Disruption clause is the reason for superintendent’s suspension
The police chief says Darrell Wetherington was never barred from Westside Elementary’s campus, but officers made a decision about a disturbance in his estranged wife’s classroom.
An attorney for the Polk School District Board of Education cited a clause in the district’s handbook covering disruptions in the classroom as the reason for Superintendent Darrell Wetherington’s suspension.
Board attorney Mike McRae wouldn’t comment on the investigation into an incident in the classroom of the superintendent’s estranged wife on Friday.
Jennifer Wetherington is a teacher at Westside Elementary School in Cedartown.
The Polk County School Board voted to suspend Darrell Wetherington with pay during a special called meeting Tuesday.
McRae cited the district’s employee handbook as the reason why his suspension was put in place.
“Under the general code of conduct for educators, he is not allowed to do anything disruptive in a classroom setting,” McRae said. “His appearance in the school caused a disruption.”
The section of the employee handbook he’s referring to is found under Standard 10, which states, “Unethical conduct includes but is not limited to any conduct that impairs and/or diminishes the certificate holder’s ability to function professionally in his or her employment position, or behavior or conduct that is detrimental to the health, welfare, discipline or morals of students.”
Cpl. John Pilgrim and officer Kevin Young with the Cedartown Police Department responded to a call of a disruption at Westside Elementary School on Friday.
The police report states Wetherington had come to the school on the pretense of delivering a Diet Coke to his estranged wife and to have a conversation with her. There was no prohibition at that time against Wetherington coming to the school, according to Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome.
“The question the school resource officers had to make a choice about whether he was at the school in his official capacity or at Westside causing some kind of disturbance,” he said.
Jennifer Wetherington, who filed divorce papers earlier in the month, later gave Pilgrim more information that was added as a supplement in the report’s latest release to the public Tuesday night.
“She states she was completely surprised when he showed up at her classroom door and asked him what he was
doing there,” according to the report. Jennifer Wetherington also sent several text messages to Pilgrim detailing conversations between herself and her estranged husband.
She told police she attempted to break off the conversation several times, and never asked for the soda in the first place.
“She stated she then took a small sip and then decided it might not be a good idea to drink it,” the report states. “She stated she told Darrell (Wetherington) she had to teach and he just waited at her desk.
“Shortly after that, officer (Kevin) Young walked by the door and Darrell exited the room to ask why he was there, and then returned to her room until I arrived at the door,” Pilgrim’s report states.
As of Wednesday, no restraining order has been filed against Darrell Wetherington that would prohibit him from contacting his estranged wife, according to Chief Deputy Clerk of Superior Court Stacie Baines.
An investigation into allegations against Darrell Wetherington began in January that prompted board members to meet on Jan. 17. The incident last week prompted the board to meet on Saturday in an emergency called meeting, followed by the special called meeting on Tuesday in which the suspension decision was announced.
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