A hearing officer in a whistleblowing complaint against the Sunnyside Unified School District has found no evidence of retaliation by school officials.
Hearing officer Ben Hufford did not address Jean Olson's allegations of cheating by nine teachers at Los Niños Elementary School during benchmark testing because he was only to issue a recommendation in her employment dispute.
Olson alleges that her contract was not renewed for this school year by the district once she reported the incidents of cheating.
"Whether Ms. Olson's allegations of cheating and other irregularities in the administration of benchmark testing were valid, in whole or in part, is irrelevant to and beyond the scope of the hearing," Hufford wrote to the board.
Armand Salese, Olson's attorney said: "These are pretexts. Here is someone who has a long career as a teacher, has excellent evaluations and was principal-designee when Principal Herbert Springs was not there.
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"As soon as Jean tells the principal his teachers are cheating, she no longer is qualified to work there and he pulls her contract because of budget considerations," he said. "It just smacks of hypocrisy if they want to claim that whistleblowing had nothing to do with her retention."
Sunnyside officials and attorney Lisa Anne Smith, who represented the district in last month's hearing, would not comment on Hufford's findings and recommendation to the Governing Board until a final decision is made by the board. The board can accept Hufford's recommendation or amend it. The final decision must be announced in public.
The cheating that Olson alleges - much of which was confirmed by another teaching coach at Los Niños - happened on benchmark tests late last year and early this year. Benchmark tests are used by schools to measure how students are progressing and whether teachers need to adjust their lesson plans in preparation for the AIMS test, which starts in third grade.
The state-mandated AIMS test is considered a high-stakes test because consistently low scores can lead to a school being labeled as "failing," which can mean a state takeover and possible replacement of the principal and staff.
Magdalena Barajas, clerk of the Governing Board, wrote in an e-mail: "I cannot and will not comment on the Olson case, as it, along with the hearing officer's recommendation, is due to come before the full board in the very near future.
"I can tell you, in general terms, that I believe that in any case where allegations of academic misconduct - by staff or students - it is the district's responsibility to investigate such allegations to preserve the integrity of our learning community.
"Furthermore, any party found to be taking part in unethical behavior must be held accountable for such behavior. The board - via the voters - has the ultimate responsibility to preserve the integrity of the district," Barajas wrote.
Hufford found in the complaint filed by Olson, a former academic coach at Los Niños Elementary School, 5445 S. Alvernon Way, that:
• Nonrenewal of her contract for academic coach was for budgetary reasons.
• A job Olson applied for as a Title 1 facilitator, which was a position in charge of testing, academic coaching and monitoring of federal programs at the school, was given to a more qualified candidate.
• An offer for a teaching position was turned down by Olson.
During the hearing, Principal Springs said he investigated the allegations of cheating by asking the teachers if they had allowed or encouraged students to cheat.
They told him they had not.
Salese said Springs' investigation was not thorough, and "if the primary concern were the children, they would have done a thorough investigation to determine if there was wrongdoing done in the testing by the teachers."
Salese is awaiting the board's decision before exploring another legal option for Olson.
Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at 573-4104 or cduarte@azstarnet.com
