Board votes 8-0 to fire middle-school teacher

• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Acadiana bureau
• Published: Oct 23, 2009 - Page: 1BA

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LAFAYETTE — Late Wednesday night, the Lafayette Parish School Board voted to uphold the termination of tenured teacher Jude Fero.

Fero, an eighth-grade teacher at Lafayette Middle School, was recommended for termination by Schools Director Janet Hiatt in May.

The recommendation was based on students’ statements and interviews with schoolteachers about Fero’s inappropriate comments and actions in the presence of students, according to court records entered as part of Fero’s lawsuit against the school system filed in August.

The board voted 8-0, with board Vice President Mark Cockerham abstaining, to uphold Fero’s termination.

According to state law, tenured teachers can only be fired if a School Board finds the teacher guilty of: willful neglect of duty, or incompetence, dishonesty, or immorality, or of being a member of or contributing to any group, organization, movement, or corporation unlawfully operating in the state.

The board vote was 7-1 finding Fero guilty of the charge of willful neglect of duty.

Board member Shelton Cobb was the only dissenting vote.

In an 8-0 vote, board members also found Fero guilty of the charge of dishonesty.

Cockerham, who was not present for most of the hearing, also abstained from the two votes related to the charges.

Details of how the charges applied to Fero’s case could not be released by the school system because Fero opted for a closed hearing, said Dawn Morris, Lafayette Parish School Board attorney.

Fero’s attorney, Ike Funderburk, could not be reached for comment.

Fero’s termination hearing was originally scheduled Aug. 5 but postponed once by his attorney’s objections and again by a court-ordered injunction.

Fero had filed a lawsuit against the board and his former principal, Monique Magee, to stop the hearing from taking place among other claims.