Globe reports it obtains 61-page decision

An arbitrator has ruled in favor of Chuck Coughlin, the former Ottoson Middle School teacher who was fired in August 2007. Quoting Coughlin's attorney, WickedLocal reported Tuesday, Oct. 27 that Coughlin won back his job plus full back pay for lost wages lost benefits. The arbitration, held after Coughlin was fired from his position as a technology teacher by then-Superintendent Nate Levenson following e-mail exchanges with then-principal Stavroula Bouris, lasted from January 2008 until July 15.

The School Committee met for two hours in closed session Oct. 27 but made no statement after emerging, about 11 p.m. It has 30 days to decide whether to appeal.

Committee member Denise Burns, as she has since June, declined to join her colleagues in the closed session, but she urged the committee not to pursue an appeal, and she also asked that the committee meet in public with its attorneys, of Stoneman Chandler Miller.

A representative of the Arlington Education Association (AEA), the teachers' union, speaking during public participation Oct. 27, asked the School Committee not to appeal.

Todd Sundstrom, AEA second vice presient, urged the committee to accept the arbitrator's decision and "take every step" to "move on." He said the expected cost of the ruling could be more than $1 million, money the schools "do not have." He concluded: "It's time to do the right thing."

A separate arbitration involving Bouris began last January.

In an updated story Oct. 29, WickedLocal reported that interim Superintendent Bodie has declined to provide a copy of the decision for publication to an Advocate reporter. YourArlington has also asked for a copy of the decision. Bodie responded that a public-records request is required because the ruling involves personnel matters. YourArlington made such a request Oct. 29.

The Oct. 29 WickedLocal story reported that Bodie and the six School Committee members who attended the closed-session briefing about the case would not say whether an appeal to Superior Court is planned.

The story reported that the AEA has split the American Arbitration Association fees, but Coughlin has paid for his legal representation himself, according to teachers' union President Ron Colosi Jr.

Colosi has declined to respond to repeated requests for comment from YourArlington.

YourArlington has requested an accounting of the latest total for legal fees in the Coughlin/Bouris cases from Diane Fisk Johnson, the schools' CFO.

The schools' law firm said Oct. 21 that legal bills for the Arlington public schools since June 2007 have totaled $443,380, about $127,000 less than The Boston Globe reported on Sunday, Oct. 18.

Coughlin has not responded to a request for comment from YourArlington about the arbiter's decision.

Barry Klickstein, Levenson's attorney, said in an interview Oct. 29 that he has read the 61-page decision and found that it inappropriately applies standards used in criminal law to a civil matter.

He said that the decision is derived from an Arlington School Committee policy that says personnel matters may not be pursued if complaints are issued against someone anonymously. See the policy here (PDF) >>

In this case, Levenson received one packet of e-mails from an anonymous source. School technician Tracy Buck delivered an initial packet of e-mails, according to the Oct. 29 report in The Globe.

He said the use of this standard allows the arbiter to ignore that Coughlin's attorney did not dispute that his client sent the e-mails in question or what their contents reflected.

He said that in the demand letter of last March, in which the town was put on notice of a potential civil lawsuit, Mondano accused Levenson of perjury. Klickstein said his client testified a number of times under oath during the 18-month arbitration, but that Coughlin did not take an oath or testify.

"Nate's only concerns [then] were the Arlington public schools and the kids," he said.

Klickstein declined to comment about any pending lawsuit.

This story was first published at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, and has been updated since then, the latest on Oct. 31.