For eight months the Lawrence school district continued to pay the salary of a teacher who was not working because he was deemed unfit for the job.

The payments were required by state law as district officials awaited a ruling on the teacher’s grievance disputing the district’s refusal to renew his contract. But that ruling still hasn’t come, in part, because a lawyer handling the grievance vanished.

“I think we’ve been very patient,” Supt. Randy Weseman said.

A tenured teacher before the district let him go, special education teacher William Ricketts was paid $3,170 a month for eight months he did not work – September 2004 through April 2005.

According to district records, reasons cited for Ricketts’ contract not being renewed included:

¢ Insubordination.

¢ Inappropriate interaction with staff and students with severe behavior disorders.

¢ Failure to follow students’ Individual Education Plans, a tool used in special education.

Grievance proceedings lasted from September 2004 to early January 2005.

A ruling was expected in February 2005, but neither side heard from hearing officer Loretta Moore, a former Washburn University law professor.

Though Moore had retired from Washburn, no one knew where she was. Moore’s secretary at Washburn University said she did not leave a forwarding address or telephone number.

Without a ruling, the grievance remains unresolved. If pressed, the school district could be forced to participate in another hearing.

Already, the proceedings have cost the district between $20,000 and $25,000 in addition to Ricketts’ salary.

The Kansas State Department of Education supplies school districts with a list of attorneys willing to serve as hearing officers. It does not guarantee their performance.

“I’ve been here 20-plus years and I’ve never seen a case drag out like this,” said Rod Bieker, chief legal counsel at the education department.

Shortly after a Wednesday morning interview with the Journal-World, Bieker said he received a letter from Moore.

“It’s on a plain white piece of paper, in a plain white envelope. It has a Kansas City postmark that shows it was mailed December 13,” he said. “It’s one sentence. It says: ‘Parties in the Ricketts v. USD 497 case will have a decision by no later than January 31.’

“That’s kind of a terse response, but it’s better than no response, I guess,” Bieker said.

Weseman wasn’t impressed. “We’ll see if it actually happens,” he said.

The district filed a motion for “termination of pay” in April.

“Mr. Ricketts could have rebutted,” Weseman said, “but he chose not to. We haven’t paid him since then.”

School officials weren’t sure of Ricketts’ whereabouts.

“We think he’s out of state,” said Mary Rodriguez, executive director in charge of human resources for the school district.

Attempts to reach Ricketts’ attorney, John Knox of Lawrence, were unsuccessful.