FORT WORTH -- Fort Worth schools trustees Tuesday approved a settlement in the case of a former employee who alleged that he was improperly terminated in 2009.
Former Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott in July granted an appeal in the case of teacher Samson Korzeniowski.Korzeniowski died in August 2011 at age 30, according to published reports. The amount and terms of the settlement were not immediately released.Scott wrote that the school district did not give proper notice of a school board vote to end Korzeniowski's probationary contract for 2008-09, and "has failed to validly terminate [Korzeniowski's] contract at the end of the contract's term."Further, Scott wrote, a March 10, 2009, school board vote to end the contract "is void" because the district "did not give sufficient notice that it might vote to terminate [Korzeniowski's] contract and because the minutes fail to show a vote to terminate [his] contract in open session."The school district has filed an appeal of the commissioner's decision in Travis County court, said Caroline C. Harrison, a Fort Worth attorney representing the school district.In other business, trustees heard a report on a project to build new turf fields at Arlington Heights and Paschal high schools.The school district agreed to manage the project and front the funding for it, and athletic booster clubs for both schools agreed to repay the district $712,000 each.The fields are scheduled to be complete this month, said Hank Johnson, deputy superintendent for finance, business and operations.Arlington Heights boosters have repaid $100,000 and plan to have $350,000 paid by Dec. 31. Paschal's boosters have paid $200,000 and plan to have at least half the debt repaid by about May, Johnson said.Jessamy Brown, 817-390-7326Twitter: @jessamybrownHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
