Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503030096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Carol Bracciano, a former physical education teacher at Auburn High and Middle School, was placed on probation during the 1993-94 school year after showing slides of nude men in a hot spring to her sixth- and seventh-grade classes.
Bracciano, a member of the Virginia Education Association, will be represented in her suit by attorneys with the teacher-advocacy group. She also is represented by Blacksburg attorney Joe Steffen.
In hearings last fall, Bracciano said the slides were part of a lesson on staying clean in the wilderness. Although the pictures were taken from a distance, school officials said they were not appropriate for the classroom.
As punishment, the School Board put Bracciano on a year's probation. At the end of the probationary period, Principal Robert Miller and Superintendent Herman Bartlett said that Bracciano had violated her probation by ignoring instructions not to show an educational video on high blood pressure. The Public Broadcasting System video contained a brief scene showing men running nude from a sauna into ice-cold water as an example of how temperature affects heart rates.
Bracciano said she never was told not to show the video.
In October, the School Board upheld Bartlett's recommendation to fire Bracciano.
After she was fired, district VEA director Marshall Leitch said the VEA would decide by November whether to take the case to court.
Instead, it has taken the VEA almost five months to review the case and approve funding for a lawsuit.
``It's a very complicated case,'' Leitch said this week. ``It was our hope that because the [Montgomery County] membership was concerned about the precedent this would set, the VEA would give this case special consideration.''
Leitch said Bracciano acknowledged that showing the slides was a mistake and followed the probation plan to the letter. She never should have faced a dismissal hearing, he said.
School officials have kept quiet throughout the case, saying that because Bracciano originally asked for a private hearing, it cannot talk about the matter. School Board attorney Kim Ritchie was not aware of the impending suit Thursday morning and would not comment.
Bracciano said she has tried to stay busy while awaiting the VEA's decision.
She has worked at a clothing store in Blacksburg and a doctor's office in Floyd County and has just been hired by the new Hardee's restaurant in Fairlawn. She also is pursuing some work with a local consulting company.
``It's been hard. ... Financially it's really tight,'' Bracciano said. ``But my friends have been very supportive, and the teachers have been very, very supportive.''
However, parents did not always get along with Bracciano, saying she was confrontational with their children and too demanding of them. During her hearing, many parents said they would be glad to see her gone. After she was fired, no parents spoke publicly on her behalf.
Bracciano said she is pleased that the VEA has chosen to fund her case, and she is ready to defend herself once again.
``I know what I did was right,'' Bracciano said. ``I still stand by that.''
Even if she were to win the case, Bracciano said, she's not sure she would return to Montgomery County schools.
``It's hard to say now,'' she said. ``I've been stung so badly by this.''
Although the VEA has decided to sue the School Board, Leitch said, its attorneys have not yet decided when the suit will be filed or whether it will be filed in state or federal court.
``We will take our time and be very careful with this case,'' Leitch said.
by CNB