Was this Teacher 'Railroaded'?

Roy Frazel, a former Concord resident and friend of Barbara Higgins, has been researching her dismissal/resignation case for nearly two years, ever since she was first suspended in November 2010.

He provided Concord NH Patch with a stack of documents relating to Higgins’ employment situation, including her dismissal letter and evidence submitted by the school district; counter testimony Higgins submitted to her attorneys to fight the dismissal; records he submitted to the Department of Education, requesting to have the matter investigated; and his own commentary and walk through the case, point by point, on why Higgins should not have been dismissed.

Frazel said he received the documents before Higgins signed a confidentiality agreement and settlement with the district. Higgins would not offer comment for this story but did confirm the veracity of the documents.

Higgins previously had an unblemished record of more than two decades with the district, according to documents in the packet, which included exemplary letters from administrators and directors during the last 10 years. The packet also included a signed “annual recommendation form” dated Feb. 17, 2010, showing that she was recommended for a renewal of her contract for the 2010/2011 school year, just eight months before she was suspended.

Higgins’ last day of classes at Concord High School was Nov. 1, when she was suspended with pay.

In the dismissal letter dated Nov. 15, 2010, Rath accused Higgins of ignoring or defying school district regulations regarding changing student grades, cellphone usage, early classroom dismissal, and acceptable use policy. She accused her of lying about use of sick leave, putting down colleagues during instructional time, in front of students, and using profanity in the classroom. Rath also informed Higgins that at her dismissal hearing, “we will present evidence of your mishandling the financial transactions and of your incompetent recordkeeping associated with girls cross country and girls track Booster Clubs.”

Rath wrote that the information that led to the dismissal letter was gathered during meetings with other officials on Nov. 1, and Nov. 4, 2010.

A month later, while Higgins was on leave, planning to fight the charges, the district’s attorney, of , provided Higgins’ attorney with letters and documents regarding the investigation.

The packet included a letter about sick leave from Connolly to Higgins on May 4, 2010, a letter from Rath about use of the district’s networks dated July 27, 2010, a Sept. 28, 2010, letter about students cellphone usage and early dismissal; an Oct. 24, 2010, letter from an educational aide who was not comfortable with Higgins’ teaching style and criticized her patronization of co-workers; and then a letter from Rath, on Oct. 29, 2010, informing her of allegations of misuse of funds from the Booster Clubs accounts.

Higgins, however, countered all the claims, in a seven-page memo that outlined the allegations, denying many of them and offering reasons for some.

On the fixing of grades claim, Higgins said she had previously never been told she was putting together the grades incorrectly during all of her years with the district. She stated that a vice principal on one occasion suggested she change a failing health class grade to an incomplete. Each time after that, Higgins stated, she cleared the procedure with a guidance director and "Common D" secretary and never heard that there had been any problems.

On the cellphone usage issue, Higgins acknowledged that she let a student call her mother just before the bell rang during a study hall during the first week of class. Since she was allowing the one student to use the cellphone, Higgins allowed all the other students to do it too.

“It was a one time incident,” she said. “'Cellphones off and away' is how I start every class after the bell has rung.”

Higgins noted that she did not have union representation at the meeting, as was required, and requested that the letter be grieved, which it was not.

Higgins denied the accusation about dismissing her classes early saying it was a rumor back in 2004 when she first started teaching at . In 2007, her classroom was changed and the rumors stopped. Higgins called the accusation “a blatant lie” adding, “gossip should not dictate what goes into my file.”

The acceptable use policy claim arose due to Frazel’s contentious divorce proceedings, according to Higgins, since she was using her school email address as her main form of communication. It was suggested to her by another school official that she use her school email address when communicating with the guardian ad litem of one of the children involved in the proceedings since she was a Concord School District student at the time. Higgins said the emails spanned about 12 weeks in 2009, and later stopped using her school account to communicate with the child. Eight months later, the issue was raised by Rath, reportedly after hearing a complaint from a parent. Higgins said she explained her side of the acceptable use accusation, apologized, and said it wouldn’t happen again.

Higgins also denied the sick leave accusation. In the testimony, she said she was out of emergency days and needed to help her husband with his medical appointment and attend Frazel's divorce hearing. The usage of the sick leave was OK’d by officials beforehand, she stated.

Higgins also denied an aide’s accusation that she put down colleagues in front of students.

“This is completely false,” she stated. “I hate being gossiped about and would not set that kind of example to my students.”

On the use of profanity, Higgins admitted to two instances of profanity. She noted that in a health class, with teenagers, it was not that odd, considering the subject matter. However, she denied it was a regular thing, and stated that if it were, students and parents would be complaining all the time, which they weren’t.

On the mishandling of funds, Higgins admitted to being “a sloppy record keeper” but stated that she was the only person who had suffered any major financial loss, with Frazel adding that it is Higgins who is owed money from the Booster Clubs.

“I have receipts and evidence for every check written and withdrawal made,” she wrote. “They may not meet the standard of a banker or accountant but certainly do not reflect any mishandling of funds or incompetence on my part and also have no bearing whatsoever on my ability to teach and coach.”

Rather than fight the accusations and try to keep her job, Higgins agreed to resign from her position in January 2011, taking a settlement and signing a confidentiality agreement.

She decided to run for school board and was elected in November 2011.

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