Anderson has been suspended till Jan. 1
By Raif Karerat
An elementary school teacher has been allowed to keep his job even though he was late for work 111 times over a two-year span.
An arbitrator used scathing language to describe the conduct of a public school teacher who has been late to work several dozen times in the last two years but also rejected the district’s attempt to fire him, according to a ruling in a tenure hearing reached earlier this month.
The state-appointed arbitrator, David Gregory, a professor at St. John’s University School of Law in New York, concluded that the district failed to provide Anderson with due process by providing him with a formal notice of inefficiency or by giving him 90 days to correct his failings before terminating his employment.
Arnold Anderson, a teacher at Roosevelt School, was late 46 times in the most recent school year through March 20, and another 65 times in the previous school year, according to the text of the arbitrator’s decision, which was filed Aug. 19.
Gregory was dismissive of Anderson’s claim that the quality of his teaching outweighs his frequent tardiness, according to NJ Advance Media.
New state regulations that cover the filing of tenure charges require rulings by state-appointed arbitrators that once took years to occur within 90 days, making it easier to accuse teachers of inefficiency, reported the Associated Press.
The school district has withheld raises for his tardiness and Anderson will remain suspended without pay until Jan. 1.