The Chickamauga City Schools Board of Education announced Monday it has not decided whether to take action against Superintendent Melody Day, who pleaded no contest to a charge of theft of property last week.
“Due to the timing of the hearing and proximity of the scheduled board meeting,” board chairman Ashley “Corky” Jewell read in a statement at the meeting, “we have not had adequate time to consult our legal counsel to determine if a material breach of the employment contract has occurred or if there has been a violation of [Georgia Professional Standards Commission] standards.”
Jewell said the board will make a decision “once this determination has been made.” The board works with the Harben, Hartley & Hawkins firm out of Gainesville, Georgia.
Chattanooga police charged Day with theft of property in December, after an employee of the Belk department store at Hamilton Place mall said she saw Day swapping out the tags of some clothing items. According to an affidavit, Day’s scheme saved her about $300 from her final purchase on Dec. 2.
The employee said she saw Day go into a fitting room with several items. Some were on sale; some weren’t. When Day checked out, items were scanned at a discounted rate, even though they were supposed to be full price.
Her attorney, Lee Davis, said Day continued to shop in the store. A security guard then stopped her, and she cooperated with the investigation.
On Friday, Day pleaded no contest to the charge in Hamilton County General Sessions Court. She received an 11-month, 29-day suspended sentence. She will be on probation during that term, and Judge Gary Starnes ordered her to pay $525 in restitution, stay out of any Belk store and attend counseling. If she follows those stipulations, her charge will be dropped and her record expunged after a year.
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but it is a decision by a defendant not to protest the prosecution’s assertion. In his statement Monday, Jewell said, “Mrs. Day assured the board [in December] that she had done nothing wrong.”
After Friday’s hearing, Day told the Times Free Press, “I just followed my lawyer’s advice.”
Day signed a 3-year contract last July, and she is making $85,399 through the first 12 months of the deal. The board will determine her annual salary on a year-by-year basis.
The contract gives the board 11 reasons why it can terminate Day’s contract. “Arrest” is not listed, but “immorality” is.
Day has worked for Chickamauga City Schools since 1978, beginning as a teacher. The board hired her as superintendent in 2000.
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.