Teacher, Farmington Schools Clash In Court

FARMINGTON, CT — A Farmington High School English teacher is suing the school district, claiming she is being harassed by supervisors and being mistreated in retaliation for her criticism of how the school handles special education students.

West Hartford resident Heather Maynard filed suit against the Farmington Board of Education in Hartford Superior Court Feb. 21.

According to the lawsuit, Maynard claims that, since 2020, she has been victimized by poor teacher reviews and faced unwarranted criticism from administrators since she raised concerns about how special education students are incorporated in classrooms at FHS.

Maynard claims school officials are violating state and federal laws regarding special education students in violation of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)," according to the suit.

The lawsuit, basically, claims the school districit isn't providing special education students with classroom access with non-special education students, an IDEA mandate.

According to Maynard's lawsuit, the state Department of Education mandates that a class not have more than half of its students being special ed students for it to qualify as compliant with IDEA.

But, according to Maynard's suit, that isn't happening and some of her English classes have well more than half being special ed students, yet the school is classifying that time as being IDEA compliant.

When she reported the situation and called out FHS administrators, she claimed to be the victim of a pattern of harassment evidenced by increased workloads without compensation, suddenly poor teacher evaluations and general workplace hostility.

She is seeking unspecified damages, including legal fees, as well as the wiping off her record of negative performance reviews since 2020, when she first brought the issue to light.

For all documents related to Maynard's lawsuit against the Farmington Board of Education, click on this link.

To see a copy of Maynard's lawsuit, click on this link.