By Matthew Hill
The Register-Herald
September 23, 2008 05:10 pm
—
A special hearing before the Fayette County Board of Education to determine the employment fate of the school system’s chief financial officer and treasurer has been canceled for the third time in a week, according to a public notice released Tuesday by the school board’s central office.
According to West Virginia Education Association (WVEA) field staff representative Ben Barkey, the Sept. 25 hearing for Annette Hughart, a WVEA member, was canceled at the request of her attorney — Princeton lawyer Jay Barringer — due to a scheduling conflict.
Scheduling conflicts among other parties were also factors in the cancellation of the same tentative hearing dates of Sept. 18 and Sept. 24, Barkey noted, adding that the hearing will likely be rescheduled for mid-October. “We expect it to be rescheduled within the next few weeks,” he said.
Hughart was informed Sept. 4 of her immediate suspension, effective Sept. 5, and her employment could be terminated by the school board when it meets to consider the complaints lodged against her.
Fayette Schools Superintendent Chris Perkins informed Hughart by letter that she was “immediately suspended” without pay and that he was “forwarding a recommendation for (her) termination from employment ... based upon (her) insubordination and willful neglect of duties.”
A special hearing will be held before the board at which Hughart “may appear, present evidence, cross-examine witnesses, be represented by counsel and otherwise fully participate, if you care so to do,” Perkins wrote.
The WVEA is providing Hughart with legal counsel. Barringer echoed Barkey’s remarks later Tuesday but declined further comment.
With this being a personnel matter, Perkins could only confirm that Thursday’s hearing had indeed been canceled and that it would be rescheduled at a later date.
— E-mail: mhill@register-herald.com
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.