Carla Spaniel was employed as a middle school principal in Fort Worth ISD. In May 2010, Spaniel was arrested in Dallas on suspicion of public intoxication and two counts of felony abandonment of a child. An independent hearing examiner found that Spaniel left her 3- and 4-year-old children alone in a hotel in Dallas. WFAA-TV reported that Spaniel was arrested after she allegedly got into an altercation with a bouncer at a bar, then misrepresented the whereabouts of her children to police. The incident received extensive media coverage and resulted in numerous calls to the district.
The superintendent proposed termination of Spaniel’s term contract due to reduced effectiveness, violation of the Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators, and failure to provide a timely report of her arrest to the administration, among other reasons. Spaniel requested a hearing before an independent hearing examiner. At the hearing, Spaniel asserted that she was bipolar and had suffered due to stress from, among other things, her husband’s deployment to Iraq. She also stated that she did not want to return to her principal position but would accept a different assignment with the district. An independent hearing examiner concluded that the district had good cause to terminate Spaniel’s contract. The board accepted the hearing examiner’s recommendation and voted to terminate her.
The commissioner reversed Spaniel’s termination. The commissioner first concluded that the district had good cause to terminate Spaniel’s contract. However, the commissioner also concluded that the board’s vote to terminate was void because the agenda posting for the proposed termination was not sufficiently specific. The agenda item said, “Recommendation for Proposed Terminations of Instructional Employees (2)” and “Termination of Instructional Employees (2).” The commissioner faulted the district for posting the action regarding Ms. Spaniel’s contract under a generic title that could apply to a number of employees and did not provide the public with notice that a principal’s contract, especially a principal who had been the subject of recent widespread negative media attention, would be considered for termination. The commissioner ordered the district to pay Spaniel back pay from the time of discharge, plus reinstatement or one year’s salary in front pay.
Spaniel v. Fort Worth Indep. Sch. Dist., Tex. Comm’r of Educ. Decision No. 029-R2-1110 (Dec. 21, 2010).
(Editor’s note: This story was reprinted with the permission of TASB Legal Services. It originally appeared in the May 2011 TASB School Law Update.)
