New Allegations Surface Against Hall
POSTED: 6:14 am EDT September 28,
2005
UPDATED: 11:24 am EDT September 28,
2005
ORLANDO, Fla. -- An Orange County teacher linked to a racist letter is once again under fire after new allegations surface from a parent who says the woman mistreated her child, Local 6 News has learned.
The Orange County School District was hoping to close its investigation into teacher Jan Hall after it accepted her resignation Tuesday, but now officials said that will likely be delayed.
LETTER: Read The Letter (.PDF file)
VIDEO: See The Story
VIDEO: Teacher Suspended
Hall was suspended without pay after a controversial letter was printed in the Spanish-language daily newspaper, El Nuevo Dia, spurring protests at Sadler Elementary School. Addressed "Dear Honorable Congressman," the letter said Hispanics and other Caribbean natives were taking jobs and charged that Hispanics and immigrants were hurting schools. The letter also charged that Puerto Ricans were destroying Orlando, and that laws should be changed so Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens by birth, would stop moving to Central Florida.School Board officials initially decided to hold off on accepting Hall's resignation because attorneys threatened to sue, saying her controversial letter should never have been published and the School Board should not have acted against her, Local 6 News reported.The potential lawsuit also said that School Board forced her to quit because it made her feel uncomfortable at work, Local 6 News reporter Erik von Ancken said.School Board members said they double-checked the information."We wrote her a letter saying we would like to know what she means," School Board attorney Frank Kruppenbacher said. "The response was basically, no she wants to resign."Hall's attorney, Fred O'Neal, fired back with a statement."Any action by (superintendent) Blocker is obviously window dressing in an attempt to cover up the bungled legal mess created by her initial suspension," O'Neal said."I have no comment to his allegations," Orange County Schools Superintendent Ron Blocker said.The School Board will eventually comment on Hall's interaction with students, von Ancken reported. Now, the investigation centers around parents who believe their children were treated unfairly, he said.It is not known how long the investigation will take after this latest allegation.Hall's attorney said he still plans to sue the Orange County School Board, according to the report.Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2006 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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LETTER: Read The Letter (.PDF file) VIDEO: See The Story VIDEO: Teacher Suspended Hall was suspended without pay after a controversial letter was printed in the Spanish-language daily newspaper, El Nuevo Dia, spurring protests at Sadler Elementary School. Addressed "Dear Honorable Congressman," the letter said Hispanics and other Caribbean natives were taking jobs and charged that Hispanics and immigrants were hurting schools. The letter also charged that Puerto Ricans were destroying Orlando, and that laws should be changed so Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens by birth, would stop moving to Central Florida.School Board officials initially decided to hold off on accepting Hall's resignation because attorneys threatened to sue, saying her controversial letter should never have been published and the School Board should not have acted against her, Local 6 News reported.The potential lawsuit also said that School Board forced her to quit because it made her feel uncomfortable at work, Local 6 News reporter Erik von Ancken said.School Board members said they double-checked the information."We wrote her a letter saying we would like to know what she means," School Board attorney Frank Kruppenbacher said. "The response was basically, no she wants to resign."Hall's attorney, Fred O'Neal, fired back with a statement."Any action by (superintendent) Blocker is obviously window dressing in an attempt to cover up the bungled legal mess created by her initial suspension," O'Neal said."I have no comment to his allegations," Orange County Schools Superintendent Ron Blocker said.The School Board will eventually comment on Hall's interaction with students, von Ancken reported. Now, the investigation centers around parents who believe their children were treated unfairly, he said.It is not known how long the investigation will take after this latest allegation.Hall's attorney said he still plans to sue the Orange County School Board, according to the report.Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2006 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
