FeedsTeacher faces dismissal
Administrators for the Plymouth-Canton Community School District want to fire a high school English teacher accused of soliciting and distributing graphic material to a minor over the Internet.
Superintendent of Schools Jim Ryan said he plans to recommend ending the contract of Orin Kennedy, who was charged in March with the sex crimes. State investigators said Kennedy had graphic online conversations with an undercover agent he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Board of education members were to decide whether to fire Kennedy at a special meeting Tuesday, but officials removed the agenda item because they failed to give him proper notice that a vote would take place. The accused teacher has the right to appear and speak at the meeting.
The vote will likely occur at the June 12 board meeting, Ryan said.
“We think we’re ready to proceed with the termination,” said Ryan. “The timing is now right that we can move forward.”
The move comes as the criminal charges against Kennedy remain unresolved. His next court date is for a pre-trial hearing on June 7 in Washtenaw County Trial Court.
Chuck Portelli, head of the Plymouth-Canton Education Association, said the teachers’ union stood in for Kennedy during the district’s internal investigation process.
The union leader said he couldn’t speak to the decision to fire Kennedy before a jury has its say.
“I’m not sure why they are releasing him before a conviction,” said Portelli.
Kennedy is charged with one count of using a computer to accost and solicit a minor for immoral purposes, a 10-year felony, and one count of using a computer to disseminate sexually explicit matter to a minor, a four-year felony. The crimes are not alleged to have occurred on school grounds.
