Brian Walton, director of special education for the school district for 32 years, has filed a civil rights complaint citing age discrimination against the school district.
Walton said he recently received a letter from district officials indicating his contract is not being renewed for the 2008-09 school year; however, he said there is no connection between the non-renewal and the complaint.
‘My filing a civil rights complaint for age discrimination is a completely separate issue to the district’s decision not to renew my contract,? he said.
Walton would not comment as to the grounds of the complaint.
Trevor W. Coleman, the Director of Communications for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights who received the complaint said the case will move forward.
‘Brian Walton’s case is now pending investigation because it is in mediation. We want to try and resolve this matter so it won’t go into a formal investigation,? he said.
Coleman said most of these kinds of complaints get settled at the first step of mediation.
‘The number one complaint we get is racial. Number two is gender, three disability, four retaliation and five is age. We have the force of law and have the authority to hold people accountable if they have victimized employees.?
Larry Allen, school district interim superintendent, is uncertain why the complaint was filed; however, the case has been referred to the school district attorney, Rick Kroopnick. The first mediation hearing will be on April 25, added Allen.
‘It will be my recommendation to the board of trustees at the April 28 regularly scheduled board meeting to ask them not to renew Walton’s contract,? said Allen.
‘My recommending a non-renewal of Brian’s contract is for economic reasons. I am going to propose to the board that we go with shared services in partnership with the Genesee Intermediate School District for special education implementation,? said Allen. ‘This will be a collaborative effort with Tom Svitkovich, the GISD Superintendent.?
Allen explained the school district is in a deficit spending mode right now and he needed to make a change. ‘We are trying to reduce all of our costs and still keep the integrity of our services,? said Allen.
Also off the school district payroll, Allen said, will be business manager Linda DeCamp. However, Allen said she will continue to operate as the district’s business manager and Svitkovich said he has some other things he would like DeCamp to help him with.
‘Thanks to the forward-looking and thinking of the Goodrich School Board of Trustees, they will become a part of the shared services we offer,? said Svitkovich. ‘We have had a lot of experience in special education management services. A special education director may take on more than one district. The same is true for a business services manager. That is really the concept we are looking at. We want to get the very best programming for children and get cost savings at the same time, which will put money back into the classrooms at Goodrich Area Schools,? he said.