Despite statutory rape conviction, Tennessee forced to renew teacher's license

This story has been updated to correct the county William S. Haynes was from. Due to a technical error, it was incorrect in prior versions of this story. 

Former teacher William S. Haynes pleaded guilty to the statutory rape of a student in 2007. Then, last month, a judge ordered the Tennessee State Board of Education to reinstate his teaching license.

Haynes, who was a Moore County physical education teacher, had his criminal record expunged in 2011 after serving four years of probation, according to court documents. He then asked the state board to give him his teaching license back in 2012. The board denied the request.

So he took his case to court.

In 2015, Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Russell Perkins ruled that the details of this statutory rape case couldn't be considered because they didn't meet the set criteria for which the board could continue to deny a license. In December, Perkins ordered the state board to take another vote on the matter and reinstate Haynes' license.

On April 21, the board voted 7-2 to give Haynes back his license.

The case illustrates how state rules have allowed some teachers to get their licenses back despite questionable conduct with children.

Some of those rules were changed after a Tennessean investigation, in participation with the USA TODAY NETWORK, that found flaws in the state's teacher background check system and a scattershot approach to teacher discipline.

After the investigation, the board acknowledged there were issues with the existing system.  It voted in October on stricter guidelines on how to punish teachers.

But because the new rules are pending final publication, teachers like Haynes can still get their licenses back through the loopholes.

The board's agenda for the April meeting suggested they had no other choice.

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"Mr. Haynes sought and received a declaratory order in the Davidson County Chancery Court, which held that the state board may not consider the applicant’s prior convictions, which were expunged, or rely on the 'other good cause' category pursuant to board rule," the agenda said.

Before the vote, each board member who voted to reinstate his license expressed regret.

"I hate this, I hate being put in this situation," Mike Edwards, a state board member, said. "We are sitting here making a vote that we don’t have the discretion to make. If we don’t take positive action, we are to appear in court in contempt."

"Everyone is uncomfortable with this."

Rules have allowed questionable teachers to return to the classroom in the past

Other teachers have challenged the board's rules in court before and won, including teacher and coach James Aaron Swafford.

Swafford is not allowed to teach in North Carolina because the state revoked his license in 2007 after discovering a relationship with a 16-year-old student.

Although Tennessee revoked his license once, Swafford testified in a 2015 administrative court hearing that the love letter-fueled relationship “snuck up on him.” A judge, calling the relationship neither “romantic or physical,” agreed to reinstate Swafford’s license.

The judge made the decision to reinstate Swafford's license based on the Tennessee state board rules that don’t mandate permanently revoking a teacher’s license due to misconduct in other states.

Swafford’s lawyer presented 20 examples of the state board allowing other teachers who committed similar acts with children to be reinstated, or to have a chance for reinstatement, after suspensions and training or a mix of both.

After Swafford's license was reinstated, The Tennessean uncovered a possible track record of similar inappropriate conduct. The allegations include that he sent underwear to a Tennessee student and kissed her in 1996, McMinniville Police Department records show.

He also later struck a child and was fired from a school, according to Knox County Schools records, but was allowed to teach at Perquimans County High School in Hertford, North Carolina.

Related

• Teachers can lose license elsewhere, work in Tennessee
• Teacher who won back license faced sex abuse claims 20 years ago

'This is infuriating'

State board attorney Elizabeth Taylor said she believes the new rules would have blocked Haynes from having his license reinstated. But because they have not officially gone into effect, they weren't considered in Haynes' case.

Haynes' lawyers argued that the board's current rules don't allow the denial of his license. Perkins, the Davidson County judge, agreed.

The new rules will broaden the types of misconduct in which teachers are subject to punishment, including the addition of language saying the board can take action on any conduct that calls the suitability of a teacher into question.

The rule change gives the state board the option to permanently revoke a teacher's license for the most severe violations, including inappropriate, explicit communication with a student. The rules spell out stronger punishments for repeat offenders.

"We are in a much better place to allow the board to make decisions for kids and to protect the safety of kids in the classroom," Taylor said in an interview.

Board member Wendy Tucker said the changes should limit some of the legal loopholes, although the board will remain subject to court rulings.

"As a board, we recognized that our focus on ensuring the right people are in the classroom isn’t reflected in the old rule," Tucker said. "I think the entire board felt very strongly about sending a message about who should and shouldn’t be in the classroom with the new rules.

"This is infuriating in that there is no other legal way of keeping this person (Haynes) out of the classroom."

Tucker, who voted against Haynes' reinstatement, urged school districts to remain diligent in background check efforts. Districts are legally required to conduct the checks, which include Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and FBI background checks, said Sara Gast, Tennessee Department of Education spokeswoman.

Haynes, whose attorneys couldn't be reached for comment on Monday, doesn't have to register as a sex offender, according to TBI criminal history documents. The records of his expunged criminal record were used in the court case to get his license reinstated.

Teachers must be up-to-date with exams. Although Haynes' license was reinstated, he will need to take additional steps to renew his license, Gast said.

The department also offers training for districts on best practices for hiring, including reference checks and checking publicly available information, she said.

"However, employers should always consult with their attorneys about what can and what cannot be considered when making hiring decisions," she said.

Tucker said in an interview that she would reach out to schools across her area to warn them about Haynes. But she and other board members acknowledge that despite their best efforts, teachers with questionable records still slip through the cracks.

"He’s not coming to any schools in my district," Tucker said. "But there are a lot of districts across the state."

Dave Boucher contributed to this report. 

Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.