by Judy Frank
posted August 15, 2008
School board members fired a kindergarten teacher Friday afternoon, after the school superintendent said some parents had threatened to remove their children from Chickamauga Elementary if Tonya Craft was allowed in the classroom.
There was no discussion, and the vote was unanimous.
Attorney Cary King, representing Ms. Craft, reminded Chickamauga City School Board members that his client has not been indicted for child molestation or any other crime.
Forensic examinations already have proven false the accusations involving two of the four children she was originally accused of sexually molesting, he noted.
The other accusations also are false and, if and when it becomes necessary, he will prove it in court, Mr. King declared.
“This is a rush to judgment,” he said, pleading with board members to suspend the veteran 15-year teacher rather than fire her until they know whether she did anything wrong.
His request won widespread approval from the crowd packed into the tiny courtroom, composed almost entirely of supporters of the accused teacher.
But Superintendent Melody Day, who recommended the dismissal, said Ms. Craft cannot work as a teacher because her bond agreement prohibits her from being around children under age 18.
Until the allegations against Ms. Craft were made earlier this summer, Ms. Day testified, she never heard any reports that the kindergarten teacher had done anything wrong to the children in her care. And this past spring, she acknowledged, Ms. Craft’s teaching contract was renewed for the 2008-09 year.
“She was a good teacher,” Ms. Day said.
This past summer, a former friend of Ms. Craft approached law enforcement officers and told them that her daughter had told her she had been molested by the teacher. Further, she said, the child had indicated that other youngsters might also have been molested.
She was later charged with four counts of child molestation and one count of aggravated sexual battery, and her bond was set at $50,000.
Mr. King, Ms. Craft’s attorney, told the school board that he had subpoenaed 20 witnesses who could help prove his client is innocent to testify at Friday’s hearing.
He said when he arrived in Chickamauga for the hearing he learned that one of those witnesses, Sandra Lamb, was refusing to comply with the subpoena. Since Ms. Lamb is key to the case, he asked that the hearing be continued.
But Ms. Lamb’s attorney, Lawrence Stag, told the board that he had advised Ms. Lamb not to appear because no arrangements had been made to pay her travel and other expenses.
Since Ms. Lamb lives in Catoosa County and the hearing was held in Walker County, she is entitled to be reimbursed for all her expenses, Mr. Stag said.
Hearing officer Phil Landrum declined to continue the hearing, ruling that the only issue that would be considered Friday was whether it was possible for Ms. Craft to work as a teacher under the conditions of her bond.
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