Ag teacher returns to SMHS after settlement of lawsuit

By Lynn Hotaling

Nikki Young of Tuckasegee, SMHS horticulture teacher from August 1998 through June 2002, resumed teaching duties Jan. 2, said Superintendent Mack McCary.

Members of the Jackson County Board of Education have authorized the settlement of Young's complaint, McCary said, and formal action is expected during the board's Jan. 27 session.

Young replaces agriculture teacher Chan Chandler, who resigned his 12-month position in December to pursue a full-time career in the ministry, McCary said.

Under terms of the settlement, Young will be eligible for tenure at the end of the 2004-05 school year, McCary said. School board members did not admit liability, and the settlement does not involve monetary compensation, the superintendent said.

Young, a 1990 SMHS graduate and volleyball and track standout, filed a petition for judicial review after her teaching contract was not renewed for the 2002-03 school year. She alleged in documents filed in the Jackson County Clerk of Court office that school officials' July decision not to renew her contract violated state law and sought both reinstatement and back pay.

Her appeal hinged on her allegation that local school officials bypassed her for a 12-month agriculture position in favor of a candidate her complaint described as "a male who was less qualified, experienced and certified" than Young.

School board members hired Chandler May 28 to replace 27-year SMHS agriculture teacher Bill Fouts, who retired at the end of the 2001-02 school year. Documents obtained by The Herald in September indicated Chandler did not have teacher certification or public school teaching experience at the time of his employment.

Young, who also applied for Fouts's 12-month job, was initially hired at SMHS without a teaching certificate but subsequently obtained both certification and a master's degree in agriculture education through N.C. State University. She was fully credentialed during the last two years she taught.

If not for this year's interruption in employment, Young would have been eligible for tenure at the end of the current school year, McCary said.

Young was notified by a July 31 letter from McCary that her contract would not be renewed. McCary cited declining enrollment in horticulture classes as the reason for the non-renewal and offered Young a part-time position teaching one class per semester.

With regard to other personnel changes at Smoky Mountain, Principal Kenny Nicholson announced Monday that veteran music teacher Bob Reid would move from vocal to instrumental music to fill the vacancy created by the December resignation of band director Mike Sanford.

Reid, who taught band for a number of years before switching to chorus, will finish this school year as co-director of the band program along with first-year band teacher Eric Mrozkowski, Nicholson said.

"I really didn't want to hire someone new this time of year, and I wanted some continuity for the band program," Nicholson said.

Reid will have the option of returning to the choral program at the end of the school year, said Nicholson, who indicated he plans to hire an interim chorus instructor for the remainder of this year.

Sanford, who resigned last month in the wake of allegations he acted improperly toward a female band student, faces criminal charges of taking indecent liberties with a student.

Back to Archive: 01/09/03.