• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Hearing Today to Decide Student Abuse Case: Jane Irons Cope, a Second-Grade Teacher, Faces Termination for Alleged Battery Claim

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Erica Rodriguez, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Jun. 7--A second-grade teacher accused of physically abusing a student faces an employment termination hearing today.

Jane Irons Coupe, employed by the Manatee County School District since 2000, is scheduled to appear before school board members at 4 p.m. at the school district administration building, 215 Manatee Ave. W.

Manatee County Schools Superintendent Roger Dearing recommended in early May that Coupe be fired. The recommendation followed reports that Coupe used "excessive force" and a technique called "the claw" to discipline at least one student in her second grade class at McNeal Elementary School.

According to an investigation report by the school district's Office of Professional Standards, Coupe in mid-February used the "claw" technique to grab a student's shoulder "with enough force as to cause pain" and hit the student with a paperback book.

She also shared confidential and personal information about students, the report stated. But the report does not specify with whom she shared that information.

Coupe could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening. However, she called the allegations a "bogus" matter in an April 21 e-mail to a fellow teacher. In the e-mail, she also described an agreement with the school district "to keep things quiet."

Manatee County sheriff's deputies filed a report of "alleged battery" Feb 18. But Coupe does not face criminal charges. The investigation report states that "no parents were interested in pressing charges."

The Herald obtained copies of about a dozen letters of complaint sent to school officials by parents of students in Coupe's class and one letter dated May 25, 2001, that states she is a "positive and strong role model."

According to Coupe's resume, she formerly worked for the Sarasota County School District from 1989 until 1995 at four schools and was nominated for Teacher of the Year for the 1992-93 term.

Coupe also worked as a first grade instructor at Braden River Elementary School prior to moving to McNeal Elementary School.

At the hearing this afternoon:

-- Sarasota attorney Robert E. Turffs is expected to represent Coupe.

-- Tampa attorney Tom Gonzalez is expected to represent Dearing.

-- School Board Attorney John Bowen is expected to serve as legal adviser to the school board, which will act as a judicial body.

Bowen said the hearing may take about three or four hours.

"It's full due process," Bowen said.

Erica Rodriguez, Herald reporter, can be reached at erodriguez@HeraldToday.com [mailto:erodriguez@HeraldToday.com] or at 745-7095.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)

More News in this Category