Science head finally may return after year’s leave
KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER
The Monroe County School District’s top science teacher said she lost her administrative job because the district mishandled her request for an unpaid leave of absence.
Camila Burton, a veteran science teacher and the district’s head of science curriculum, may not get her supervisor job back, although the administration did reverse its decision to let her work elsewhere for a year.
School Board Member John Dick said the district will let Burton return to work, but not in the job she once held. The board member said he has asked School Superintendent Mark Porter to explain why Burton’s leave was rescinded.
Dick called Burton “a very good asset for this school district.”
“The district is going to let her come back,” Dick said. “It appears there is a board policy that we don’t give a leave of absence if the person is taking a job elsewhere. She was the District Science Specialist, but we are not going to guarantee that job if she comes back, but we will give her a teaching position.”
Porter told Konk Life that Burton requested leave on short notice. He also said administrators are given teaching positions after long leaves of absence.
“Following a conversation that should have taken place earlier, her right of return was adjusted to a classroom teaching position, consistent with district past practice,” Porter said.
Theresa Axford, Burton’s supervisor and the district’s director of teaching and learning, approved Burton’s request for a year-long (July 31-June 30) leave of absence on June 20, a copy of the letter approving the leave shows.
However, Axford sent a registered letter to Burton on July 11, stating that the leave had been denied. In the meantime, Burton had made arrangements to take the new position in the Tampa Bay area.
“I disclosed to her my full intent to pursue the opportunity offered to me,” Burton wrote the board the next day. “I presented her with a leave request form which indicated the details of the leave as required by MCSD policy. She agreed to the terms of the leave form and signed the form in my presence.”
Konk Life received a copy of the approval letter, which is dated June 20 and bears Axford’s signature.
“I am grieved to be brought to such a demeaning level by the executive leadership team of MCSD,” she complained in the letter to board members. “You are receiving this communication from me as an 18-year career educator and administrator to the Monroe County School District. This morning I was assaulted with a registered letter sent from Monroe County’s Director of Teaching and Learning indicating my request for leave has been denied.”
Burton said neither Porter nor Axford has offered an explanation.
“You could never imagine my disbelief as I registered the farce that had been intentionally put into play regarding my career,” Burton wrote. “After 18 years of service to the Monroe County School District I would expect to be shown a minimum of professionalism by having someone discuss the reasons for denial, which there really isn’t one.”
Burton said the canceling of her leave was Axford’s latest attempt to hamper her career in the Keys.
“It is obvious that this is yet another underhanded attempt by Mrs. Axford to create barriers to my success as a human being and passionate educator,” Burton wrote the board. “Personal issues, if there were any, were not a part of the decision nor should they be,” Porter told Konk Life.
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This isn’t the first or last time Mother Theresa has messed with someone’s career. She is as nice as she can be to your face and then stabs you right in the back. The song “Backstabbers comes to mind” Mr. Porter needs to stay more on top of what this lady does before she buries him as well.