Longwood's six-figure tenure nightmare
Tenured teacher heading back to jail remains on district payroll
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Linda Cardone, 59, will earn $113,559 this school year while out on what Superintendent Allan Gerstenlauer termed "paid reassignment." Dr. Gerstenlauer said Ms. Cardone was placed on paid reassignment -- she collects her full salary but does not have to report for work -- in 2006, after she was released from jail following a DWI conviction. She remains on paid reassignment while the district awaits the outcome of another pending DWI charge, stemming from an arrest in August 2007 -- her fifth arrest in seven years, according to the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department.
Dr. Gerstenlauer said the district was waiting for the outcome of the current criminal proceeding before deciding whether to pursue disciplinary action against Ms. Cardone. He cited tenure rules that make dismissing a tenured teacher a very time-consuming and costly process.
Longwood English teacher Linda Cardone leaves the Suffolk County courthouse in Riverhead Wednesday. Ms. Cardone has earned more than $219,000 over the past two school years despite not having taught a day as her legal issues are sorted out.
If the school district decides to terminate the employment of Ms. Cardone, a 23-year veteran of the district, she has the legal right, under section 3020a of New York State Education Law, to an impartial hearing prior to any disciplinary action being taken against her.
Under state law, a school district has the right to bring charges against a tenured teacher who has acted in a manner the district determines to be completely unbecoming of a teacher. However, 3020a hearings are held only rarely in Longwood due to costs associated with them, Dr. Gerstenlauer said.
"Tenure is important," said Dr. Gerstenlauer, a former Longwood teacher. "It protects employees from unjust dismissal. But I wonder if [the tenure laws] are so inflexible they've tied an employer's hands in terms of trying to respond to behaviors that are inappropriate, bordering on egregious."
In addition to paying for the employee's salary during the hearing, a district would also have to pay for outside counsel, for which Longwood pays about $200 per hour. Additionally, the district must pay for the hearing officer -- an individual agreed upon by both the district and the teacher the district has brought charges against. Longwood can pay as much as $800 per day for a hearing officer, according to Dr. Gerstenlauer.
The officer makes a final ruling on the case. Even if a school district wants to fire an employee, it is the hearing officer who has the final say.
Dr. Gerstenlauer declined to say if the district was definitely going to pursue a 3020a hearing with Ms. Cardone. He did, however, say the district would likely move forward with a disciplinary hearing against any employee serving time in prison.
The superintendent also said he would support a change in how 3020a hearings are handled.
"If we could set up timelines to a four-, five-, six-month time period, that would be a help," he said in reference to the normal length of a 3020a hearing. "If there could be a fast track for behaviors that were really, really egregious, such as charges of sexual abuse, that could help, too. I wish we could fast track that."
The district did bring a disciplinary action against Ms. Cardone previously, resulting in a two-year suspension without pay beginning in 2004. Dr. Gerstenlauer declined to comment on the specifics of the incident that led to that charge, only saying the incident occurred "within the school" and that it is not related to any of her DWI arrests.
In June 2003, she was arrested for DWI -- her second such arrest, the first being in 2001. She served 130 days of a six-month sentence in connection with the 2003 charge in 2006.
Ms. Cardone received a $15,000 salary increase upon coming off suspension in 2006, even though Dr. Gerstenlauer said administrators felt she was "not fit" to return to the classroom. She received a $7,644 salary increase this school year, which began just three weeks after her most recent arrest.
In addition to her DWI charges, Ms. Cardone has twice been arrested for criminal contempt in connection with violations of an order of protection, according to Mr. Clifford.
In an interview outside the courthouse in Riverhead Wednesday, Ms. Cardone, who said her drinking was brought on by depression after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, said she would like to return to the classroom.
"I miss classes," Ms. Cardone said. "I miss everything."
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