional outbursts, especial those directed at her students, would lead to further disciplinary action, up to and including termination of her employment. In addition, I put her on intensive assistance under our teacher evaluation plan. But this mother just doesn’t understand that I am not allowed to talk to her about personnel matters. Can you please confirm my understanding in the Legal Mailbag so that I can show this pain-in-neck that I am right and she is wrong?

Signed,
Sure of My Position

Dear Sure:

Not so fast. The personnel file is not a confidential repository for records. Indeed, most personnel file records are public records subject to public disclosure.

As to disciplinary letters, we often confuse standard practice with legal obligation. Disciplinary letters are in fact public records, and the Freedom of Information Commission has ruled that they are subject to public disclosure. In 2002, the General Assembly clarified this fact by amending Connecticut General Statutes, Section 10-151c, which now provides in relevant part:

Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, records maintained or kept on file by any local or regional board of education which are records of the personal misconduct of a teacher shall be deemed to be public records and shall be subject to disclosure pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of section 1-210. Disclosure of such records of a teacher’s personal misconduct shall not require the consent of the teacher.

Given this statutory provision, you can share with this mother the disciplinary letters that you have written, and if she makes an FOIA request for the letters, you must share them.

By contrast, records created pursuant to your teacher evaluation plan are exempt from disclosure. That same statute provides:

Any records maintained or kept on file by any local or regional board of education which are records of teacher performance and evaluation shall not be deemed to be public records and shall not be subject to the provisions of section 1-210, provided that any teacher may consent in writing to the release of such teacher’s records by a board of education. Such consent shall be required for each request for a release of such records.

Given these two statutory provisions, you have some choices to make. When you write a teacher up for misconduct, you are creating a public record. Conversely, when you deal with teacher performance issues through the evaluation plan, the related records remain confidential.

I suspect that you will not be sharing this response with the “pain-in-the-neck” mother, but I do hope that I have straightened you out on what you can and cannot share with her.