Posted on 05/02/2005 6:04:01 PM PDT by pissant
SOUTHLAKE - Two Carroll district high school teachers resigned after administrators discovered that they wrote hundreds of racy e-mails on the district's computer system.
Some of the e-mails comment on students' physiques. Others use obscenities and describe sexual encounters.
District officials said they cannot comment on the departures of Joe Guttery, who taught social studies at Carroll Senior High School, and jon Fisher, a speech teacher and adviser to the junior varsity Emerald Belle drill team at Carroll High School. Both resigned April 4 for personal reasons, district records show.
But sources familiar with the incident confirmed that the resignations were linked to the misuse of the district's computer system.
District policy allows for limited and appropriate personal use of district email. Examples would be confirming airline reservations or exchanging a grocery list with a spouse, officials said.
But the policy also allows the superintendent or his designee to "monitor and evaluate electronic media resources for instructional and administrative purposes." And it allows administrators to discipline offenders.
Fisher and Guttery could not be reached for comment this week. District officials declined to release their addresses and phone numbers. Messages left at area phone numbers registered under those names were not returned.
Federal, state and local provisions bar the district from commenting on the teachers' departures, district officials said.
Often on school time, the two teachers used their Carroll email accounts to write about sexual escapades, adventures at local bars, and encounters through an Internet dating service.
The e-mails also critique area extracurricular competitions and rehash episodes of the TV shows Desperate Housewives and American Idol.
Under the Texas Public Information Act, the district released 407 pages of e-mails that the two teachers wrote or received from January through March 2005.
"We had no idea we were going to find all of this," said Derek Citty, Carroll's chief personnel officer. "Neither one of them ever deleted anything."
District officials began investigating after one of the teachers accidently sent an email to an unintended recipient, who reported it, sources said.
Guttery had been a Carroll teacher since August 2002. Fisher joined the district in August 2004.
Many of the e-mails crossed the district's standards.
Records show that most of the e-mails were written by Fisher and Guttery. Other were written by acquaintances, whose names were blacked out.
Carroll High School Principal Rick Westfall could not be reached for comment. Carroll Senior High School Principal Daniel Presley said he cannot comment on personnel issues.
Carroll does not typically monitor e-mails, unless there is an investigation, spokeswoman Julie Thannum said.
"The email system belongs to the school district, and we have a right to do that," she said.
"It's not that uncommon for someone to call something to our attention and for us to investigate it," Thannum said. "If someone goes on there and is asking if people want to buy a washer and dryer, we would tell them it is not an appropriate use."
Trustee Steve Lakin, who had not reviewed the e-mails, said employees must read district policies on computer use and follow them.
"Some of it is federal and state law, and the rest of it is common sense on what protects the district," Lakin said. "Therefore, when someone violates it, it's out of our hands to help them. It's tricky enough that you could violate it without knowing it."
Lakin is being challenged by Sue Armstrong and Bill Lacava for Place 3 on the school board in the May 7 election.
Lakin said Guttery and Fisher were considered good employees who were well-liked.
Guttery previously taught at L.D. Bell High School in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford district. He also had been named a Top 10 Dance and Drill Team Instructor of the Year by the Dance and Drill Team Instructors of America, a national association, according to his personnel file.
Fisher had served as director of the dance and drill team in the Round Rock school district. He also was a speech and theater arts teacher in the Waco school district. Fisher was named Director of the Year for the Texas Dance Educators' Association for 2003-2004, district records show.
What morons! Practically everyone knows that e-mails re not private.
And if you work at a public institution, such e-mails are usually illegal.
gubmint wurkers.....
trying to follow in your footsteps there pissant...but they have a ways to go.......
Gays.
Government computers should only be used for government work, like campaigning for tax increases and electing pro-government politicians.
Fortunately, I don't work for the gov.
Leni
were they poofers? Then they'll be promoted.
of course not..you sound much brighter than that....but I'll bet you drink enough beer to be the head of some agency........LOL.........
Methinks you are correct.
and using the random word generator feature to create new red tape!
Bingo!
They couldn't afford home computers on teacher's salaries? Right.
Members of the NEA, I bet.
Heck, don't most college kids have a PC?
What straight men have you ever known who would even watch, much less discuss with their buddies, Desperate Housewives and American Idol. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :-)
My nephew is a teacher, his starting pay in California, $60,000.00+ a year, I hope he can afford a computer.
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