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New Jersey teacher loses pay over 4-minute phone call
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TRENTON - A four-minute personal cell phone call made during a class may cost an Asbury Park performing arts teacher more than $50,000, but she won't lose her job.
State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy has agreed with an administrative law judge's recommendation that Desly Getty, a veteran teacher at Asbury Park High School in Monmouth County, should be reprimanded and forfeit 120 days' salary as sufficient penalty for the phone call and its repercussions.
The incident, a cautionary tale about the use of technology in schools in the digital age, may have gone unreported. But a student in the class videotaped other students dancing in the classroom while Getty was on the phone, then posted the video on YouTube.
Getty was reprimanded by the school principal, and tenure charges were later filed by the school board to remove her from her job for conduct unbecoming a teacher, failure to supervise students and violating the district's cell phone policy.
State law does not require that school districts adopt policies on teacher cell phone use, but New Jersey School Boards Association spokesman Frank Belluscio said they advise boards to have such policies, and can provide samples to districts. He cited Paramus and Jackson as models. While most districts have policies prohibiting student use of cell phones in school, Belluscio said they estimate most districts do not have policies that directly address faculty use of cell phones.
But Belluscio said in an e-mail that district policies regarding faculty conduct also include "unprofessional behavior" clauses that could include making nonemergency cell phone calls or text messaging while performing job-related duties.
Asbury Park does have a cell phone use policy that allows staff to make personal calls during their free period or lunch break outside the presence of students. It specifically states that personal calls cannot be made while performing assigned school responsibilities except in emergency situations.
Court records show that Getty was covering for another teacher for a 45 minute period Jan. 10, 2008. Students had been assigned a test, but many had apparently finished it during the first part of the 80-minute class. While she was at the desk, Getty placed a cell phone call to the district's suspended superintendent Antonio Lewis. While she was on the phone, two students danced in front of her desk and between her and the class. Another student played music on his cell phone and recorded the dancing with a digital camera, then posted an almost two minute edited version on YouTube.
The following school day after Getty became aware of the video, she went back into the classroom and began questioning students about who made it, records show. This action reportedly caused significant disruption in the class for about a half-hour, and when the administration learned of the matter, a reprimand was issued.
The reprimand cited Getty for not maintaining control of the class, violating the district's cell phone use policy, and causing embarrassment to the district through the YouTube posting.
Getty, who had no prior disciplinary issues, acknowledged that she used poor judgment in placing the call to Lewis, whom she described as her mentor. Getty also serves as a court liaison for juveniles, and said she had called Lewis to ask him for advice about a case.
In his recommendation, Judge Jeff S. Masin said Getty's conduct was "less than what was expected from an experienced, tenured teacher," and "fell bellow the standard of conduct that the district was entitled to expect from her." But, he added that while he is aware of the responsibility that rests on teachers as role models, he felt that the incident was not severe enough to require termination. Davy agreed.
Getty can appeal the decision to the Appellate Court. A call to her attorney, Stephen B. Hunter, was not returned Monday.
E-mail Diane D'Amico:
Posted in NEW JERSEY | TOP THREE on Monday, August 10, 2009 9:30 pm Updated: 9:35 pm.
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