Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 16, 1995                   TAG: 9509170006
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FIRED TEACHER SUING BOARD FOR $1 MILLION

A former Montgomery County health and physical education teacher who was fired last year after showing a video that contained a scene of nude men has filed a $1 million suit against the School Board.

Carol Bracciano, who taught at Auburn High School in Riner, was placed on probation during the 1993-94 school year after showing slides of nude men in a hot spring. Bracciano said she used the slides to illustrate the importance of personal hygiene while camping.

After her probation ended, Principal Robert Miller and Superintendent Herman Bartlett said Bracciano violated her probation by showing a PBS documentary on high blood pressure that contained a scene of nude men running from a sauna into cold water. The scene was intended to show how temperature affects heart rates, she said.

Bracciano contends she never was told not to show the video.

Last October, the School Board upheld Bartlett's recommendation to fire Bracciano. The board overturned a grievance panel's ruling in favor of Bracciano.

Now, with the financial backing of the Virginia Education Association, Bracciano is suing the School Board.

Bracciano's attorney, Joe Steffen, said the suit took months to prepare because it involved so many complicated due process issues.

The suit, filed Friday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, asks that Bracciano be reinstated to her job at Auburn. It also requests $1 million in damages - half for a breach of contract and half for the "deprivation of ... constitutionally recognized rights and protections," which has irreparably damaged her, it says.

The main contention in the suit centers on an Oct. 4, 1994, meeting at which the School Board discussed the grievance panel's unanimous recommendation not to fire Bracciano.

The suit claims the meeting violated Bracciano's right to due process because evidence was presented to the board without Steffen's knowledge and that board members sought evidence on their own.

Bartlett said he has not yet seen the suit, and would not comment.

In past interviews, Bracciano admitted she may have misjudged the appropriateness of the wilderness slides, but insisted she did not violate the rules of her probation.

Since she was fired, Bracciano has worked part time at a Blacksburg clothing store, a doctor's office in Floyd County and the Hardee's restaurant in Fairlawn.

Steffen estimated it would take at least a year before the case is heard in Circuit Court.