Kentridge teacher files grievance

A former Kentridge High School substitute teacher has filed a grievance with the Kent School District after he discovered he was being paid at a substitute rate when he believes he should have received a teacher’s credential and contract from the district.

According to the teacher, the district owes him restitution payments on benefits he should have received as a contracted teacher.

The district hired Danny Priest on Oct. 4, 2013, to replace Brent Conley, who was placed on indefinite leave following accusations that he had solicited sex from a minor.

“I was all on board about getting the job,” Priest said.

Not wanting to rock the boat as a new teacher, he kept his head down when it came to contractual matters. But after working at the school for several months, he brought up the need for a leave replacement contract, which would establish him as a full-time teacher.

Kentridge responded that they couldn’t offer that contract because Conley was still in court, although Conley had handed in a resignation form in November. Priest was kept on board with the duties of a full-time teacher, but lacked the bonus time pay that full-time teachers make for their additional responsibilities such as conferences and staff meetings.

It wasn’t until Priest was extended as a summer school teacher that he thought something was wrong, when the district cut his salary from around $30 per hour to $15.

“It was like Kentridge was expecting me to do all the teacher duties but having me paid as a substitute,” Priest said.

Leslie Bedke, a representative for the Kent Education Association, said that after a certain number of days the district is required to upgrade a substitute’s contract if that substitute is highly qualified in the material they are teaching. Priest had recently taken certifications to be highly qualified in social studies and English.

“Under the terms of the contract, he had to be given a teaching certificate. The law supports us. Certified substitute teachers, after 30 days, must be given a contract,” Bedke said.

Because Priest was not a full-time teacher, he also lost out on several grants, Bedke said. Among them were $5,000 for a Troops for Teacher’s grant, she said. Priest served as an Army infantryman in the 2nd Infantry Division and was discharged in 2007.

School district officials said they have done no wrong in canceling Priest’s contract and are not obligated to provide him with another contract or any financial restitution.

“Mr. Priest was not under contract as a teacher. He was a long–term sub, and we are not legally bound to offer teacher contacts after 30 days of service as a substitute,” said district spokesman Chris Loftis in an email. “He was paid at the appropriate long-term-sub rate.”

Still, some evidence indicates that the district considered bringing Priest on but dropped the idea midway through his evaluation, Bedke said.

“They didn’t want to do an end-of-a-year evaluation,” Bedke said. “They had started the evaluation process but hadn’t completed it.”

Teacher evaluations are time consuming processes, she said, but Priest should have been given a contract. Had Priest received a contract, the district would have had to place him in another English or social studies position. But because they waited, he said, he had to find work elsewhere.

“Also,” Priest said, “the Union is telling me the district shorted me out of thousands of dollars. So it would be nice to get that.”