PSC accepts Decatur Schools’ response to complaint against former Superintendent – Decaturish

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Decatur, GA – Former Decatur City Schools Superintendent David Dude’s certification remains intact after the Georgia Professional Standards Commission refused to pursue a complaint against him.

The PSC’s decision was based solely on the word of CSD and its lawyers.

The PSC, which certifies educators, voted on April 8 to refer the complaint against Dude to the Decatur school board. This decision gave the board of directors the responsibility of investigating the complaint against the superintendent.

In its response, CSD did not respond directly to the allegations against the former superintendent, noting that some of the allegations are part of a lawsuit against the district and that other allegations have been investigated by a cabinet. external lawyers.

The response, signed by Board Chair Tasha White, ended with: “CSD has determined that no further investigation of the complaint is warranted.”

That was enough to satisfy the PSC, according to Paul Shaw, director of the PSC’s ethics division.

“He has been fired, so we consider the lawyers’ investigation to be satisfactory,” Shaw said.

Could the investigation therefore be reopened at any time?

“If we later find out that the investigation was inaccurate or false, we could reopen,” Shaw said.

CSD says the McGuire Woods law firm found no evidence of unlawful conduct by the superintendent, but declined to release a report summarizing the firm’s findings. Dude left the school district in April, a move that has been described as an amicable separation between Dude and CSD. It is not clear whether any of McGuire Woods’ findings led to Dude leaving, as it is not clear whether the company looked at anything other than whether Dude did something illegal when he did. accepted $ 100,000 in payments for vacation days he said he was not using.

These payments were mentioned in a lawsuit filed by former director of human resources David Adams. The trial is still pending. A lengthy investigation by Decaturish has uncovered evidence to support the allegations of this trial.

But it was the lawsuit itself that protected CSD from having to provide answers to PSC.

The first allegation in the PSC complaint states, “Dr. The guy took more vacation he was hired to and cashed in. When CSD’s CFO raised the issue with CSD’s lawyers, she and the HR director were forced to resign.

The CSD said it could not investigate it because of the lawsuit.

In its response to the PSC’s complaint, the school district stated, “Because Allegation 1 is the subject of an active lawsuit against the district, the CSD is in conflict and cannot initiate an investigation into the matter. ‘allegation. In addition, it would be inappropriate to deal with pending litigation in response to a complaint from the PSC. Because Allegation 1 does not allege any act other than those targeted by the trial, this allegation will be best resolved in court. “

Here is CSD’s full response to the PSC’s complaint:

Dear Mr. Shaw:

The City of Decatur Schools (“CSD”) hereby respond to your letter of April 9, 2021 requesting that CSD investigate Complaint 21-3-829 against David Joseph Dude.

Complaint

March 10, 2021 Complainant [name withheld by Decaturish] filed the complaint with a covering letter to the Professional Standards Commission. In her complaint, she alleges that:

1. The guy took more vacation he was hired for and cashed in that time. When CSD’s CFO raised the issue with CSD’s lawyers, she and the HR director were forced to resign.

2. The guy cashed in vacation days he didn’t take.

3. The guy violated FERPA when he shared a video of a student on social media and identified him as a student in the district.

4. CSD could violate Georgia Open Records Act

The complainant made additional general allegations in her cover letter against the CSD itself, claiming that the CSD lacks transparency, that the school board does not protect the district from leaders who compromise its integrity and financial solvency, and that the district increased its taxes, presumably because of leadership failures. She also suggested that CSD lawyers are complicit in wrongdoing.

In support of the allegations in the complaint, the complainant refers to five federal lawsuits against CSD and provides links to eight articles on the Oecaturish .com blog. She does not identify any witnesses with direct knowledge and does not provide any direct documentary evidence of her allegations. In her fax cover sheet presenting the complaint to the PSC, the complainant stated that she had provided a full set of supporting evidence weighing two pounds to the PSC office. The PSC informed CSD that it had never received such a package.

The PSC referred the complaint to the CSD for investigation on April 9, 2021. The referral letter indicated that Dr. Dude had violated Standard 4 (honesty), Standard 5 (public funds and property) and Standard 9 (professional conduct) . .

Analysis and investigation

As a preliminary matter, the complaint supports its allegations against Dr. Dude with only hearsay. She only provided evidence of lawsuits by others and articles on a news blog. She claims to have no direct knowledge of any violation of the Code of Ethics and has not identified any witnesses with direct knowledge of a violation. Furthermore, she did not allege any personal impact of the alleged violations. There is no prohibition in the PSC’s regulations against filing a complaint based solely on hearsay and without alleged prejudice to the complainant. However, the fact that the Complainant does not support the Complaint with quotes from any direct evidence reduces the credibility of the Complaint and makes the CSD’s investigation more difficult.

Allegation 1: Dr. Dude took more vacation than expected and cashed in that time. When CSD’s CFO raised the issue with CSD’s lawyers, she and the HR director were forced to resign.

The complainant supports Allegation 1 by referring to a lawsuit filed by the former director of human resources of CSD against the district, in which he also names Or. Dude as the accused. Because Allegation 1 is the subject of an active lawsuit against the district, CSD has a dispute and cannot undertake an investigation into the allegation. In addition, it would be inappropriate to deal with pending litigation in response to a complaint from the PSC. Since Allegation 1 does not allege any act other than those involved in the trial, this allegation will be best resolved in court.

Allegation 2: Dr. Dude cashed in vacation days he did not take.

The Complainant supports Allegation 2, presumably, solely by reference to the articles from Decaturish.com. It is common knowledge that the CSD Board of Education has hired the law firm McGuire Woods, LLP, to investigate the use of Dr. Dude’s vacation under his contract. This law firm submitted an oral report to the Council which did not reveal any findings of illegal activity. After Or. Mutual and amicable separation of the guy in April 2021, the Council closed the investigation. Therefore, CSD has determined that no further investigation into this matter is warranted now that Dr. Dude is no longer an employee of the District and in light of McGuire Woods’ findings.

Allegation 3: Dr Dude violated FERPA when he shared a video of a student on social media and identified him as a district student.

The Complainant supports Allegation 3 only by reference to a legal action brought against CSD. Because Allegation 3 is the subject of an active lawsuit against the district, CSD has a dispute and cannot undertake an investigation into the allegation. In addition, it would be inappropriate to deal with pending litigation in response to a complaint from the PSC. Since Allegation 3 does not allege any act other than those involved in the trial, this allegation will be best resolved in court.

Allegation 4: CSD could violate the Georgia Open Records Act.

Allegation 4 makes no direct complaints against Dr. Dude, only speculates that the district may have violated the Open Records Act. A complaint to the PSC must be directed against an individual educator, therefore Allegation 4 is not an appropriate subject for a complaint. See Ga. Comp. R. & Reg. 505-6-.01 (2) (f).

For the reasons discussed above, CSD has determined that no further investigation of the complaint is warranted.

– Tasha White

President, Board of Education of the City of Decatur

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