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Show I TIIK SCMMIT COUNTY liKI! Dn. Friday. 1. im 8 Coalvlllr. Utah 14011 John Elwell Trial Concludes, Judge Ponders Decision Courtesy Park Record The trial involving John Elwell and the Park City School Board ended Friday with the former Marsac EleSchool principal refuting each of the charges that resulted in his termination a year and a half ago. mentary The proceedings, which began Monday of last week in third district court in Coalville before Judge Dean Conder. lasted all week and included 43 exhibits and ten witnesses. Following summations by school board attorney Oscar McConkie and Mr. Elwells attorney. Kathryn Judge Dean Conder said that three basic issues involved were there in the case: 1( whether or not the action of the school board was capricious, arbitrary and unreasonable, 2) whether or not the Park City School Board followed the Orderly School Termination Procedure Act, as well as afford Mr. Elwell due process of law, and 3) if the school board had violated these, what damages should the court award Mr. Elwell? trial included testiThe week-lon- g mony by members of the school board. Superintendent Richard Good-wort- h and John Elwell, who took the stand late Thursday afternoon and was questioned by both lawyers for three hours. Judge Conder said he did not know hOw long it would take for him to render a decision in the case. Mr. Elwell is requesting not only that he be reinstated as principal at Marsac Elementary School but also salary he would have received had he not been fired, lost insurance benefits, a retirement fund, damages for emotional suffering" and attorney Col-lar- fees. d, uary 31, 1977, but Mr. McConkie showed Elwell a letter written to him from the Superintendent which If your I am offended. began, offend to was me, you have purpose achieved that purpose." Later in this memo, Dr. Goodworth said that should Elwell ever make public their philosophical differences, he would have no other choice but to fire the Marsac principal for insubordination. If you want the final say in a school district," Goodworth's letter to Elwell further stated, "become a superintendent." Mr. McConkie continued to press Elwell concerning his actions during and up to the time he was fired on June 3, 1977. Mr. Elwells attitude towards the Middle School was brought up; specifically, a letter Elwell wrote to the school board which in part said: "I see your purpose as a move to further demean and harrass the Marsac Elementary School Principal. During the formation of the middle school, there was a possibility that Mr. Elwell would have which he made to teach part-timdear he was against. On direct examination by Ms. Collard, Elwell said that David Flei-she- r, a reported for the Park Record, did not read the entire contents of the evaluation by Dr. Goodworth that stated Elwell's contract would not be renewed by the Park City School Board. However, he said to Mr. McConkie that Fleisher did in fact read parts of the evaluation that were published in the Park Record a week later. Finally, McConkie succeeded in proving that the problems which led to Elwell's dismissal were with Superintendent Goodworth and not with the school board. It was a conflict between you and McConkie said the superintendent, to Elwell. "Yes, Elwell answered. Earlier in the week, Ms. Collard asked former school board member Fay Dearden if Mr. Elwell had ever foiled to comply with the rules and regulations of the district, and Mr. Dearden replied, "off hand, I can't think of any; but Im sure there were (times when Elwell did not comply with the rules). "Why, asked Ms. Collard. summation During her Friday, Ms. Collard maintained that her client did not receive adequate notice from Dr. Goodworth regarding his termination; and she emphasized that the six charges were too general in nature, vague and unanswerable," making it impossible for Mr. Elwell to form a defense. Elwell's attorney said the Park City School District foiled to establish its own policies governing the termination of educators. Adopting the 1973 Orderly School Termination Act, Ms. Collard added, was not sufficient action because the Act itself does not give specific enough reasons concerning an educator's termination. There were significant differences in testimonies given by Mr. Elwe'J and Dr. Goodworth last week. Dr. Goodworth said during cross examination by Oscar McConkie that the former Marsac Principal did not always follow his instructions regarding the implementation of various programs at the elementary school. Elwell, on the other hand, claimed he never refused to obey orders from the Superintendent eventhough he may not have supported those orders. During the first 'renlediation', meeting held February 2, 1977 (four months prior to Elwell's dismissal). Dr. Goodworth said he told Elwell not to release any information regarding the reconstruction work when the two educators were trying to reach an agreement; however. Dr. Goodworth said Mr. Elwell disobeyed this order, a sense of thereby demonstrating rebellion. But Elwell testified he never told reporters 'about these remediation meetings. While on the stand Friday morning, Mr. Elwell appeared tense; he broke down and cried twice following questions by Ms. Collard and Mr. Me Conkie. He said he had suffered emotionally as a result of being fired by the school board. Mr. McConkie forced Elwell to admit that he had to leave the district not because he lost his job but because of personal domestic problems. I suffered an emotional crisis, Elwell said on the stand. My children suffered greatly. McConkie asked Elwell if he understood and signed the teacher's contract when he was hired, and the former principal immediately answered he did not recall. Finally, Mr. biwell stared at the contract and replied, "It looks like I've signed it. There's the page with my signature on it. The school board attorney attempted to establish that Elwell was fully aware of district policies for educators when he was hired as principal at the elementary school. Mr. Elwell testified he had never been reprimanded by Superintendent Goodworth prior to receiving his negative principal's evaluation Jan te . e, Why would we have come this for?" answered Mr. Dearden rhetori- cally. Jack Green, the only member of the school board who voted not to terminate Elwell, said ont he witness stand ' that he did not think the charges were severe enough to warrant termination. Mr. Green, who has since retired from the school board and now serves as Mayor of Park City, added he felt some sort of reprimand would have been more appropriate. I felt perhaps there were alternatives to not offering (Elwell) a contract," Mr. Green testified Thursday in court. Mr. Green further stated that under "unusual circumstances" a Superintendent in a school district could fire an educator; how"unilaterally ever, Green did not go as for as to say there were any unusual circumstances in the Elwell case. Green also said that he thought Elwell had been insubordinate on some of the charges, but that the overriding issue was a fundamental difference in educational philosophy between Mr. Elwell and Superintendent Goodworth. "Since one man is the Superintendent and the other is a principal," Green said, "he (Elwell) must follow the orders of the Superintendent. Following the May 31, 1977 closed hearing, held only a few days before Elwell was fued, Jack Green said there was a general discussion of the evidence. "I think the Board arrived at a he said. And concensus opinion, Green added that the discussion lasted approximately 30 minutes and examinathat there was no tion of each separate charge against Elwell. th Members of the Park City School Board had not made up their minds about terminating Mr. Elwell before the May 31 hearing. Green testified. When asked why she thought Mr. Elwell was insubordinate, board member Anne Prince said, I think a principal should support the district he works in; his (Elwells) response to the middle school was terribly negf tive. Hi Y alley Feeds Complete line of feeds, animals health products, livestock handling equipment Pro-LiPurina Powder River Bell Bros. & Lies' Marsh . x Coalville, Utah 336-208- 1 "Did you run for office to terminate Mr. Elwell?" aksed Mr. McConkie. "No," Anne Prince answered. Mrs. Prince expressed the concern that Elwell allowed too much freedom to exist at Marsac Elementary School while he was serving as Principal. Both Violet Terry and board President Gary Boyle agreed that by releasing information to the press, Elwell had unnecessarily alarmed the community. Publishing articles about the Elwell case in the Park Record, Mr. Boyle said, "polarized the community. And Fay Dearden testified that he was bothered over the many phone calls he had received during the lime proceeding Elwell's termination. When Superintendent Goodworth took the witness stand, he emphasized his concern about Mr. Elwell making public notices regarding their differences. I indicated to him that if he continued to have philosophical differences with me in public, I would have to consider termination," Dr. Goodworth told Ms. Collard during direct examination Wednesday. Ms. Collard asked Dr. Goodworth if there were ever any school board policies he disagreed with, but supported anyway, and Dr. Goodworth answered. Yes. During cross examination by Oscar mcConkie, Dr. Goodworth testified that Mr. Elwell did not allow him to continue the last remediation meeting held February 27 because the former Marsac Principal became angry and upset. Dr. Goodworth said he was prepared to meet as long as possible to iron the differences between himself and Elwell. I was not permitted to go through the items, one by one," Dr. Good-wort- h testified. At one of these remediation meetings, Elwell came with a tape recorder, but Dr. Goodworth said he did not want the meeting taped because we would like to extend my sincere appreciation to everyone in Summit County who supported me in the recent election. Robert W. Adkins Summit County Attorney I wanlcd to achieve a working relationship of harmony and trust," Dr. Goodworth explained that he did not send the evaluation letter of January 31, 1977 to the school board members because he was afraid it would prejudice them in the case. "I wanted to protect them (board members) from forming any opin- ions." However, Superintendent told Kathryn Good-wort- h Collard that he sent the minutes of the six remediation meetings he had with Elwell to school board President Gary Boyle. And Ms. Collard said that Mr. Boyle's opinions were just as important as the other board members. "I gave no evidence to the board until the hearing, May 31st, testified Dr. Goodworth. In a letter dated March 7, 1977 (approximately three months before Mr. Elwell was fired), Dr. Goodworth states six reasons why Elwells contract for the upcoming school year should not be renewed: 1. When requested to work with the in an attempt r Superintendent reconstruct short comings, you were requested not to make public notice of the reconstruction work. You violated this request and evidenced a sense of rebellion against the administration. 2. You have willfiilly failed and refused to follow the policies of the district Board of Education, as one example: (a) you publicalfy fought the middle school concept after it had been adopted as the policy of the Board of Education. 3. You have willfully refused to comply with requests erf the Superintendent in matters pertaining to school administration. 4. You have admitted that you have not supported the Board of Education in its policies. 5. You have authorized programs that were in opposition to the directives and programs as set forth by the Superintendent. 6. You have failed and refused to in work with the Superintendent attempting to overcome the educational short comings as set forth in the Superintendent's letter to you of January 31, 1977. Your evaluation therein has not been changed. All of the adverse evaluations as set forth in that letter remain unresolved and are reasons for not tendering a contract for the coming year. Testimony by witnesses ended at noon Friday. 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BRAND NEW 1979 Chevrolet BRAND NEW MUIR CAFE DELIVERY IN MORGAN BUY of the WEEK 1978 Chevrolet 1978 with vegetable choice of potato salad, roll & said Elwell received adequate notice from Superintendent Goodworth that his job was in jeopardy; that Mr. Elwell requested and received an informal as well as a formal hearing to air his defense of the charges; Elwell asked for delays in the forma! hearing, and the school board granted him the delays; and Mr. Elwell had opportunities to remedy the situation during the remediation meetings between himself and Superintendent Goodworth, but that Elwell foiled to do so. "Ive never seen a (school) board bend over as for backwards to make sure there was due process," said Mr. McConkie. And finally, Mr. McConkie said the school board was in no way capri cious, arbitrary and unreasonable in firing John Elwell. Conder: "An educator is entitled to a written decision. The Board Members did not even vote with respect to the separate charges. They did not make any findings of fact. And Elwells lawyer said an educator cannot be fired for exercising his first amendment rights, unless his statements "materially and substantially interrupt the school system. "The whole key to this case is the lack of notice, Ms. Collard concluded. "Without notice, there is no possibility of a fair hearine. Mr. McConkie, in his summation, said the Park City School Board bent over backwards" to insure that Mr. FRIDAY NIGHT! Robert W. Adkins Summit County Attorney Johaliyen Elwell receive due process of law. He Must.. ..Be.. ..Sold butter $350 Jet. 224 Er 248--E Park City Here inSUMMIT COUNTY Wfe have famous Allstate values. USED CARS & TRUCKS 1 r 1974 VOLKSWAGON These days it makes r more sense than ever to look for value in everything. For years, youve seen and heard advertising about Allstate. And now "Good Hands insurance and financial services are available right here at our agency. 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