After a court decision that upheld binding arbitration, the Washington West Supervisory Union is considering whether to pay former para-professional Denise Fuoco for six months while she prepares to test for the credentials she needs or whether to create a position for her during those six months.
Denise Fuoco was terminated from her para-professional position at Harwood Union in October 2010 for failure to achieve the “highly qualified professional” (HQP) status that para-educators must have in schools that receive federal Title 1 funds.
The issue of her termination went to binding arbitration with the arbitrator ruling that she was wrongfully dismissed and must be rehired in a position the board felt appropriate and given six months to prepare to take the HQP test.
Washington West appealed that decision to Superior Court and lost. Now the WWSU board is considering its options, according to Superintendent Brigid Scheffert.
Scheffert said it was unclear whether WWSU would create a position for Fuoco for six months or pay her for six months while she prepares for the test. WWSU was ordered by the arbitrator to pay Fuoco her lost wages (and costs associated with lost benefits) from October 2010 through the present.
“It is undecided at this time whether a new job will be created that does not involve student work or whether the board will pay her for the six months while she tries to receive the required certification by passing the test,” Scheffert said, noting that attorneys for WWSU and Fuoco were in discussion.
Scheffert, in a written statement, said, “There is no doubt that it is always regrettable when a serious dispute arises with any of our employees. In this case, much of the detail and rationale as to why the district has spent time, money and personnel hours in pursuing a well thought out position remains confidential because, obviously, this remains a matter of personnel.”
The rest of Scheffert’s release follows:
“It is important to note that both the arbitrator and judge agreed with the district that Ms. Fuoco could not remain in the position she was hired to do until and when she becomes HQP (the required certification under federal law). They further agreed that if the district continued to employ her in the same job capacity that she has always held, they would in fact be in violation of federal law. Serious sanctions through audits could be imposed on large sums of money received by the WWSU, and administrators’ licenses could be revoked for knowingly violating federal law.
“The District made the decision to appeal the arbitrator’s decision because it was concerned that it not violate federal law. We strongly believed that we required a court decision before being satisfied that we would not be risking federal education funding by rehiring Ms. Fuoco. We are pleased to have a decision and now can act.
“The arbitrator’s decision returns Ms. Fuoco to six months of employment in a new job ‘deemed appropriate.’ The HUHS board will need to develop a job or compensate Ms. Fuoco accordingly in order to allow her six months of employment while preparing for and taking the para-educator exam. This newly created position does not and has not existed at HUHS, and it cannot involve any level of student instructional support.
“Ms. Fuoco was removed from employment in the early fall of 2010. She has been invited repeatedly to take the standardized test, which is required and measures basic skills in reading, math and writing at approximately the grade four to six level. She has not participated in the testing in order to meet this requirement in the past 19 months. As a result of the recent court decision, she will receive six months from the date of reinstatement to do so. Now that we have a court order, we hope Ms. Fuoco is able to pass the test and rejoin our workforce for the long term.
“Ms. Fuoco has not requested any specific accommodations to take the required test. She has been informed of all the allowable accommodations that can be provided to her. We will provide those accommodations legally permitted while maintaining validity of the test when and if they are requested by Ms. Fuoco.”
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