I wrote about Martha Belmares the other day, how she might lose her job over a shoplifting charge over 27 years ago....$110. This is part of the "zero tolerance" Lunsford Act.
Hypocrisy and zero tolerance....Florida janitor could lose job over shoplifting..27 years ago.In that article I posted, there is a little squib about our former mayor and now School Board member...statements made by Belmares' lawyer.
Rhodes said that if the law was employed fairly, School Board member Frank O'Reilly would face the consequences of the Lunsford Act for his 1963 and 1967 conviction of public drunkenness and of relieving himself in public.
But School Board lawyer Wes Bridges said that bringing up O'Reilly's youthful indiscretions is a "red herring" in Belmares' case.
Red Herring, Mr. Bridges? Well, how about this one?
Teacher Still in Classroom Despite 3 DUIsWhen I was teaching I valued the custodians at our school for their work with the kids. The children would chat with them, bring treats for them. And I am angry that one is being fired for something that happened 27 years ago when she was in an abusive relationship.
A school janitor arrested for shoplifting 27 years ago will likely lose her job.
But Richard Shane Hunter, a teacher with three convictions for driving under the influence, a criminal mischief conviction and two violation-of-probation convictions, is still teaching seventh-graders at Lakeland Highlands Middle School.
And Polk School Superintendent Gail McKinzie said there's not much the district can do about it. She said neither the state nor the School Board has a policy regarding employees who've been convicted of misdemeanors, even multiple times.
..."Hunter's last arrest was in December for driving on a suspended license, which was a violation of his parole for his third DUI. He was found guilty and was sentenced to work release for 20 days, with 10 days suspended.
"I'm not going to tell you that his record is something to be proud of," McKinzie said. "It's not."
Belmares' $110 was a felony then. I am just having so much trouble with this situation and the hypocrisy.