The long-awaited hearing regarding the dismissal of Wiscasset Middle High School Principal Gina Stevens scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 12 has been postponed.
During the Wiscasset School Committee’s meeting on Dec. 12, Chair Jason Putnam said the hearing will now take place across two meetings on Wednesday, Dec. 20 and Thursday, Dec. 21.
Putnam and Wiscasset Superintendent Kim Andersson announced via email on Monday, Dec. 11 that the hearing had been postponed.
Putnam said Stevens’ lawyer, Gregg Frame, of the Portland-based firm Taylor McCormack & Frame LLC, would not have been able to be present at the Dec. 12 meeting.
The school committee considered continuing on with the hearing as scheduled without Frame’s presence, Andersson said. However, members abandoned the idea so Stevens’ right to due process would not be violated.
“We were told if we did it that way, we would have to do it all over again,” said Andersson about hosting the hearing without Frame.
Andersson said that Frame expected the hearing to span over two days, while the Wiscasset School Committee initially planned for only one day.
“I am sure that there are valid reasons for all of the school’s scheduling decisions. The attorneys involved are good people and I never questioned the veracity of what they were telling me. I still don’t,” Frame said.
The Dec. 20 and Dec. 21 meetings will begin at 4 p.m. and take place in the Wiscasset Elementary School gym.
