Educator terminated before the end of the probationary period
Strax v Rockland County BOCES, 257 AD2d 578
The Rockland County Board of Cooperative Educational Services dismissed Carol Strax, a probationary administrative assistant, from her position. Strax sued, seeking a court order reinstating her to the position.
The Appellate Division rejected her appeal, commenting that “it is well established that a board of education has an unfettered right to terminate the employment of a teacher or administrator during his or her probationary period, without a hearing, unless that person establishes that his or her employment was terminated for a constitutionally impermissible purpose or in violation of a statutory proscription.”
According to the ruling, Strax did not allege that the BOCES had terminated her probationary employment for a constitutionally impermissible reason nor did she demonstrate that it failed to comply with the procedural requirements of Education Law Section 3031 or otherwise acted in violation of a statutory proscription.
Accordingly, the Appellate Division ruled that under the circumstances the Supreme Court properly ruled that Strax’s termination was neither arbitrary nor capricious.
NYPPL