By Jamie Ausk Crisafulli
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
During a special meeting of the Glendive Unified School Board Monday, the board acted on the recommendation of Superintendent Ross Farber to terminate the employment of Thomas McLaren, a tenured teacher at Dawson County High School.
According to a press release from Farber’s office, the basis for the recommendation for termination of employment was a determination by district administration that McLaren had engaged in actions that violated district policies.
The board met in exectuvie session Monday to discuss and evaluate allegations made against McLaren. During open session, the board unanimously approved the recommendation for termination of employment.
In an email Tuesday, Montana Education Assocation consultant Maggie Copeland said McLaren will appeal the contract termination.
“The appeal is based on the district’s failure to conduct a complete and fair investigation,” Copeland stated. “We look forward to having the evidence heard by an impartial arbitrator and based on the evidence feel very strongly the board’s decision will be overturned.”
McLaren had been on administrative leave since the first week in December, according to Farber. During that time, McLaren was being paid by the district but his termination Monday cut off all further salary payments from the district. There was no monetary settlement attached to the termination, according to Farber.
Glendive Public School officials are not releasing details of the allegations that resulted in McLaren’s termination.
“The district is constrained by privacy laws from releasing further information regarding this matter at this time,” the press release stated.
However, McLaren does have a history of sexual harassment allegations. McLaren was alleged to have sexually harassed students in April 2010 as a shop teacher for the Fred Moodry Middle School in Anaconda. He was dismissed after “numerous complaints” were made by female students and parents, according to a story in the Montana Standard.
While no charges were filed against McLaren in that case, and none have been filed in this case thus far, former superintendent of Anaconda schools Tom Darnell told the Standard that more than 10 complaints were initially received.
In an interview with the Ranger-Review in early January, Darnell said part of the agreement between McLaren and the Anaconda school district was that the records remain closed, so no further details could be provided.
While McLaren reportedly disagreed with the Anaconda school board’s decision and said he had support from the faculty. He did reapply for his Class 2 Standard Teaching certificate the following July and was issued his certificate July 7, 2011, by the Office of Public Instruction. No action was taken to deny or delay McLaren’s certification by the Montana Board of Education based on the recommendation by OPI.
“A district can choose to terminate a teacher without it affecting their licensure with the state. They would only have their state educator license revoked if OPI did an investigation,” OPI communications director Dylan Klapmeier said.
Reach Jamie Ausk Crisafulli at rreditor@rangerreview.com.