The Ironwood Ridge High School community is trying to make sense of why a coach and mentor was placed on paid administrative leave for a month after an incident at a basketball game.
About 50 Ironwood Ridge High School parents and students were effectively shut out of an Amphitheater Public Schools board meeting last week, where supporters of Dee Dinota, school PE department chair and weight-lifting coach, wore and distributed "D" pins in anticipation of addressing the board.
Board President Kent Barrabee told the crowd that board members, as arbiters of employee and personnel matters within the district, cannot hear the public speak on such issues for fear it might bias the board in any future negotiations or hearings.
As such, he said, he could not permit any of the parents or students to address the board that night.
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"We really do recognize teachers who are spirited leaders and make immense contributions," he said. "Your very presence is a type of statement."
The sound of murmuring filled the crowd as they filed outside and congregated near the administration complex's courtyard, trying to figure out what to do next.
Ironwood Ridge Principal Sam McClung quietly stood near the center of the crowd while parents and students discussed their feelings.
The overriding concern seemed to be that Dinota's case is not yet resolved.
Dinota was placed on paid administrative leave March 6, pending a district investigation into her actions at a Feb. 8 basketball game, where she reportedly grabbed the buttocks of an off-duty police officer.
During that time, per instructions in a letter to her from McClung dated March 6, Dinota was assigned to work at home, where she was required to stay during normal business hours unless she got permission from him to leave.
She remained on paid leave until April 7, when she returned to work.
One week of her absence was also spring break for Amphitheater Public Schools, and during that time her movements were unrestricted, said Todd Jaeger, attorney for the district.
However, McClung acknowledged to the crowd at the board meeting — days after her return to work — that Dinota was out of school again, this time on sick leave.
Parent leaders in the crowd said they wanted the board to examine its policies, not Dinota's specific case.
"This has not to do with Dee but it has to do with the process," said Mary Snider, an Ironwood Ridge mother who is well-known in the community for her efforts organizing the school's annual Project Graduation party.
It seems Dinota has been placed in a position where she is not permitted to defend herself, and if that complies with district policy, the policy should be changed, Snider said.
Brenda Tranchina, president of the Ironwood Ridge parent association, discouraged those present from dwelling on Dinota's case and said the school community needs to focus on Amphi district policies to protect other teachers who might come under scrutiny in the future.
Tranchina said her intent when she signed up to speak to the board was to address the board's process and the length of time it has taken to resolve this one particular personnel issue.
Ironwood Ridge senior Kara Bauman shared the comments she had planned to read to the board. Bauman has signed up for Dinota's class every year that she has been in high school, she said.
"We have been deprived of one of our best teachers," her prepared statement said.
Nobody present would say they saw the incident that led to Dinota's paid leave. The general consensus was that it has been blown out of proportion.
A videotape released by the district following a public-records request showed Dinota, bent at the waist with arms outstretched and hands open away from her, creeping toward Oro Valley Police Department Officer Dan Horetski, who had his back turned.
The camera panned past Dinota to follow the action on the basketball court and Dinota disappeared from the frame.
Horetski was off-duty at the game but is the school resource officer for Canyon del Oro High School, the team against which Ironwood Ridge was playing.
In a later e-mail to Horetski in which Dinota derided him for filing a report with the school, Dinota said she was just trying to put a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, student morale continues to suffer at Ironwood Ridge, parents and students say.
To protest Dinota's absence, students made up T-shirts with the word "Ironwoo" on the front.
On the back, one statement: "There is no Ironwood without D."
"She is the Pied Piper," Snider said. "They love her."
Amphitheater Schools' paid-leave policy
● Here are the terms and conditions of paid administrative leave in Amphitheater Public Schools:
When the district receives a complaint, sometimes it is necessary to remove a teacher from school to conduct an investigation, including interviewing students and co-workers, said Todd Jaeger, attorney for the district.
When this happens, the teacher is placed on paid administrative leave. Paid leave is not a discipline procedure in itself, Jaeger said. Sometimes, a teacher can be placed on paid leave if he or she has received threats at school. The teacher is removed so an investigation can take place.
When a teacher is on paid administrative leave, he or she is expected to remain at home during regular working hours. That is because the teacher is still being paid by the district and as such must be available to assist in whatever investigation is taking place as well as help with work-related matters.
Teachers on paid leave may leave home for routine things such as lunch or a doctor's appointment, but mainly they must remain at home during school hours.
Such teachers are not allowed to have contact with their students when the investigation is going on, Jaeger said.
A teacher on paid leave also is not allowed to discuss the matter at hand with potential witnesses such as co-workers.
Though an employer can, by law, restrict a teacher on paid leave from talking to media, Amphi as a general rule does not apply that restriction as long as no other employee privacy or student privacy is at risk, Jaeger said.
Paid leave is normally kept to a period of about two weeks, he said. Sometimes it runs longer, depending on how many people the district needs to contact and how easy it is to contact them.
