Nic Teacher’s Suspension Protested Anonymous ‘Fact Sheet’ Circulated On Campus

Rumors and allegations of injustice have followed the suspension of a North Idaho College teacher.

Sharon Smith was escorted from her classroom in early March and given a letter from NIC President Bill Bennett. It said she was suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation.

According to an anonymous flier being circulated on campus, director of human resources Joe Cheesman interrupted Smith in the middle of a class to deliver the unwelcome news.

The “fact sheet” claims students were watching as Smith was led to her office. Cheesman then gave her the letter and told her to surrender her office keys.

The flier claims that Smith was denied access to all personal property, and escorted to her car. As she left campus, Jerry Gee, a university dean, allegedly followed her in his truck to Sherman Avenue.

Cheesman and Bennett couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. Smith’s attorney has advised her not to talk.

NIC attorney Dana Wetzel confirmed the suspension, and that the school has hired an outside investigator.

“Whether she was escorted out in front of students, I couldn’t tell you,” Wetzel said. “She was allowed to take whatever personal property she wished to take with her … I don’t believe she was escorted to her car or followed to the edge of campus.”

Bennett’s letter to Smith said she was being suspended for granting grades that weren’t consistent with students’ work; advising students to take remedial reading classes when they didn’t need the extra help; and “other conduct as may be determined by the investigation.”

When the investigation is complete, Wetzel said, Smith will be granted a “full hearing” to review the charges against her.

Smith’s sister, Timmie Coon, thinks Smith is being persecuted for trying to get the state to pay some medical expenses.

Smith believes she suffered ill effects from chemicals used in the Hedlund Vocational Building, where she used to work.

Administrators have “fought her every step of the way,” Coon said.

NIC is being sued by a former student, who also links serious medical problems to the building.

Student Rod Reynolds also sees a connection between the Hedlund episode and Smith’s suspension.

Reynolds is handing out the flier along with a petition that he began distributing on Wednesday. Students who sign it agree that Smith has been “unjustly dismissed.”

Smith, a 10-year employee of NIC, has a doctoral degree and teaches remedial reading. Among those who spoke up for her Wednesday were Reynolds and Heidi Allen, who have both taken classes from her.

Both said Smith is a good teacher and adviser.

Reynolds won’t comment on the source of the flier. Its authors claim to be faculty members “who wish to remain anonymous for fear of administrative retribution.”

They suggest that the administration’s actions “blatantly disregard our tenure policy” and urge readers to “stand together in support of a colleague.”

However, instructor Joyce Lider, head of the College Senate, said, “Nobody I’ve talked to among the faculty have any idea who wrote it.”

, DataTimes