September 24, 2009 in Washington Voices

Teacher wasn’t on leave after arrest

Officials said Villaro could use sick days

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Documents released by West Valley School District last week show that when teacher and coach John Villaro was arrested for assaulting his wife, he was not put on administrative leave, but district officials offered him sick leave if he was “too upset to work.”

“If you’re not in a mental state of mind to be at work and focus, in my mind that’s something sick leave can be taken for,” said Assistant Superintendent Gene Sementi.

District officials knew about Villaro’s April 2008 arrest almost immediately, but Sementi said it was a “domestic issue” and “we didn’t have any expectation that it was going to cross over into his job.”

The district took a hands-off approach and decided to let the case work its way through the court system before investigating and deciding on disciplinary action.

In West Valley, teachers are only put on automatic paid leave during an investigation if the alleged crime took place on school property or involved a student, said Superintendent Polly Crowley.

That differs from policies in other school districts. Both East Valley and Central Valley districts routinely put teachers and other employees on paid administrative leave as soon as they become aware of criminal charges.

Crowley said she thought the situation was handled properly. “We were under legal counsel the whole time,” she said. “We were handling it in the way we were advised to handle it.”

Villaro was originally charged with second- and third-degree assault, both felonies, for the incident on April 12, 2008. He pled guilty to third-degree domestic violence assault, also a felony, in September 2008. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years probation.

Court records show Villaro’s wife, Christine, who also works for West Valley, told police her husband pushed her to the floor and tried to choke her and throw her down the stairs. She was pregnant at the time and had a miscarriage soon after. Police officers said she had visible injuries matching her description of events.

The school district documents, which were released as a result of a public records request, show that Villaro was absent from work without authorization on April 14 and 15. On April 16 Sementi called a meeting with Villaro and union representative Mike Boyer to discuss his absences and rumors of an arrest.

Handwritten notes from the meeting show Sementi said the purpose of the meeting was to “determine if this is going to affect your job performance.”

The consensus was that Villaro could return to work the next day if he wanted to, but Sementi authorized sick leave if Villaro wanted to take it. “I will not say you can’t come in,” Sementi said.

Villaro said he wanted to get back into the classroom. “I need to see the students,” he is quoted as saying. “I miss them.”

At the time of his arrest Villaro was a teacher at West Valley High School, the head wrestling coach and assistant football coach.

Villaro was never put on leave, and the only punitive measure taken by the district was a letter sent on April 25 notifying Villaro that his coaching positions would end at the end of the 2007-’08 school year. Villaro resigned his teaching position on Aug. 26, 2008.

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