
Lucke
SEYMOUR — A Seymour High School assistant principal on paid leave since December 2018 after being arrested for driving drunk is scheduled to return to his job July 29.
Paul Lucke was arrested Dec. 1 and charged with operating under the influence after being stopped by Naugatuck police at 12:43 a.m. on Bridge Street, according to a police arrest log.
The Republican-American newspaper of Waterbury reported Jan. 18 that Lucke was accepted into a court diversionary program that will see his record wiped clean if he stays out of trouble and completes alcohol-education courses.
He’s due back in court Jan. 17, 2020, at which time his criminal case will be formally ended, assuming Lucke complies with all court orders and programs.
Lucke also faced an internal “10 – 151 hearing,” with the school district, a “pre-disciplinary” process in which a third-party hearing officer makes a punishment recommendation to the school board. The recommendation could have been termination.
The school district had accused Lucke of being insubordinate and failing to be a good role model, according to The Republican-American.
Eventually an independent arbitrator recommended Lucke keep his job. However, the school board still had the right to discipline Lucke.
Meanwhile, parents have rallied to support Lucke, even chanting “reinstate” at a gathering in February.
The Seymour Board of Education discussed the arbitrator’s findings at a meeting June 26. Members were torn on how to handle the situation, according to meeting minutes.
Eric Brown, Lucke’s lawyer, said the arrest was a black mark on Lucke and the high school — but one that should not define the 14-year employee. He asked the school board to take into account all the good Lucke has done for the community over the years, saying his commitment to students is “unrefuted,” according to meeting minutes.
Jen Magri, the school board chairwoman, said no one is fond of the process and that the issue weighed heavily on the school board. She advised the board to think about the precedent the school board would be setting, according to the meeting minutes.
Magri recommended suspending Lucke for 30 days without pay as consequence for getting arrested. However, meeting minutes show board member Fred Stanek offered a motion to allow Lucke to return to his job without additional punishment. Stanek’s motion failed with 3 ‘yes’ votes and 6 ‘no’ votes.
School board member Kristen Harmeling then made a motion to suspend Lucke for 20 days without pay, effective June 27.
The motion was approved 6 – 3.
The motion included an option in which Lucke could return to his job earlier if he made arrangements to have 20 days pay deducted from his pay check over time. But as of July 11 Lucke was still out on suspension.
In a podcast interview scheduled to be released Monday on ValleyIndy.org, First Selectman Kurt Miller said he agreed with the decision reached by the hearing officer and the school board. Lucke deserved to be punished, but not fired, Miller said.
“I’m happy that Paul will be coming back. As a person I think he’s a great guy. As an educator, I think he’s even better for what he does at the high school, how he impacts the kids — you see that through the support of the community,” Miller said.
But Miller said punishment can’t be meted out based on popularity.
“That’s the hard part of this. It can’t be based on Paul Lucke. The discipline needs to be based on an assistant principal at our high school who had this issue,” Miller said. “It can’t have anything to do with Paul or his personality.”
Miller said he hoped Lucke would use his mistake as a learning experience for students.
“Everybody makes mistakes. But it’s (about) what happens after you make the mistake — how you grow, how you learn, how you move forward,” Miller said. “Paul will be a good living and breathing example for these kids.”