Portsmouth schools may toughen policy

Posted to: Education News Portsmouth
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By Cheryl Ross
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 19, 2011

PORTSMOUTH

School leaders are considering putting in writing a requirement for employees to notify the division if they are charged with a crime - a policy already in place in other South Hampton Roads divisions.

Portsmouth leaders are considering the change after a TV news story this week about a teacher convicted of driving under the influence after securing employment with the division. Division spokeswoman Maureen Mizelle said the employee, Mikhiel De'Braux, is still working in Portsmouth as a fifth-grade teacher. She said she is not aware of any complaints against the teacher at school.

He was hired in 2004, Mizelle said. State records show he has two convictions in 2009 for driving under the influence.

The division performs background checks on all employees before they are hired, she said.

"Once you're employed, we don't continue to run background checks on employees," Mizelle said.

Mizelle said the School Board would have to review and approve any changes in policy.

Currently, the division's policy requires the Portsmouth superintendent to notify the board "of any notification of arrest of a School Board employee received pursuant to the Virginia legal code 19.2-83.1."

That code requires law enforcement to notify superintendents of the arrest of suspects known or discovered to be school division employees facing felonies or Class 1 misdemeanors.

In Virginia Beach schools, spokeswoman Nancy Soscia said, DUI "would not necessarily mean automatic dismissal of an employee." She said it would be reviewed "on a case-by-case basis."

In Suffolk, the division expects employees to report criminal charges and failure to do so "might be grounds for discipline or dismissal," spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw said in an email.

Cheryl Ross, (757) 446-2443, cheryl.ross@pilotonline.com

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Two convictions in

Submitted by RW1951 on Thu, 05/19/2011 at 1:34 pm.

one year are indicative of a drinking problem. The school should follow up on this to assure itself that he does not present a danger to the students. At a minimum he should be required to get outside help.

Disagree

Submitted by cgergskins on Thu, 05/19/2011 at 2:42 pm.

To you they are. It's not enough for you to jump to that conclusion without knowing the facts of his arrests combined with the amount and regularity with which he drinks. You are assuming, which is wrong. The issue here is not whether this guy has a problem but should DUI’s be reported to employers after being hired. You are just rationalizing why a seemingly intelligent person would drive drunk. The two are not mutually exclusive to each other. Every alcoholic does not have a bunch of DUI's and DUI's are not always issued to alcoholics. He is not the first PPS employee to get a DUI after being hired. The real issue is how will Portsmouth come out of this looking good. Its all about perception.

Give me a friggin break

Submitted by Lost_Sailor on Thu, 05/19/2011 at 12:30 pm.

What business is it of the school's? Why should they get involved with his personal life? This didn't happen on school grounds, during school time, or while he was conducting official business.
He made a mistake, one that all of us had made! Each and everyone of us had driven when we shouldn't have at one time or the other. If you say you haven't, then either you have never had a drink in your life, or you lie! His big mistake......he got caught.
This is just an excuse for the school board to divert attention from the real issues (poor performance, poor test scores, and poor completion rates)and on to something else!

Mr. DeBreaux

Submitted by deborahb68537 on Thu, 05/19/2011 at 9:10 am.

My child was in this teacher's class. He may have a drinking problem, with which he needs some help to overcome, but he was a very good, caring, patient and professional teacher. His teaching skills are fine, and our schools need male teachers. Plus he was not drunk in school. Instead of firing him, he should be required to get help with his problem. We may need to consider his assets along with his problems and if the assets outweigh the problems, it makes sense to keep him. I hope he does not lose his job and I hope he gets a handle on his drinking. Remember some of our best and most respected leaders, family, friends and teachers are good people who do good work but have drinking problems.

Whoa Whoa

Submitted by cgergskins on Thu, 05/19/2011 at 12:42 pm.

Settle down there, you cannot jump from a DUI arrest to a drinking problem. That is completely unfair. Getting caught drinking and driving doesn't mean you have a drinking problem it means you got caught drinking and driving. Furthermore if he does have a problem it's no one's business but his and no one should tell him how to deal with it. He should not be "required" to do anything but what the court orders him to do. His employer has EAP I am sure he can get help if he wants it from them but the reality is it is still none of his employers business either. That is why the policy was in place to begin with. After this what else should my employer know about my private life. If i get a reckless speeding ticket should i be fired?

connections

Submitted by drewman222 on Thu, 05/19/2011 at 3:05 pm.

I like evidence upon which to base my conclusions, and in this particular arena, I don't have statistics, but indulge me if you will...

The people I know who have received DUIs (about 6) drove intoxicated on a regular basis. I would hypothesize that is true for most DUI offenders, of which the teacher is one. One commenter above said the DUI could be "indicative" of a problem. Employers (especially schools!) have an obligation to look for indications of underlying problems and to act when indicators are seen. Yes, they can make mandatory referrals to EAP as a condition of further employment. And they should!

Would you prefer that something really bad happens before anyone acts? "Yeah, we saw the signs, but..."

Knee jerk reaction

Submitted by cgergskins on Thu, 05/19/2011 at 12:54 pm.

If you read the story this is a reaction by Portsmouth to the reporting of the story. They are reacting to public perception and not to the incident. Judging from some of the idiotic comments here they are justified but it would never fly in a million years. Some of the comments here seem to be from people who just woke up from a 100 year coma. As long as an employee does their job something like this should remain private if is not effecting production.

Accountability

Submitted by lsevans on Thu, 05/19/2011 at 8:51 am.

No one is held accountable for their actions - even if they are not going to be dismissed which sends a horrible message to our students under their charge - they should have time off with no pay- hit them in the pocketbook and they pay attention every time. What an example like drunk driving is not serious maybe MADD needs to get involved with this one.