Ottoson Middle School teacher Chuck Coughlin has been terminated from his position, effective Aug. 9, after an investigation by the School Committee attorney said he had used a school computer both to forge e-mails and carry out "an inappropriately intimate relationship" on the schools’ e-mail system.

In an undated open letter to staff, community members and the media released Aug. 10, Superintendent Nate Levinson wrote, "The decision to terminate any employee is never easy, and a great deal of research, deliberation and consultation went into this decision."

Levenson said the termination followed a "thorough" investigation of Coughlin's actions, including retrieving e-mails from the district's backup system and from the hard drive of school computers. The investigation included personal interviews with Coughlin. Levenson said that the investigation, conducted by Miller, concluded that Coughlin:

"Forged an e-mail to make it appear I was the author;

"created the impression, via forged e-mails and an 'electronic paper trail,' that I had denied a request for an extended vacation by Principal Bouris when in fact I had approved the request;

"sent a number of e-mails on a school computer, via the district's e-mail system, during the school day to Principal Bouris, which portrayed an inappropriately intimate relationship at times making reference to matters of a sexual nature."

E-mails between Coughlin and Bouris, first reported by YourArlington on July 15, were contained in the report of an investigation Miller had been conducting since June. The e-mail exchanges include an apparent, ongoing intimate relationship between the two. Miller's earlier report, dated July 9, refers to the alleged forgery. A "statement of charges" included in information released Aug. 10 provides much more detail. See full text below.

In essence, Coughlin lost his job after e-mails in May allegedly were altered "that make it appear Ms. Bouris asked me for and I denied her vacation time to go to Greece" this summer, Levenson wrote in a separate document, outlining charges against Coughlin. "Apparently, the purpose of fabricating the e-mails was to enable Ms. Bouris to prove to her husband that she had tried and failed” to get the vacation time.

"Your forgery and email impersonation of me in a self-serving attempt to deceive Ms. Bouris’ husband demonstrate a level of dishonesty and deceit that is totally unacceptable to a teacher in the Arlington Public Schools," he wrote.

In the Aug. 9 termination letter sent to Coughlin, Levenson referred to a meeting with Coughlin and the teacher's attorney, Frank Mondano, in which Coughlin was given an opportunity to respond to the charges and say why he should not be terminated. Neither Coughlin nor his attorney provided Levenson with any additional information, the superintendent wrote. Efforts by YourArlington to reach Coughlin, an Ottoson technology-education teacher since 1999, and his attorney have been unsuccessful.

According to Levenson, Coughlin has acknowledged sending the e-mails and maintained that he was just "joking around." Levenson wrote the decision to terminate Coughlin had nothing to do with whether a sexual relationship existed but on the three findings "that were proved conclusively. These are actions that cannot be tolerated or overlooked."

Levenson also wrote that "since I have had difficult dealings with Mr. Coughlin this year, I wanted to be certain that my judgment was reasonable and fair. The staff and the people of Arlington deserve nothing less. Prior to making my decision I set out to independently gauge the seriousness of these actions while respecting the privacy of the individuals and recognizing that the final decision, by law, is mine."

The superintendent consulted with three people whom he described as having "much experience and expertise in these matters." The first was Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, who served as a superintendent for 11 years and whose current role includes providing advice to superintendents.

Levenson wrote that he also spoke with Long, the general counsel and adviser for the same organization, and Irwin Blumer, who is the chairman of educational administration and higher education at Boston College's Lynch School of Education and whose job is to train future superintendents. Blumer also was a superintendent for more than 15 years and helped shape a recent compromise two-year contract extension for Bouris.

"I spoke with each person individually and shared the investigation reports with the names blacked out," Levenson wrote. "The two former superintendents stated unequivocally that if a similar situation occurred when they were superintendents, they would terminate the employee. All three indicated they believed most superintendents statewide would terminate an employee, given the facts as we know them."

Levenson wrote that he takes "full responsibility for the decision but I take comfort in knowing that this decision is proportionate and reasonable in the eyes of three very experienced, impartial education professionals."

The termination follows a series of events that began in March, when it was learned that Levenson had not renewed Bouris's contract as principal at the Middle School. Following a large public outcry that included protests from many Ottoson teachers, Bouris was reinstated with a two-year extension in April. Coughlin was a leader in the public effort to have Bouris reinstated.

Levenson used the letter released on Aug. 10 address a wider issue. "These are very trying times for the town and staff," he wrote. "We all have a choice to make: we can focus on children and prepare for the opening of school or we can do otherwise. I am asking everyone to accept a fair, but difficult decision, and redirect our energy back to helping kids have a great and productive school year."

Earlier, Miller said that Bouris has been out of the country and that an investigation into her actions would continue when she returned. She was due to return Aug. 9. She has not responded to efforts to reach her by YourArlington.

Statement of Charges

[Editor's note: The following document makes reference to Attachment B. The attachment was not released.]

Pleased be advised that I consider each of these charges alone sufficient reason to terminate your employment pursuant to M.G.L. c71 § 42.

1. Other Just Cause: You alone, or in concert with Ms Bouris, altered an email that I wrote to Ms. Bouris in order to make it appear that I was the author. A sequence of emails that can be documented in Attachment B reveals that on May 14, 2007 at 9:48 am Ms Bouris wrote an email to you indicating that she was angry and upset that her husband wanted to go to Greece to visit his family and she did not wish to go. You responded at 2:20 telling her to fight the decision. On May 30 at 7:05 am Ms Bouris forwarded an email to you that I had written to her on May 22 at 11:00 am regarding an entirely different matter. You wrote back that you would work on her letter at 9:03. You then edited my email, inserting sentences denying her the vacation and sent the "altered" email back to Ms. Bouris at 10:09 am. Furthermore, an email that Ms. Bouris forwarded to herself a few minutes later at 10:20 set out the forged email in sequence with an additional forgery of an email that she had sent me at 6:39 on May 22 (originally on an unrelated topic) making a "paper trail" indicating that she had asked me for the vacation time on the day which she did not. (Attachment B, containing all of the emails in chronological order, reveals both the original and the manipulated documents in chronological order)

The product of these altered emails make it appear that Ms. Bouris asked me for and I denied her vacation time to go to Greece on May 22. Apparently, the purpose of fabricating the emails was to enable Ms. Bouris to prove to her husband that she had tried and failed. Your forgery and email impersonation of me in a self-serving attempt to deceive Ms. Bouris' husband demonstrate a level of dishonesty and deceit that is totally unacceptable in a teacher in the Arlington Public Schools.

Your manipulation of my email has much broader implications than serving your personal objective. In fact, altering the email so as to make it appear that I had made an administrative decision as an official of the Arlington Public Schools may be illegal. Even if that is not the case, your deceptive conduct forging the email had the potential to undermine my authority, create a misconception about my decision-making and disseminate false information about the manner in which the superintendent was carrying out his responsibilities. Members of the public are entitled to some measure of trust that the information they receive regarding public employees has not been falsified or modified. Once the email impersonating me was shared with a third party it was no longer under your control and could be made public at the stroke of a computer key.

Even if Ms. Bouris never carried out the plan to show the altered email to her husband or anyone else, the altered and forged document remain on the server and became an official document of the arlington Public Schools attributable to me. In essence, once created, your forgery became a public record, as are all emails on the Arlington system. Emails are subject to production upon request pursuant to public records laws. Once released, public documents can be used for purposes not originally anticipated by the creator. Regardless of whether or not the scheme led to the deliberate exposure of the manipulated email to a third party, you created a forged public record and official document of the Arlington Public Schools and in so doing you have given me just cause to dismiss you.

2. Other Just Cause: The manipulation of my email message to give the appearance that I had made the decision to deny Ms. Bouris her vacation as set forth in paragraph 3 is also a violation of Arlington's internet use policies (see Attachment B). The policies specifically prohibit "forgery," "pretending to be someone else when sending/receiving messages" and "attempting to read delete copy or modify the electronic mail of other users." The Acceptable Use Policy for Staff indicates that users should not expect privacy in the contents of their personal files on the district system. Policy IJNDC clearly states, "A user who violates district policy or administrative procedures will be subject to suspension or termination of system/network privileges and will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action and/or prosecution."

3. Conduct Unbecoming a Teacher: You authored a series of emails to Ms. Bouris, your principal and, as such, your supervisor on other Arlington Public Schools email system during the period from October 31, 2006, through June 12, 2007 (Attachment B) which portrayed an inappropriately intimate relationship, at times making reference to matters of a sexual nature. These emails are wholly inconsistent with your role as a teacher on Ms. Bouris' staff and with the professional standards for teachers in the Arlington Public Schools. "In the area of personal conduct, the Committee expects that teachers and others will conduct themselves in a manner that not only reflects credit to the school system but also sets forth a model worthy of emulation by students." (Attachment B).

Rather than an isolated incident or two, the numerous emails portray communications to Ms. Bouris that go beyond the boundaries of mere friendship or informal joking banter. Taken together, the emails present a pattern of flirtation and sexually suggestible language toward your supervisor that is unprofessional and unacceptable in the school setting. Although certain emails also suggest that you and Ms. Bouris were having an affair, your dismissal is based upon the emails themselves and not upon a charge that you were involved in a sexual relationship.

The emails below, all written by you to Ms. Bouris on the Arlington email server or mailed to Ms. Bouris on the Arlington server from another email account of yours (both during school hours and at other times) are illustrative of the emails that were reviewed that contain sexually explicit references or discuss matters grossly inappropriate for a teacher and a principal to be sharing.

10/31/06 - My privates are killing me. Should I be concerned?

05/09/07 - To play off that song when I lay next to her I see you. I shut my eyes I see you. I go to bed and I see you. I smile and I see you.

06/08/07 - I hope you get a good nights sleep. I hope Monday comes as fast as you do.

06/12/07 - Hey beautiful want to get naked?

Emails exchanged on outside email accounts of an even more sexually explicit nature further substantiate your unbecoming conduct. Furthermore, you informed Ms Bouris via Arlington email that you had created a separate G-Mail account for her in order to provide secrecy.

For example:

05/23/07 - I created a GMAIL account for you. Your password is mushi. Just make sure you do not save your password on the computer that way if anyone logs onto gmail it will not automatically access your emails.

06/07/07 Do you know what would look good on you? Me!

06/10/07 - Here is a term you may be familiar with MILF*
See if you can find a way to get what MILF is from me. Possible bribes or something. You would also qualify as a PILF *

(*You have stated that MILF indicates "Mothers I'd like to fuck" and PILF was your substitution of principals for mothers)

A controversial series of events:

Privacy cited as release of e-mails delayed  (July 31)

Probe incomplete; School Committee meeting put off  (July 25) 

Source of memos feared teachers were being used, attorney in probe says (July 21)

E-mails between Ottoson principal, teacher probed  (July 15)

School Committee approves 2-year contract for Ottoson principal, sets series of goals (April 11)

New pact establishes Bouris as principal (April 5)

Public speaks at March 27 School Committee meeting (March 31) 

Hundreds turn out to support Ottoson principal (March 27)