Newsletter

September 2014

Edmonton teacher fired for giving zeroes for not doing homework, tests wins appeal

Edmonton teacher fired for giving zeroes for not doing homework, tests wins appeal

EDMONTON – An
Alberta appeal board says the Edmonton Public School Board was unfair in
suspending and firing teacher who gave out zeros to his students.

Lynden Dorval was
suspended in May 2012 and fired four months later for awarding zeros to students
who did not hand in homework or take assigned tests.

Dorval appealed to
the Board of Reference and it has ruled that Dorval was treated unfairly in his
dismissal.

The appeal board
has ordered that Dorval be paid his salary from the date of his dismissal and
also that his pension be topped up.

It also says it
found no evidence of deliberate misconduct on Dorval’s part.

Dorval says the
ruling was a pleasant surprise.

“The Board of
Reference was very harsh on what the principal had done and how the
superintendent had handled it so I was surprised at that, and also the no-zero,
I was expecting virtually no comment on the correctness of the no-zero policy, I
assumed that it would be strictly about the legality of what the school board
did,” Dorval said.

The school board
has 30 days to file the appeal.

In April 2013, the
school board reversed its “no-zero” policy which barred teachers from giving
students a grade of zero.

The Canadian Press, August 29, 2014.