Arlee teachers disciplined over field trip incident

ARLEE — Two Arlee staff members will retain their jobs after a special disciplinary meeting was held last week following complaints from parents of two students who said they'd been offered beer by the teachers on a school-sponsored field trip.

The special disciplinary meeting for the two teachers, Shawn Orr and Jeff Padgett, was held last Monday night, Aug. 28, behind closed doors, and board members voted to allow the two teachers to remain with the school district but face disciplinary action.

"We conducted a hearing for a disciplinary meeting for two staff members," superintendent Gordon Friberg said. "The first hearing was for Padgett and the second was for Orr. The meetings were hearings the district had about complaints from parents."

Two parents, Randy Meidinger and JoAnne Baker, both filed complaints with the school district, and Meidinger has been actively trying to get local and state law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident, but has been hampered because the field trip — and the alleged incident — took place in other jurisdictions. The field trip was the annual Southwest trip that involved about 14 students. It took place earlier this summer.

According to Meidinger, his daughter called him and said, 'You'll never believe what happened,' telling him that Padgett purchased beer and Orr provided it to some of the students.

"We were horrified when she told us that. We had placed our daughter's safety in those teachers' hands and they broke our trust," Meidinger said.

He said he was allowed to talk to both teachers, and that Orr denied any role, while Padgett acknowledged his role, telling Meidinger that he felt it was OK to allow the students to drink in a controlled environment "so they would know how to handle drinking later on," Meidinger said.

"I told him that was my job, and then he said maybe I live by a different set of standards," Meidinger said.

Friberg was unable to say what disciplinary actions were taken against the two teachers, citing their right to privacy per the teacher's union and state employment law.

Baker declined to comment on the situation.

Meidinger said the grievance process allowed the parents to make recommendations about what punishments should be made, and they recommended that both teachers be terminated, and face legal charges. However, Meidinger's efforts to have the teachers held accountable by the law has been hampered by the fact that much of the trip took place in Utah.

"I've talked to virtually everyone I could talk to that would listen" — including Lake, Missoula county and state attorneys general offices, the U.S. Marshall service, state representatives, and others, Meidinger said.

The school board follows the standard practice of holding an investigation when complaints are made, Friberg said, and the school district brought in outside investigators to look into the parents' allegations.

Board member Mike Rodgers was the only one who voted in favor of firing the teachers, Friberg said.

New Arlee athletic director Jim Polk resigned his position as the result of the board's decision, but later decided to withdraw his resignation. Orr is the high school football coach, while Padgett is a science teacher.

"I misinterpreted the meeting and now that I understand it a little more I'm withdrawing my resignation," Polk said in a recent interview.

Polk said that he thinks the school is now going in the right direction.

"We will be stronger then ever once we get through this rough time. We just need to win the trust back from the public," he said.

That's Meidinger's biggest concern though.

"Those teachers demonstrated poor decision-making skills. As teachers I think they should uphold the ethics and children's safety, and education should be foremost," Meidinger said. "My daughter had to make a moral choice. She has gotten harassed [by other students], but she had no choice but to make the call, and we will support her to the bitter end."