HS Media Specialist Reinstated

A school board has voted to rehire a high school media specialist who was improperly fired last year for using a school library computer to access sexually explicit Web sites. The Arkansas City (KS) school district, which terminated Arkansas City High School Librarian Robert Hicks on April 9, 2001, recently voted 5–2 to reinstate him to his former position. Thirty four of the school's teachers also signed a petition in support of Hicks.

The latest move comes on the heels of a 30-page ruling on April 12 by hearing officer Timothy Fielder, which said the district failed to show Hicks's use was inappropriate or that it violated school policy or even state law, reported the Arkansas City Traveler, a local newspaper. "It is also apparent that Mr. Hicks's use of the Internet at school to access 'X-rated' sites ceased approximately a year prior to [his suspension in November 2000]," Fielder wrote. Hicks said he visited those sites to "determine ease of access by students to X-rated sites because there were no filters in place."

Fielder found no evidence that Hicks was responsible for students' lack of use of the library and cited a police report that said he did not present a physical threat to the superintendent or others at the school. Hicks will return to his original position and will be subject to the normal evaluation made of any other tenured teacher. Hicks had been employed by the district since 1976.