Former ESJ teacher was let go for sex-related charges

BY DREW HINSHAW

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Drivers cruising past the St. John Parish School Board’s Central Office on West 10th Street in Reserve have a new spectacle to look out for: Charles Julian, East St. John High School’s accomplished yet controversial basketball coach has staked out the front lawn of the office, where he says he plans to picket and protest his recent dismissal.

Shortly before the school bells rang in the new academic year, Superintendent Mike Coburn gave Julian the boot. After a three-year probationary period, the superintendent denied him a permanent, tenured position with the school district.

To do so, Coburn took advantage of a state law, which states that a superintendent can dismiss an employee at the end of his or her non-tenured probationary period for little or no reason.

&#8220As a general policy, in the first three years of someone’s employment, he can simply walk in there, say ‘I don’t like the way your shirt is hanging out,’ and send him away,” School Board Member Russ Wise said.

Coburn’s decision seemed to be the endpoint to months of controversy over allegations that Julian had sustained an inappropriate relationship with a female student – that is, until the coach plopped his lawn furniture in front of the central office, Friday, and began waving his homemade signs: &#8220The Superintendent Wants to Steal My Job!!” and &#8220I Am a Certified Teacher.”

According to School Board Member Matthew Ory, the misconduct allegations came to a head in April, when the School Board reviewed the case.

&#8220We weighed the situation in executive session and decided the offense was not as severe as alleged,” Ory said. &#8220Still, we felt it was somewhat inappropriate, so that’s why we took the motion we did, 30 days suspension.”

Along with the suspension, Ory says that the board gave no recommendation for Julian’s dismissal or outright firing- in other words they implicitly suggested that no further action was warranted. But when Julian’s probation contract expired, Coburn refused to grant the coach a tenured position, all but terminating Julian’s chances to work for St. John Parish Schools.

To hear the ex-coach tell it, Coburn’s ruling was the latest injustice in a long history of bad blood between the two educators: &#8220Basically the superintendent doesn’t like me,” Julian says. &#8220He seems to feel he can do whatever he wants.”

But, according to Coburn, it was actually former East St. John High School coach Deborah Shrum who recommended Julian’s dismissal.

&#8220I didn’t make that call,” Coburn said. &#8220That was totally on the school level.”

What’s more, Coburn says the issue at hand is not Julian’s alleged misconduct, but an &#8220academic issue,” he says, adding, &#8220Ms. Shrum had concerns about his teaching style.”

Whatever the root cause for his dismissal, Julian, who brought his team to the playoffs three consecutive years, feels he’s being unjustly fired at a time when certified teachers such as himself are in stark demand.

&#8220They hired teachers who aren’t certified, whose careers are short-lived,” he said. &#8220We have one of the highest turnover rates in the state. And research has shown that students perform better when they have certified teachers.”

Dressed in a long black t-shirt, iron-pressed with a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Julian battled a heat advisory on his first day of strike to elicit honks and supportive gestures from drivers passing by – many of them his former students and athletes. As of early this week, he was out there still, spending Monday morning in the same location.

&#8220I actually believe that he should have been hired based simply on the case as we reviewed it,” Ory said. &#8220If I was in his shoes, I would being out there doing the exact same thing.”