A month later, while on leave, Cummings-Elmore took a teaching job with a local charter school. Court records say when DPS learned that in May 2016, the district sent her a letter saying it considered her to have resigned, and the school board terminated her employment in June 2016.
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Cummings-Elmore filed a grievance through the teachers union in July 2016. The grievance argued there was no rule against her taking other employment while on leave, and no provision in either the teachers’ contract or school board policy allowing for a “constructive resignation,” as the district called her actions.
More than a year later, on July 31, 2017, an arbitrator ruled in her favor and awarded her back pay — offset by the amount she earned at the charter school — even as the arbitrator’s ruling also mentioned that Cummings-Elmore repeatedly ignored his instructions during the hearing. The arbitrator wrote that some of the allegations against her were “disturbing,” but her actions did not amount to “good and just cause for termination” pursuant to the contract.
That wasn’t the end.
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On Aug. 28, Dayton Public Schools sued in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, asking a judge to overturn the arbitrator’s ruling and “vacate” the award. The district claimed Cummings-Elmore exhibited “aggressive, erratic and vindictive behavior,” that she “poses a threat to the safety of students, staff and administrators,” and that the law allows DPS to treat her actions as a resignation.
DPS attorney Jyllian Bradshaw refused to comment on the matter, citing ongoing litigation. This news organization has requested the personnel files of both Cummings-Elmore and the Ponitz principal she complained to police about.
Dayton teachers union President David Romick also declined comment, except to say it was not unusual for DPS to sue to try to overturn an arbitrator’s ruling, citing another recent instance.
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In their Sept. 11 legal response, lawyers for Dayton’s teachers union questioned why DPS separated Cummings-Elmore from employment solely for taking a job with a charter school, making no mention at the time about her work performance, conflict with the principal or issues with students.
On the same day the teachers’ union filed that document with the court, Cummings-Elmore filed her own four-part “pro se” motion to dismiss DPS’ filing, asking for sanctions against DPS and immediate back pay of $120,000.
In addition to the legal motion full of all-caps passages, she attached 20 pages of the Dayton teachers union contract to her court filing, with notes scribbled in the margins asserting DPS violations of due process.
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Then Cummings-Elmore filed Sept. 28 to remove the case to federal district court, and she submitted hundreds of pages of documents. Those included a motion to proceed without prepayment of fees, as she indicated that she was in the process of filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection.
Judge Walter Rice immediately recused himself from the federal case. Rice had written a 2015 letter of support for Cummings-Elmore when she was applying for an Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit for A Steele Films’ project on the Ohio Players musical group, according to documents in the court record.
The case was assigned to Judge Thomas Rose, and on Wednesday, Dayton Public Schools filed a motion in federal court to dismiss the matter for lack of jurisdiction and remand it back to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
“I will teach,” Cummings-Elmore said Thursday, expressing confidence that she would win the legal case. “Teachers deserve better. Our rights need to be protected under the law. No one is above the law, and Dayton Public must follow the law.”
It appears Cummings-Elmore would need to be re-licensed to return to a classroom. Both her 4-year alternative resident educator license and her 1-year long-term substitute teacher license expired in June, according to documents on the Ohio Department of Education website.
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