Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080113
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
On a winter day in 1993, Carol Bracciano showed her sixth-grade class at Auburn High and Middle School 450 slides taken during a survival expedition out West. Several slides showed nude people jumping in and out of a hot spring.
Amid a few chuckles, Bracciano explained the importance of staying clean as part of an outdoor education program, and then moved to the next portion of the slide show. Class was over and, at the end of the day, the children went home.
Bracciano looks at those slides today and asks herself how something so unintentional could have changed her life so much.
"I just can't believe it," said the 41-year-old former Montgomery County teacher from her secluded home outside Blacksburg. "I wonder how all of this could have happened when I was just trying to teach."
A month after showing the slides to her class, Bracciano was called aside by her assistant principal. One parent had complained that the slides were inappropriate for sixth-graders.
"I tried to go in and pull out the slides he was referring to, but I didn't know what he was talking about," Bracciano said. "It had never entered my mind in the context of the presentation that it was wrong. It's part of outdoor education and I didn't dwell on it."
By the end of the next day, Bracciano had been suspended for four days with pay. Less than a week later, she was told she would be placed on a year's probation.
As part of her probation, Bracciano had to submit for approval all outside teaching materials for her class. Two videotapes of respected television programs, both containing brief nude scenes, were deemed inappropriate for her classes. Bracciano showed one of the tapes, fast-forwarding through the offensive part.
Last month, she was fired for those actions.
"I had had an evaluation on Jan. 30, and they told me everything was fine," Bracciano said. "As far as I knew, everything was fine."
In March, she received a standard letter informing her of the administration's intent to renew her contract, signed by Superintendent Herman Bartlett.
However, in May, an incident with a student again brought attention to Bracciano.
A parent wrote Bartlett and accused Bracciano of pinching and dragging her daughter to the office. Without following the general practice of referring the parent to Bracciano or Auburn Principal Robert Miller, Bartlett put the letter in Bracciano's personnel file and informed her that he was concerned about her future at Auburn.
In two letters to Bracciano, dated May 13 and June 8, Assistant Principal Don Williams stated the accusation was unfounded. He requested an additional meeting with the parent, Bracciano and Miller, but the parent refused to meet with them.
Bracciano describes herself as a "hard teacher who expects a lot," and she knows many students do not like her. The incident in May was an example of that, she said.
"I don't baby them, but I also feel that I am very fair," she added.
Random interviews with 24 students confirmed that Bracciano was not popular. Twenty-three of the students said they did not like her. One student was indifferent.
When Bracciano filed a grievance against Bartlett to remove the parent's letter from her personnel file, however, she learned that she was still in trouble.
"All along I'd been asking [Miller], 'Is this going to affect my probation?' and he said, 'No, you're doing fine,''' Bracciano said. "But then, after the grievance, he tells me 'The superintendent has grave concerns about your future as a teacher.'''
Bartlett won't comment. He said he has been instructed not to by the administration's attorney, Kim Ritchie. Miller also has been instructed not to talk publicly about the case.
In June, Miller told Bracciano he would recommend she be fired for using poor judgment in presenting the two videotapes. Later, Miller added insubordination to Bracciano's offenses because she showed one of the videotapes - allegedly against his command. She disputes the restriction on showing the tape.
"I was shocked," Bracciano said of that meeting with her principal. "It was incredulous because everyone had told me that things were fine - except when Bartlett made his comments."
Her appeal to a grievance panel - made up of one member appointed by Bracciano, one by Bartlett and one neutral member - resulted in a unanimous decision to retain Bracciano, but perhaps move her to another school. The School Board overturned that decision on a 6-3 vote.
Bracciano says the firing has nothing to do with her compliance with the probation. She thinks Bartlett has let a small group of vocal parents decide her fate as a teacher in the close-knit community of Riner.
Virginia Education Association district director Marshall Leitch agrees.
"There are people at Auburn, and not just Carol, who are very concerned [about] isolated instances from parents with strong feelings," Leitch said last week. He said a few parents have had an impact on decisions before allegations were thoroughly investigated.
Parents should be allowed to voice their concerns, Leitch said, "but it should happen in a receptive context.
"When parents are allowed to simply register their concerns and the administration says 'Thank you for calling, we'll take care of it,' then it is wrong," Leitch said.
Of 20 teachers contacted about the incident, 14 of them agree with Leitch and Bracciano. Two teachers said the administration was right in firing Bracciano and four teachers would not comment.
Leitch added that Miller's behavior in this case "was very uncharacteristic."
"This is not just a personality conflict" between Bracciano and Miller, Leitch said. "I've been working with teachers at Auburn for several months [who] are very concerned. Miller was instructed to fire Carol, in my opinion."
In testimony during the seven-hour grievance hearing, Bartlett said he was simply supporting a decision made by Miller, a decision he thinks is just.
Bracciano said her case is the "epitome of the results of [a] morale survey" released in May that showed widespread fear among teachers who feel intimidated by Bartlett and the administration.
"You see the surface of this situation and it seems pretty clear," Bracciano said. "But once you lance that surface and see what's underneath, there's a big infection. The [administration] does not like rabble rousers and that's why I'm gone. Because I don't cave in, and I have filed grievances for things I think are wrong."
Members of the Montgomery County School administration say they are legally bound to silence because Bracciano had originally asked for a private grievance panel hearing.
Bracciano's attorney, Joe Steffen, disagrees and contends the administration is trying to hide something by not talking.
In the meantime, Bracciano is working part time at a clothing store, and has considered going back to college. The VEA is still deliberating Bracciano's case and may sue the School Board. A decision should be reached later this month.
"I'm fighting for my job, I'm fighting for my career and I'm fighting for my reputation," Bracciano said. "The main thing is I've told the truth. I can live with that. I can sleep at night."
Bracciano's story will be heard on "At Issue With Bob Denton," Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on public television station WBRA (Channel 15).
by CNB