NILES SCHOOLS Secretary pursues complaint

The lack of help has put paperwork behind schedule as much as two months.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- A complaint filed by a secretarial employee puts city school officials in the position of defending a decision to not provide a half-day substitute on a long-term basis.
Becky Wilson, secretary for the athletic department, filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in September, saying she is being discriminated against as a person with a disability.
Wilson suffers from multiple sclerosis, a hereditary neurological disease characterized by wasting away of muscle tissue.
During her 12 years working in the district, Wilson accumulated more than 120 sick days, which by state law, must be used before she can apply for disability.
Arrangement
With approval from her doctor and school administrators, Wilson arranged to work four hours each afternoon in the office for the entire school year.
The problem, she said, is school officials promised to provide a substitute to cover the morning shift, but reneged on the verbal agreement just three days before the start of the school year.
"No one has ever been able to give me a reason. All I want is to get the same treatment that everyone else does," she said.
Wilson said it is routine practice in the district for classified employees to receive half-day substitutes when needed.
In several letters between her and Superintendent Patrick Guliano, as well as members of the board of education, Wilson referred to the original promise that she would receive help and the fact that the lack of a half-day substitute has put paperwork in the office behind schedule as much as two months.
"I feel I have been deprived of some of the rights and privileges that nondisabled employees in our school district have been afforded and as a qualified individual with a disability, I am requesting a reasonable accommodation that does not violate any past practices or policies," she wrote in a letter dated Sept. 12.
Guliano said because the issue centers on a personnel matter, under legal advice he could not comment specifically on the case.
"She is pursuing this under a number of avenues, though," he said.
No long-term provisions
Guliano also noted that neither the contract between the district and the classified employee union, nor the board's policy book make provisions to provide a half-day substitute to any position long term.
"It's just not our practice," he said.
Guliano noted there are other employees using large amounts of accrued sick time because of disabilities. Most are not working at all and full-day substitutes were hired to cover the positions.
The school board recently unanimously approved granting one-year contracts to substitutes who have covered different positions for more than 60 days.
A previous grievance filed by Wilson though the union was heard in early October. In his response, Guliano wrote administrators "do not believe there has been any discrimination against Mrs. Wilson." The letter also noted the master contract contains no requirement for the district to hire a half-day substitute.
Following the grievance ruling, Wilson filed the complaint with the Civil Rights Commission, which can take anywhere from three to six months to investigate and possibly longer.
She is still considering filing a discrimination lawsuit.
Wilson, who plans to apply for disability before the next school year, realizes it would have been easier to avoid the battle and simply "ride things out," but she said it's not in her to do that.
"It matters to me, because I am not the kind of person who will let someone mistreat me and walk away thinking they can get away with it," she said.
"I don't want them to think they can do this to people."
slshaulis@vindy.com