[T]he Agency of Education filed a new licensing charge against Mario Macias, the suspended guidance director at Burlington High School, and is now seeking to revoke the embattled administrator’s license.
Macias was already facing six licensing misconduct charges which allege he falsified a transcript, created a hostile work environment and was generally incompetent. Originally, the agency was only seeking a one-year suspension of Macias’ license. The newest charge, filed Sept. 26, accuses Macias of discussing the licensing case against him with a student and asking the student to testify on his behalf.
“The discussion caused the student severe emotional distress,” Robert Stafford, an Agency of Education investigator, wrote in an affidavit attached to the charge.
The new allegation against Macias was first reported by the Burlington Free Press.
Licensing charges are brought by the agency and decided by a governor-appointed state licensing panel composed of teachers, administrators and members of the public. A hearing in the case was originally set for Oct. 11, but is being rescheduled. The panel can ultimately decide to take no action, issue a warning, issue a public reprimand, limit, suspend or revoke Macias’ license.
The Burlington School District announced on Sept. 14 that superintendent Yaw Obeng had placed Macias on paid administrative leave. The decision came after a week of public blowback for the district, which was heavily criticized for initially standing by Macias – and for attempts to censor the student newspaper article which first made the agency’s case against the administrator public.