TALLADEGA – The City Board of Education spent over three hours in executive session Monday evening before voting 4-0 to override superintendent Doug Campbell’s recommendation that a teacher be terminated. Board member James Braswell then made a motion that the same teacher be suspended for 30 days without pay, and this also passed, 4-0. Board member Shirley Simmons-Sims was present when the board voted to go into executive session but had to leave after about an hour, Campbell said.

The executive session began at 6 p.m. Campbell and Alabama Education Association attorney Jenna Bedsole came back at around 8:20 p.m., with Bedsole being called back into the executive session after about 20 minutes. The public hearing resumed at about 9:15.

Braswell said he could not identify which teacher was being disciplined because the teacher had asked for a closed hearing.

Bedsole said that, under the teacher tenure act, a teacher was allowed to request a private hearing and have their name kept confidential even if action was taken against them during a public meeting.

Further coverage of Monday’s school board meeting will appear in Wednesday’s Daily Home.

Contact Chris Norwood at cnorwood@dailyhome.com