Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 24, 1995 TAG: 9502240067
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
But Rhonda Welsh, drama teacher at Pulaski County High School, still says her dispute with Janet Williams, breakfast manager at the Colonial Heights Comfort Inn, was blown out of proportion and hurt her reputation. She has filed a lawsuit against Williams and the hotel and is seeking $500,000 in damages.
The Pulaski County School Board on Wednesday reduced Welsh's suspension from 10 days to five days and dropped her one-year supervised probation. The original penalties had been set by Superintendent Bill Asbury and Welsh's principal, Tom DeBolt.
Asbury said Thursday he was satisfied with the board's decision, but ``I'm somewhat disappointed that the board reduced the number of days. ... I know they agonized over the decision and did what they did because they thought it was best, and I cannot argue with that. I support them and I have no animosity toward them.''
Welsh and her attorney, Joseph Steffen, had appealed the original punishment to the School Board because they thought the offense warranted only a reprimand. The board heard the appeal Monday night at a seven-hour hearing packed with parents, teachers and students, and issued a unanimous ruling Wednesday night after a three-hour closed session.
School Board Chairman Ron Chaffin said the incident was regrettable because Welsh has served the county well as a drama teacher, but that it could not be ignored.
This is the first time in 17 years of teaching that any disciplinary action has been taken against Welsh.
``I'm disappointed. Very disappointed,'' Welsh said Wednesday.
Welsh and about 50 supporters had waited in the School Board office until the board returned from its closed session Wednesday night. Pulaski County High School Principal Tom DeBolt will choose what five days Welsh will not work.
``We're disappointed that the School Board still chose to see this as a matter with a punitive result,'' Steffen said. ``I'm encouraged that the School Board members at least were willing to review the actions taken by the administration and, by coming to a different result, [that] tells me that at least some members of the School Board were willing to take the word of Pulaski County citizens.''
Students and chaperones who went on the Dec. 11 drama trip to Colonial Heights testified Monday that an argument between Welsh and Williams over how many doughnuts the students could eat for breakfast was brief and blown out of proportion.
Williams testified that Welsh was screaming, threw doughnuts on the floor and in the trash, and raised enough of a fuss to bring a security guard. The students and chaperones said there was no doughnut throwing.
Welsh filed her suit against the Comfort Inn and Williams for slander and interfering with Welsh's school contract. The suit, filed nearly three weeks ago, seeks $250,000 in general damages and $250,000 in punitive damages.
``Rhonda Welsh will still lose a week's pay and the message to her students is that she is being punished, and that is what's unfortunate about the decision,'' Steffen said.
He noted that athletic coaches often lose their tempers in front of students in the heat of competition, and said the board's message is that such behavior is punishable. ``That is a policy that they're going to have a hard time applying on an even-handed basis,'' he said.
``We're not happy with this either,'' said Marshall Leitch, a local representative of the Virginia Education Association. The VEA provided the attorney for Welsh's appeal.
Shannon Turner, president of the Pulaski County Education Association, said that organization is ``greatly disappointed'' with the result of the appeal, ``especially when you had an employee with a flawless record.'' She said the message that the decision sends to teachers is that the first punishment for any perceived infraction will be loss of pay.
The appeal had stirred considerable community interest. After Monday night's appeal, Main Street Station, a coffee shop that recently opened in Pulaski, sent the drama department at the high school a gift of 120 doughnuts.
Meanwhile, Welsh's drama troupe is gearing up to take its one-act play to state competition March 6 in Charlottesville. This is the sixth straight year that a Pulaski County High School Players entry directed by Welsh has made it to the state level.
by CNB