Pubdate: Fri, 03 May 2002
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Associated Press

SCHOOL ASKS TOP COURT FOR REVERSAL -- DISTRICT DOESN'T WANT TO REHIRE 
FIRED TEACHER

AFTON -- School officials have asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to 
reverse an order requiring the district to reinstate a teacher who 
was fired after facing marijuana charges. Matt Cyran, the Afton 
School District's attorney, said Tuesday the schools have asked 
justices to reverse an April 11 decision by the Oklahoma Court of 
Civil Appeals.

The appeals court ordered the district to reinstate Carolyn Weaver, 
who was dismissed in November 2000 on grounds of "moral turpitude, 
neglect of duty and incompetence." An Ottawa County judge had upheld 
her dismissal.

Weaver, 50, and her husband, Joe Weaver, 48, a former Watts 
principal, were arrested Aug. 27, 2000, on drug complaints when 
narcotics agents saw an 8- foot-tall marijuana plant growing behind 
the couple's home on Grand Lake.

Charges against Carolyn Weaver were dismissed in October 2000 after 
prosecutors failed to prove she had any knowledge of drugs or of her 
husband's involvement with drugs during their 30-year marriage.

She voluntarily submitted to a drug test after her arrest. Results 
showed she was negative for any traces of drugs.

Joe Weaver pleaded no contest in March 2001 to a felony charge of 
cultivating marijuana and a misdemeanor count of marijuana possession 
in Delaware County District Court. He has resigned from his job at 
Watts.

The district's petition to the appeals court says justices could use 
the case to give Oklahoma schools more power to decide who teaches 
students. If the court's decision to reinstate Weaver stands, the 
district alleges, "school districts will not be able to relieve our 
children of teachers who are guilty of moral turpitude and other 
misconduct, except pursuant to a standard of proof stricter than what 
is required by the government to incarcerate criminals."

Richard O'Carroll, Weaver's attorney, said the appeals court made the 
right decision. He said the district has spent thousands of taxpayer 
dollars fighting a case it knows it can't win.
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