Kansas High School Librarian
Wrongly Fired, City Finds
A due-process hearing officer has ruled that the Arkansas City (Kans.) school board acted improperly in firing a high school librarian for using the library computer to access sexually explicit sites on the Internet. Arkansas City High School Librarian Robert Hicks was terminated by the school district April 9, 2001, for inappropriate use of the Internet on school property, presenting a physical threat, and for poor utilization of the library by students.
However, attorney Timothy Fielder’s 30-page opinion, issued April 12, ruled that the district failed to show the use was inappropriate or violated school policy, the teacher’s agreement, or even state law, according to the Arkansas City Traveler April 17. “It is also apparent that Mr. Hicks’s use of the Internet at school to access ‘X-rated’ sites ceased approximately a year prior to” his suspension in November 2000, Fielder wrote. Hicks claimed at that time that he visited such sites “to determine ease of access by students to X-rated sites because there were no filters in place” and that he had raised these concerns with previous school administrators.
Fielder, who served as hearing officer for the case, also found no evidence to the charge that Hicks was responsible for students’ lack of use of the library and cited a police report that said he did not present a physical threat to the superintendent or others at the school.
Hicks is now eligible to receive back pay and benefits that would have accrued had he not been terminated.
Posted April 22, 2002.
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