Law And Ethics

Please answer three of the following, using case or statutory citations to support your answers.

1. You are a high school principal who is mentoring a new principal in your district. Advise your new principal protégé with regard to a non-renewal with the following employee situations.  Include any relevant case law cites:

• Evelyn Efficient is a probationary teacher who recently wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper criticizing your school’s emphasis on standardized state testing.  She is in her second year of teaching and has received performance evaluations of proficient or higher.
• Margie Null is a term teacher who has reportedly been making insinuations about your personal life to other teachers in the workroom.  Margie has received poor evaluations from you two of the past three years.

2. Your new principal protégé informs you that she would like to terminate an at-will employee, Jorge Ramirez. She suspects (but cannot prove) that Jorge has been stealing office supplies.  She tells you that, since Jorge is an at-will employee, he does not need a reason to terminate him, because an at-will employee can be terminated “at any time for any reason or no reason at all.”  What would you tell your protégé?
3. You receive a tip that Johnny Smoke more is in possession of marijuana and may have smoked it in his car just before school. You remove him from class and escort him to your office for questioning, instructing him to bring his jacket and his book bag. Once in your office, you notice that Johnny’s eyes are slightly red, but you cannot detect any noticeable odor.  Can you search him?   If so, how would you search him to ensure that you did not violate the 4^th Amendment?  Include case law to back up your answer.
4. You receive a phone call from an anonymous tipster claiming that Coach Full court is engaged in an improper romantic relationship with a female student. You inform your principal who asks for your assistance in investigating the complaint.  After speaking with several students, you conclude that there may be some merit to the complaint.  In a paragraph, write a memo to your principal summarizing the situation and what action you recommend.  If needed, use relevant case law to back your recommendation.
5. Your principal has asked you to investigate and “deal” with the following situations. In a brief paragraph over each scenario, explain to your principal what action you took (if any) against the student and why.  Include relevant case citations to support your actions.

• A student passed out flyers in the cafeteria denouncing the homecoming traditions, which included crude and obscene caricatures of the homecoming queen nominees.
• A teacher sent a student to the office for wearing a button that said “No Blood for Oil” while remaining in his seat during the Pledge of Allegiance, saying he was protesting the policy of the U.S. government in Iraq.
• Student journalists want to do an editorial for the school newspaper criticizing two students who were recently killed in an automobile accident.  The rumor amongst the student body is that both students were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident.

6. You are director of student activities at Exemplary High School and a student approaches you with a proposal to start a club called the LGBT Crusaders, which purports to discuss Biblical and spiritual issues from the LGBT perspective. The student has submitted a written proposal, which includes a club charter and constitution. The student also tells you that a health teacher, Mr. Bob Jones, has agreed to be the sponsor.  Write a letter to your principal briefing him on the constitutional issues and case law implicated and advising him/her on a course of action.