ALBANY, GA (WALB) -
A hearing will be held to determine if a Dougherty County high school principal, suspended by the state Professional Standards Commission, should be punished further.
Dr. David Mosely, the interim Dougherty County school superintendent says the system will hold a hearing for Valerie Thomas, the principal at Monroe High School, who was recently suspended over the CRCT cheating scandal.
But he says right now, they're waiting on her next move. "She thinks there might be a mistake, we don't know. But we will have a plan in place. Really the ball is in her corner. She has some options. She can either fight this and lose or prevail, she can retire or she can go through the suspension and the board and I will have to make a decision on what transpires after that."
The Professional Standards Commission suspended Thomas for 90 days, starting on March 22nd. In their report they said she failed to adequately supervise testing activities. The Dougherty County school system already conducted their investigation into the 48 educators named in the 2009 state CRCT cheating report and didn't reprimand Thomas.
Now the results of the investigation by the Professional Standards Commission are starting to be revealed. "We've gotten our first letters this week," said School Board Chairman Carol Tharin. "So, I would imagine over the next few weeks we should hear more from them."
So far, three educators have been reprimanded by the commission, including Thomas and two no longer work for the system.
"I was surprised at this one, because not knowing all the employees that were caught up in this, I was unaware that she was even under investigation. I am of the understanding that there will be more to come," said Mosely. "According to our attorney, there may be ten or 12 more that are being investigated."
If the commission decides to revoke an educator's certificate, the system has no choice but to release them. Mosely says they're going to handle the cases one at a time as information is released. Dr. David Mosely has not set a date for her hearing. And they have not named an interim at Monroe High during her suspension.
Valerie Thomas is requesting a hearing from the Professional Standards Commission.
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Dr. David Mosely, interim Dougherty County school superintendent
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