Dukes-Walton v. Atlanta Indep. Sch. Sys.

The evidence was sufficient to support the Georgia Board of Education's decision upholding the termination of a principal's employment contract arising from testing improprieties during the administration of the Spring 2009 Criterion Referenced Competency Test.

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Selena Dukes-Walton, following our grant of her application for discretionary review, appeals from the order of the Superior Court of Fulton County affirming the decision of the Georgia Board of Education upholding the termination of Dukes-Walton’s employment contract by the Atlanta Board of Education Local Board. Dukes-Walton contends that the superior court erred because the evidence was insufficient to support the charges against her. She also contends that the superior court erred because the decision of the Local Board was arbitrary and capricious, based on inadmissible evidence, and violated her right to due process. We affirm for the reasons set forth below.

The record shows that by letter dated March 29, 2012, the superintendent of the Atlanta Independent School System APS notified Dukes-Walton under the Fair Dismissal Act of Georgia, OCGA § 20-2-940 et seq., that he was recommending that the Local Board terminate her employment contract on the statutory grounds of willful neglect of duties, immorality, and other good and sufficient cause, as well as other grounds.1 APS charged that Dukes-Walton failed her duties as principal and knew or should have known about testing improprieties during the administration of the Spring 2009 Criterion Referenced Competency Test CRCT, and that, among other things, her actions and inactions resulted in the misrepresentation of the evaluation of her students to the Georgia Department of Education as to the results of the 2009 CRCT. A hearing on the charges was held before a tribunal, which, by a preponderance of the evidence, found the charged violations of immorality and other good and sufficient cause. The tribunal did not find that Dukes-Walton committed the charged violation of willful neglect of duties. The tribunal affirmed the recommendation by the superintendent that Dukes-Walton’s employment contract be terminated.

Dukes-Walton v. Atlanta Indep. Sch. Sys.

The evidence was sufficient to support the Georgia Board of Education's decision upholding the termination of a principal's employment contract arising from testing improprieties during the administration of the Spring 2009 Criterion Referenced Competency Test.

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