Teh One Who Knocks
05-19-2012, 10:59 AM
By Jeanette Rundquist/The Star-Ledger
http://i.imgur.com/bfL15.jpg
UNION TOWNSHIP — The Union Township High School teacher who created a firestorm last year after allegedly posting anti-gay comments on her Facebook page, wants to retire on a disability pension rather than face tenure charges.
Jenye "Viki" Knox, 50, a tenured special education teacher who has taught in Union since 2000, wrote on her personal Facebook page that homosexuality is a "perverted spirit" and "unnatural immoral behavior," according to charges of unbecoming conduct brought by her district. She also criticized other teachers on Facebook for putting up a "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender" bulletin board in the high school and for proposing a school gay-straight alliance, according to the charges.
The tenure charge case was to begin Tuesday before a state Administrative Law Judge, but Knox filed a motion earlier this month asking that it be delayed while she seeks a disability pension due to both a back injury and "psychological grounds." She did not elaborate. A judge Wednesday agreed to list the case as inactive for three months.
"If I can retire then there is no need for me to go through this unpleasant experience," Knox wrote in court documents.
Knox earned $72,270 in 2011, and has taught for more than 20 years, according to state records. She was suspended without pay. She was initially suspended without pay for 120 days. Under the state tenure law, Knox was able to begin drawing her salary again a few weeks ago. But since the case has been put on the inactive list, she will no longer be paid.
"Although I continue to maintain that I have done nothing that warrants me being disciplined ... the thought of going through a tenure trial causes a great deal of angst," Knox wrote. "Unfortunately for all concerned, this matter has already received great notoriety in the local community. Avoiding a hearing will allow the local community to start the healing process sooner."
William Quinn, a spokesman for the state Treasury Department said Knox can apply for an ordinary or an accidental disability pension. Accidental disability pensions, which are related to an on-the-job injuries, pay a higher percentage of an employee’s salary.
But Quinn said the tenure charges must still be dealt with, either through the disciplinary process or through a settlement with the district before a final decision on the disability application is made.
"Filing a disability application will not allow someone to short-circuit the disciplinary process," Quinn said. "It’s the Division of Pensions and Benefits’ practice not to make a final decision on retirement applications until there has been a resolution of the disciplinary process."
Tenure hearings can take years to resolve and cost districts hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Knox, who lives in Union, could not be reached for comment.
In a letter to Administrative Law Judge LoAnn LaSala Candido, the Union County school district joined in the request to put the case on the inactive list. The letter from James L. Plosia Jr., attorney for the school district, did not address Knox’s request for a disability pension.
Knox’s alleged actions last October set off debate about free speech in the Internet age when she allegedly posted a string of anti-gay messages on her Facebook page. The comments began with criticism of a high school bulletin board, put up for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month, and ballooned into what the district described as "a running dialogue over what she believes about the subject of homosexuality in Union High School."
The tenure charges say Knox started her Facebook comments prior to that, however: In June, she wrote on the Facebook account of a another teacher who suggested the high school start a gay-straight alliance.
"Well, if I knew UHS was going to Hell in a handbasket before I know it for sure now!" Knox posted, according to the charges filed by the district.
The district also alleges Knox emailed school administrators and board members to suggest that gay and/or lesbian teachers were "targeting young and impressionable students for indoctrination into alternative sexual lifestyles."
In her legal papers, Knox denied making the emailed accusation. She said any comments she made on Facebook were not intended to be "hateful, bigoted or discriminatory," were protected by the First Amendment and were based upon her religious beliefs. She also said her comments were not made on a "public" Facebook account and that she did not mean for them to be open to the general public.
The New Jersey Education Association, of which Knox is a member, declined to comment.
The controversy drew hundreds of people to several school board meetings last fall, with protesters coming out both in support of and against Knox.
http://i.imgur.com/bfL15.jpg
UNION TOWNSHIP — The Union Township High School teacher who created a firestorm last year after allegedly posting anti-gay comments on her Facebook page, wants to retire on a disability pension rather than face tenure charges.
Jenye "Viki" Knox, 50, a tenured special education teacher who has taught in Union since 2000, wrote on her personal Facebook page that homosexuality is a "perverted spirit" and "unnatural immoral behavior," according to charges of unbecoming conduct brought by her district. She also criticized other teachers on Facebook for putting up a "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender" bulletin board in the high school and for proposing a school gay-straight alliance, according to the charges.
The tenure charge case was to begin Tuesday before a state Administrative Law Judge, but Knox filed a motion earlier this month asking that it be delayed while she seeks a disability pension due to both a back injury and "psychological grounds." She did not elaborate. A judge Wednesday agreed to list the case as inactive for three months.
"If I can retire then there is no need for me to go through this unpleasant experience," Knox wrote in court documents.
Knox earned $72,270 in 2011, and has taught for more than 20 years, according to state records. She was suspended without pay. She was initially suspended without pay for 120 days. Under the state tenure law, Knox was able to begin drawing her salary again a few weeks ago. But since the case has been put on the inactive list, she will no longer be paid.
"Although I continue to maintain that I have done nothing that warrants me being disciplined ... the thought of going through a tenure trial causes a great deal of angst," Knox wrote. "Unfortunately for all concerned, this matter has already received great notoriety in the local community. Avoiding a hearing will allow the local community to start the healing process sooner."
William Quinn, a spokesman for the state Treasury Department said Knox can apply for an ordinary or an accidental disability pension. Accidental disability pensions, which are related to an on-the-job injuries, pay a higher percentage of an employee’s salary.
But Quinn said the tenure charges must still be dealt with, either through the disciplinary process or through a settlement with the district before a final decision on the disability application is made.
"Filing a disability application will not allow someone to short-circuit the disciplinary process," Quinn said. "It’s the Division of Pensions and Benefits’ practice not to make a final decision on retirement applications until there has been a resolution of the disciplinary process."
Tenure hearings can take years to resolve and cost districts hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Knox, who lives in Union, could not be reached for comment.
In a letter to Administrative Law Judge LoAnn LaSala Candido, the Union County school district joined in the request to put the case on the inactive list. The letter from James L. Plosia Jr., attorney for the school district, did not address Knox’s request for a disability pension.
Knox’s alleged actions last October set off debate about free speech in the Internet age when she allegedly posted a string of anti-gay messages on her Facebook page. The comments began with criticism of a high school bulletin board, put up for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month, and ballooned into what the district described as "a running dialogue over what she believes about the subject of homosexuality in Union High School."
The tenure charges say Knox started her Facebook comments prior to that, however: In June, she wrote on the Facebook account of a another teacher who suggested the high school start a gay-straight alliance.
"Well, if I knew UHS was going to Hell in a handbasket before I know it for sure now!" Knox posted, according to the charges filed by the district.
The district also alleges Knox emailed school administrators and board members to suggest that gay and/or lesbian teachers were "targeting young and impressionable students for indoctrination into alternative sexual lifestyles."
In her legal papers, Knox denied making the emailed accusation. She said any comments she made on Facebook were not intended to be "hateful, bigoted or discriminatory," were protected by the First Amendment and were based upon her religious beliefs. She also said her comments were not made on a "public" Facebook account and that she did not mean for them to be open to the general public.
The New Jersey Education Association, of which Knox is a member, declined to comment.
The controversy drew hundreds of people to several school board meetings last fall, with protesters coming out both in support of and against Knox.