VOORHEESVILLE – After two years of paid suspension, worth over $150,000, and nearly $180,000 in additional cost to the school district, tenured teacher and coach Robert Crandall has been found guilty of four charges of misconduct and inappropriate behavior. He has been suspended without pay for 60 days, beginning Saturday.
"I’m not pleased that he was found guilty of the charges and he is coming back to the district," said the school board vice president, C. James Coffin.

Crandall has been teaching at Voorheesville since 1978.
He was first counseled in 1994 for walking out on a conference, according to papers filed with the State Education Department. He was counseled again in 2001 "for slapping students on their bottoms," the papers say. He was then issued a letter of reprimand in 2003 for allowing a basketball team to swim in the pool before it was open, and has been counseled both verbally and in writing concerning inappropriate comments made to students, the papers say.
This is a case of progressive discipline, Coffin said. "Enough is enough," he told The Enterprise yesterday.
The disciplinary procedures build upon each other, said Superintendent Linda Langevin. "He had been warned and warned and warned," she said.

In a unanimous vote, the school board decided at two meetings in June of 2004 to bring charges against Crandall, said Coffin.
"You’ve got to bite the bullet, and take the steps to protect the students and employees," Coffin said.

The school district hired an attorney to press charges, and Crandall was defended by an attorney appointed and paid for by the New York State United Teachers, the union with which the Voorheesville Teachers Association is affiliated.
NYSUT has 575,000 members and is the largest union in New York State. "We’re a unit of professionals," said the union’s spokesperson, Carl Korn.

Crandall, until his recent unpaid suspension started on Oct. 21, was still paid his annual salary of $73,150 plus benefits. He was also earning his yearly increases, as determined by the Voorheesville teachers’ contract.
"Everything has to remain the same as though he was working. That’s the law," Langevin told The Enterprise.

In addition to his salary, the district paid $178,911 in salaries for substitutes to fill Crandall’s teaching and coaching positions, benefits for these individuals, and legal fees.

The State Education Department is responsible for paying the hearing officer and the court reporter.

Crandall was found guilty in a hearing that is part of a procedure outlined in Section 3020-a of State Education Law, an employment disciplinary process for tenured teachers. Crandall did not return calls from The Enterprise this week.
"The 3020-a process has come to be known as expensive," said Bart Zabin, the principal investigator for the State Education Department. "For the most part, it’s used when there are serious issues," he said.

The charges
After more than two years, Crandall was found guilty of four charges of "misconduct, insubordination, and conduct unbecoming a teacher." He was found not guilty of a fifth charge.
In September of 2003, one charge states, Crandall asked a male student, during a physical education class, "Who is that hot (sexy) blond you’re running with"" The comment was in reference to a female tenth-grade student.
In March of 2004, a second charge states, Crandall, while updating his records, asked a female ninth-grade student where she lived. She asked why he wanted to know, and he responded, "So I can follow you home and come to your house and murder you in your sleep."

The two other charges were in reference to retaliatory action that Crandall took during the 2002-03 school year against two female ninth grade students who had made prior complaints against him. The two students claimed that Crandall treated them differently than the other students in class.
The hearing officer, Ronald Kowalski, was chosen by both the district and Crandall. Kowalski found that Crandall’s conduct warrants discipline, but "his long and largely successful teaching career with the District and the nature of the misconduct do not make dismissal appropriate."
He further stated, in his determination that Crandall "must learn that certain remarks and behavior are inappropriate with students," and he should be "aware of the severity of his misconduct and hopefully recognize that if such misconduct occurs again it will likely lead to his dismissal from service."
"The first mistake he makes, we’re gonna be back at him," Coffin told The Enterprise. "We mean business," he said.

It is the responsibility of the board to ensure the safety and comfort of the district’s students and employees, Coffin said.

Lengthy process

The 3020-a procedure is one that can take a long time and cost a lot of money, Zabin said.
"It’s not a process that is used to slap someone on the wrist," Zabin told The Enterprise.

The department gets about 300 cases a year, but not all of those result in hearings, he said. With 300,000 teachers in 700 school districts in New York State, those figures aren’t too bad, he said.

It is not uncommon for the process to stretch longer than a year, Zabin said.

In Crandall’s case, it stretched for more than two years.

The reason, Langevin said, was scheduling conflicts. The hearing officer, and the two attorneys have to come to an agreement on dates and schedules, and that can get complicated.

Crandall’s attorney had difficulty finding time in his schedule, Langevin said. He would be available for one day, and then maybe not again for a month or two, she said.
"Our attorneys are always prepared to work on cases," Korn told The Enterprise when asked about the availability and flexibility in the union attorneys’ schedules.
"Due process is the foundation of our justice system," he said.

Crandall is expected to return to the school at the end of January. The board will determine in what capacity Crandall may return, and if he will be required to attend counseling.
"We want to make sure our kids are safe," Langevin said.