The Loma Prieta Joint Union School District is defending its decision to fire teacher David Kissner, who is suing the district for wrongful termination, harassment and civil rights violations, among other things.
The lawsuit was filed Feb. 16 in U.S. District Court by Los Angeles-based Freedom X Law.
Kissner was terminated by the school district last December following a hearing held by a three-member Commission on Professional Competence. The commission found him “unfit for service,” saying Kissner failed to properly supervise four teenagers he took to Las Vegas; refused to follow directives from Principal Billy Martin and then-Superintendent Lisa Fraser; and had “unprofessional” communications with parents.
Kissner’s 80-plus page lawsuit claims he was fired “based on false and fabricated evidence intended to damage his reputation and impugn his moral character.”
It includes details of a March 2018 controversy, when Kissner gave failing grades to three students who skipped a quiz so they could participate in the National Student Walkout against gun violence.
Kissner was placed on a seven-day leave following the walkout, although the district did not publicly state a reason for his involuntary leave.
Kissner’s attorneys argue the school district violated Kissner’s First Amendment rights because he objected to the district decision that allowed students to attend the walkout. It calls the walkout a “politically organized scheme to influence and indoctrinate impressionable youth into taking a specific anti-Second Amendment political position.”
At the time, the controversy caused a great deal of rancor among parents and students, some of whom supported Kissner and some who did not.
Fast forward two years, when Kissner stirred up the community once again by opposing the 2020 Measure N school parcel tax extension. Here again the lawsuit says Kissner’s civil rights were violated because he was “personally and publicly targeted for his opposition to Measure N, including by many school employees.”
Loma Prieta Superintendent Kevin Grier disputed Kissner’s allegations, issuing a statement on Feb. 18 that said, “Our district respects the due process and privacy rights of our employees and normally does not disclose information or publicly discuss employee disciplinary matters. However, the egregious nature of Mr. Kissner’s lies, misrepresentations, unprofessional conduct with minors and continuing disruptive behavior has prompted us to set the record straight.”
Grier called the lawsuit a “desperate attempt to divert public attention away from the real reasons for his termination,” saying it was not about politics but Kissner’s “lack of professionalism and misconduct as an educator.”
Grier included a link to the report submitted by the Commission on Professional Competence, which addressed another Kissner controversy: an April 2019 non-school outing to Death Valley, when four boys aged 15-17 accompanied Kissner to Las Vegas to purchase a vehicle part for his broken down trailer.
The commission’s report says Kissner purchased a bottle of whiskey before he and the boys checked into a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. Two of the boys drank some of the whiskey, the commission concluding that Kissner “took no effective steps to stop (the students) from consuming it.”
The report also points out that Kissner did not stop two of the students from “exploring the Las Vegas Strip on foot.” The teens returned to the hotel room at dawn, the report says.
As the Kissner controversy moves into its third year, parents are again taking sides—with one parent telling the Los Gatan that “it’s a soap opera roiling the mountain community.”
The K-8 Loma Prieta school district is in unincorporated Los Gatos, enrolling some 500 students from both Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Loma Prieta Elementary and C.T. English Middle School are Los Gatos High School “feeder” schools.
Kissner was hired in 2012 as a math and science teacher. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a Marine veteran. The lawsuit describes Kissner as a devout Christian who has been a “welcome voice” for disenfranchised community members.
