EDMONTON - An Edmonton physics teacher expects to learn later this week if he will be fired for disregarding his principal’s no-zero policy for grading students.
Lynden Dorval, who has been suspended with pay from Ross Sheppard High School since May after grading students with zeros for missed work, is worried after a three-hour private hearing Monday with Ross Sheppard High School principal Ron Bradley and Edmonton Public Schools superintendent Edgar Schmidt.
“Worried? Absolutely,” said Dorval, 61. “I’m still under pay and benefits. If I am terminated, it’s more than likely too late to get a job somewhere else.”
Dorval said it’s difficult to figure out how the hearing went. He said both he and Bradley had a chance to present their points of view before the superintendent questioned them. It will now be up to Schmidt to decide if Dorval should be fired for violating the no-zero policy and for allegedly acting in an unprofessional and insubordinate way by not following the principal’s directive.
In an interview with the Journal last week, Bradley said the grading practice at Ross Sheppard was established about 18 months ago after extensive consultation with teaching staff.
He said instead of giving zeros for missed assignments, teachers work with students to make sure work is completed. Fewer and fewer students are failing to finish work, Bradley told the Journal.
Dorval said Bradley made the same arguments during Monday’s hearing, but supplied no supporting statistics.
Dorval said the no-zero policy was only discussed among department heads and didn’t filter down to the teaching level. He said his representative at the superintendent’s hearing, a friend and former colleague and department head at Ross Shep, corroborated Dorval’s version of events.
“We were aware of it as simply a directive that came down out of the blue that we were no longer allowed to use zeros. We were never allowed to give input,” Dorval said.
Once Schmidt makes a decision on Dorval’s employment, he will send a formal letter, along with the rationale behind his decision, to Dorval directly and those in the hearing. Only they are at liberty to disclose the decision, said Cheryl Oxford, spokeswoman for Edmonton Public Schools.
Dorval said he will be given 30 days notice if he is fired. He will have an opportunity to file an appeal within two weeks.
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