November 20, 2013 at 5:09 p.m.
Board fires teacher accused of growing marijuana
Board fires teacher accused of growing marijuana
The School District of Rhinelander Board of Education voted in closed session Monday to terminate Joshua Juergen's $44,500 contract with the district.
Juergens has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of theft, two misdemeanor drug charges (possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of an illegally obtained prescription), two felony level marijuana charges and disorderly conduct.
Most of the charges stem from a search conducted at his Pine Lake home earlier this month that resulted in the discovery of more than 60 marijuana plants and numerous items believed to have been stolen from Rhinelander High School.
He had been placed on unpaid suspension as of Nov. 11, however following an internal investigation conducted by district officials, the board approved his termination.
"It was based on an internal investigation. I can't remember the words that we used, but (there were) policy violations, an inconsistency, incongruency, in his application, which is cause for termination. It says so on the application. Just based on the investigation, Mike Eckert (the school district's legal counsel) believed that we had enough to go forward with the termination, that we didn't need to wait for the legal system to work through its process because it could be a time-consuming process," explained District Superintendent Kelli Jacobi.
Jacobi said the inconsistency with Juergens' employment application was that he failed to advise the district he had prior criminal convictions.
"When completing job applications, especially whether or not you had convictions in the past, you need to be very careful that you're honest about that and that you mark the right box because that's cause for dismissal," she said.
When asked why Juergens was hired despite being dishonest about his background, Jacobi said she couldn't provide an answer.
"I can't answer that question because I didn't see the application in that process, so I don't know how it was missed or that it was missed or if it was discussed, but it did give us cause (for termination) and so we used it," she said.
It's district policy that when a teacher resigns while under contract, that teacher has to pay liquidated damages, however Jacobi said that does not apply to Juergens because he was terminated.
She also said Juergens has used more sick leave days than he had accrued but the district does not expect to be compensated for the salary and benefits paid to him during those days.
As of Nov. 4, professional employees had 49 work days, according to a disciplinary letter from the district to Juergens provided to the River News as part of an open records request. Juergens' prorated allotment of sick leave days during that time frame was three, but he took 6 1/2, equaling $1,032.75 in salary and benefits.
"(Liquidated damages) are for a resignation. A dismissal, there are no liquidated damages. He's used more sick leave than he has accrued and that's just a hit we'll be taking. I don't believe he will be charged with that in any way," Jacobi said.
School Board President Ron Counter addressed concerns that students may have had contact with Juergens while he was under the influence of drugs. He said the district has uncovered no evidence to that effect.
"During all of the investigations, the school district has uncovered no evidence that there were children directly involved with or came in contact with any of the stuff he was doing," Counter said.
Juergens will next appear in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing.
Science teacher suspended
A high school science teacher, Ann Klemm, will be suspended without pay for two days due to her alleged involvement in some aspect of the theft portion of the Juergens case as well as other unspecified issues, Jacobi reported.
"She is employed with the district. She will be suspended, unpaid, for two days this week. (There have been) some issues related, some not, to the ongoing investigation with the theft portion. We have no reason to believe, at this time, that there's any involvement with the marijuana," Jacobi said.
The board was informed of the suspension Monday night but did not need to take action on it.
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.