Fitch teacher resigns amid misconduct case

The teacher's resignation and evidence gathered will be reported to the state.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER2
AUSTINTOWN -- A Fitch High School teacher accused of misconduct with a student and facing a trial this month has resigned.
William Iagulli, who has been on paid leave since police filed charges of solicitation and telecommunications harassment against him in May, turned in a letter of resignation to the school district offices last week, schools Superintendent Doug Heuer confirmed. Heuer said he has accepted it on behalf of the district.
Vote planned
The school board will still vote March 15 at its meeting on whether to accept the resignation, which becomes effective March 7, Heuer said.
The board had begun taking steps toward firing Iagulli. During an executive session at its February meeting, it directed Heuer to consult with the district's attorney. The board would have had to hold a hearing before it acted to fire Iagulli, a social studies teacher who's been with the district 25 years.
Michael Creatore, school board president, had said he'd finally had enough of the Iagulli situation when he attended a motion-to-suppress hearing Jan. 25 and heard a detective read an e-mail exchange that is supposed to have occurred between Iagulli and a student. He said explicit statements in the exchange angered him. He said he just wanted Iagulli off the district's payroll.
Creatore said Thursday that the resignation means the district can move forward. "I'm glad we can put it behind us."
Reporting required
Heuer said a new law requires reporting to the state the resignation of a teacher who was under consideration for dismissal. Iagulli's resignation and the evidence the school district gathered toward his firing will be reported to the licensing department of the Ohio Department of Education, Heuer said.
Heuer said the department will assign an investigator, though not until after Iagulli's court case is settled.
Heuer said the state has three options: to do nothing, to suspend Iagulli's teaching license for a given time, or to revoke it.
Judge Diane Vettori recently issued her ruling in the Jan. 25 motion-to-suppress hearing. Iagulli's attorney had asked that evidence be suppressed from Iagulli's home computer and other computers, along with statements he made to police and the Mahoning County prosecutor's office the night of his arrest. Attorney John Juhasz argued that Iagulli wasn't given his Miranda rights properly.
Judge Vettori issued a judgment that suppresses evidence from one computer. She overruled the motion to suppress all other statements, exhibits and evidence. Iagulli's case proceeds to trial as planned at 9 a.m. March 8.