Get Answers: How many APS teachers go on paid leave?

not only is the district battling a huge budget deficit-- but it's also been under a lot of criti...  More »

not only is the district battling a huge budget deficit-- but it's also been under a lot of criticism lately. just last month-- several aps staff members were put on paid administrative leave, and many of you are asking how common that is. kayla anderson is live at rio grande high school with answers from the district. to put it into perspective-- the district has about 12-thousand employees. so far this school year-- less than 50 aps staff members -- a fraction of a percentage -- were put on paid leave. once a respected science teacher at volcano vista high school-- 34 year old patrick matthews now sits in jail -- accused of having sex with a 16 year old student. he's been fired. there's also the case of 33 year old kristy sanchez trujillo. police say she admitted to having sex with a 13 year old student... so a-p-s fired her too. 26:41 you can't always pull the trigger too fast... because then people can accuse of not giving them their due process rights. so we went to aps to find out how many aps staff members have been put on paid leave this school year. while aps could only get us numbers through january 15th-- here's how it all breaks down. 44 staff members were put on leave with pay. 21 of them were teachers. 7 of them were educational assistants. 7 of them were custodians. and 9 had other various positions. the leaves varied in duration-- from just one day-- to three weeks. in 20-percent of those cases... the district concluded the allegations were unfounded. 20-percent of the employees were either discharged or terminat. 20-percent of them resigned or retired. and in 40-percent of the cases... disciplinary action other than firing -- was taken. 31:23 -- i think sometimes people think well since it's a school.. all of the folks you have working for you should be saints, and maybe the should be...but the fact of the matter is that they're not." 31:33 we asked aps how much money was spent paying those staff member while they were on leave-- the district wasn't able to get us that figure.  « Less