Fox Elementary employee to plead case before School Board

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Robin Spears, a 15-year social worker, who has been on paid leave since November 2021 is going to the School Board in hopes the members will reject a recommendation that she be fired for failing to report to a position she said she was never offered.

On Tuesday, Dr. Shadae T. Harris, RPS’ chief engagement officer, upheld the request of Timothy Williams, manager of employee relations, that Ms. Spears be terminated for being absent without leave.

Dr. Harris, who stood in for Superintendent Jason Kamras, issued her finding even though Ms. Spears and her representative, Sa’ad El-Amin, presented evidence that Mr. Williams repeatedly breached RPS’ personnel policies.

“It is so hard to represent employees,” Mr. El-Amin said after the hearing, “when officials ignore their own policies and do what they want.”

Ms. Spears said she presented evidence that Mr. Williams told her on Jan. 27 that a position was available and that she expressed interest. However, Mr. Williams did not disclose any specifics, she said. She notified him Feb. 3 that she was going out of town for a relative’s funeral and discussion of the position was left until her return. After returning Feb. 6, she said she called then RPS Chief of Staff Michelle Hudacsko and Mr. Williams about the position. She said that Ms. Hudacsko told her Mr. Williams would be in touch with the details, but she said Mr. Williams did not respond to her until Feb. 27 and then only to notify her she was subject to termination for being absent without leave (AWOL).

Ms. Spears noted that the RPS policy requires an employee to be AWOL for five days from an assigned position without a good excuse before discipline can be imposed, “and I didn’t have an assignment at the time.”

Mr. El-Amin said RPS’ policy also requires Mr. Williams or other human relations staff contact an employee three times about a position, which Mr. ElAmin said did not happen. He said Mr. Williams also did not follow the requirement that an offer of a position be in writing. He said Ms. Spears never received any written communication about a position, the school to which she was to report or the salary. Mr. El-Amin said he would file the appeal to the School Board, which by law must vote on personnel decisions.

Ms. Spears has been on leave since November 2021 after a complaint was filed that she hit an unruly 6-year-old in trying to discipline him in an afterschool program she was directing at Fox Elementary School. Though upheld internally, Ms. Spears was twice acquitted in court based on testimony from adult witnesses who testified that she never hit the child.

Superintendent Kamras recommended that she be terminated due to that incident. Her appeal to the School Board on that issue has not been heard.