(The Center Square) – The Tennessee State Board of Education voted Friday to suspend the license of a Blount County teacher convicted of misdemeanor assault for three years after a lengthy discussion on their options.
Joshua Dalton pleaded guilty to five counts of misdemeanor assault and was ordered to serve six months on probation for inappropriate touching of students, according to the board.
Board Chairman Robert Eby and other members expressed concerns about a recommendation from the board’s legal staff that would have suspended Dalton’s license for six months.
The six-month license suspension would coincide with Dalton’s probation, which ends in November, the board was told by staff.
State school board member Jordan Mollenhour said the board had little evidence and it didn’t support the accusations against Dalton. Mollenhour said he “assumed there was other evidence out there.”
“We are in a situation where our team, our legal team, has looked at the evidence that they have and they have said there’s not much here,” Mollenhour said. “The key distinction in this case is even if we don’t have video evidence of what this man was doing, he admitted to it. And in my mind that’s enough to say we are going to revoke that license.”
Mullenhour made a motion to revoke Dalton’s license, which Eby seconded. When that motion failed, by a vote of 5-4, Eby recommended a three-year suspension with 50 hours of professional development on appropriate student contact.
Board members differed on whether there were 50 hours he could take to satisfy the recommendation, which raised other questions, Eby said.
“I think if nothing else this opens up where we are lacking in an area that’s very important and I encourage the department … and I encourage the districts to look at this as a focus area,” Eby said.
The motion passed 7-2.
Parents and community leaders were upset with Dalton’s sentence in May, according to published reports.
Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell said the “community is rightfully outraged” in a statement he posted on Facebook shortly after the sentence. The Blount County Commission passed two resolutions regarding the case.
One asked the General Assembly to create a new law for “offensive or provocative physical contact with a minor, and classify it as a more serious crime.” The other resolution stated the board was concerned and disappointed in Dalton’s sentence.
