School hearing postponed

A school board hearing to discuss an investigation of the Helena Flats School superintendent has been postponed after a ruling in District Court Wednesday.

Helena Flats trustees had scheduled a disciplinary hearing Wednesday evening to discuss an investigation into alleged "inappropriate behavior" by Superintendent Paul Jenkins toward a student.

But Jenkins' attorney, Sean Frampton, asked Judge Stewart Stadler for a preliminary injunction, which stops the hearing at least temporarily.

The hearing was supposed to address an accusation that Jenkins acted inappropriately toward a student earlier this school year. At a special meeting in March, the board considered suspending Jenkins immediately, with pay, while the alleged incident was under investigation.

The board ultimately agreed not to suspend the superintendent, but the investigation proceeded. Trustees planned to discuss the results Wednesday night, but the injunction prevented them from doing so.

Frampton alleged procedural defects and due process violations in his request for the injunction.

According to state law, Frampton said, the school board had to make a recommendation to hold a hearing. Instead, he said Wednesday, board chairman Erik Wenum sent Jenkins a notice of termination "from out of nowhere" and apparently without a documented decision by the five-member school board to do so.

Frampton further alleged that the notice contained insufficient details and accusations for Jenkins to defend himself against.

Stadler said that the notice was a "proper recommendation" but that due to the seriousness of the accusations, the board should have allowed Jenkins more time to form a defense. Trustees never met to make an official resolution to hold a hearing.

"I think he's entitled to that," Stadler said. "I think he's entitled to enough time to properly defend this."

Wenum sent Jenkins the notice of termination on the same day the investigative report was finished, Stadler noted. The investigative summary is still incomplete.

"For those reasons, I think that there's been a rush by the board, a rush that would irreparably harm Mr. Jenkins in the fact that he would not have the ability to defend himself at that," Stadler said.

Jenkins wouldn't comment on the hearing but did say he was pleased with Stadler's decision.

The decision "basically put a restraining order in place until the next meeting," said Tony Koenig, the Montana School Boards Association attorney who is representing the Helena Flats board. "That's when the board is supposed to consider the recommendation for a termination hearing. They'll decide Tuesday one way or another."

Tuesday's meeting will include a new trustee roster. Kevin Fritz, Denis Johnson and David Mattson were elected this week and will replace Wenum, Scott Warner and Emily Gillespie.

The new trustees may not support a hearing. All three have questioned the board's January decision to not renew Jenkins' contract and have voiced their support for the superintendent.

Stadler noted this in his decision.

"The board on the 12th can do whatever they wish to do, but I think that probably almost ends this matter," he said. "It moves to a different board, and they can take a look at it, issue the recommendation and set a hearing if they wish to."

Should the board set a hearing, and should trustees decide at that hearing to fire Jenkins, it would impact the school's leadership next fall. Jenkins has a dual contract with the district, and although he has been dismissed as a superintendent, he has tenure as a principal.

He could work part-time next year as the school's principal. The board already has found a replacement for the superintendent's position. Ann Minckler, a Missoula principal, recently accepted trustees' offer of a $70,000 salary, potential health benefits and a one-year contract.

If the board fired him, Jenkins could appeal to the county superintendent of schools, and then to District Court. Koenig argued in court Wednesday that Jenkins failed to follow that chain and that requesting an injunction was "premature."

"Given that the matter has not yet even been heard by the school board, the administrative proceedings are far from exhausted. That being the case, the court lacks jurisdiction over the matter, and both the complaint for injunctive relief and the application for preliminary injunction should be dismissed," Koenig argued.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com