Providence teacher absent for 10 years

Update: This story provides answers to many of the questions raised here.
Why would someone who hasn't set foot in Providence High for a decade be listed as a teacher there, earning more than $69,000 a year?

The question struck me as one of those  "too strange to be true"  rumors.  But this is the reason I check them out:  In this case, CMS confirms that a math teacher who's still listed on the Providence High web site and the 2013 CMS payroll has been on worker's comp leave since an injury that happened in 2003.

This raises a host of follow-up questions:  Why isn't this teacher on long-term disability or,  given that he's 71 years old,  retired?  How common is it for schools to have teachers on leave for years?  How many inactive teachers held onto jobs during the years when CMS was laying off active teachers by the hundreds?

CMS isn't answering. Neither is the state Department of Public Instruction.

This whole thing began when reporter Elisabeth Arriero went to Providence for another story last fall.  Faculty members asked if she knew the story behind the missing teacher, and she relayed the question to me. (We obviously have his name,  but I'm not using it to protect his privacy.)

After finding the name she gave me on the Providence online faculty listing and the 2012 payroll,
 I called a source at the school,  who confirmed that he has been gone for years.  His continuing presence on the roster is apparently a puzzle to the rank-and-file faculty.

I asked LaTarzja Henry, who was then head of communications, to check on his status. She reported back on the worker's comp leave from 2003.

I've heard of schools having to fill a gap for weeks, even months, when a teacher is seriously ill,  injured,  recovering from surgery or on maternity leave.  But I was flabbergasted to realize someone could be on leave for a decade. I followed up with questions about the broader context, including whether there's any time limit and how such extended leaves affect hiring and layoffs. I also requested a list of employees who have been on leave for more than a year.

Henry told me she had erred in releasing any information about the teacher's status because such actions are confidential.  And she said it wouldn't be possible to tally people on extended leave without searching individual files.

I emailed DPI spokeswoman Vanessa Jeter,  asking her to steer me to someone in the state who could either shed light on this situation or explain the concept of extended leaves. She referred me to CMS attorney George Battle. "Our people did not feel comfortable commenting on this issue,"  she replied.  "Generally,  leave issues are local board/central office issues.  I am not sure we would have any trend information, etc., to share."

By then, I was busy with other stories,  and frustrated that I wasn't getting enough information to give this any context.  I let it slide  --  but got curious again when we posted the 2013 payroll.   There's the absent math teacher,  making $69,369 a year.

There's been a lot of turnover at the top in CMS over the last few months, so I tried again,  emailing Battle, new Communications Chief Kathryn Block, new HR Chief Kelly Gwaltney and Providence Principal Tracey Harrill,  asking if anyone would explain this teacher's situation and tell me whether there are other teachers on similar extended leaves.

"Any payments received by (the teacher) have been and are being made in accordance with North Carolina law,"  Block replied.  "CMS strictly follows all state laws concerning employee compensation, retirement benefits and confidentiality of personnel records.  We cannot legally disclose any additional information about (the teacher’s) compensation without his written permission.  Please understand our need to honor the confidentiality of this situation."

I called the teacher at home,  and he said someone from CMS had told him I might ask him about this.  "I'm not at liberty to talk,"  he said.  "The school called and said I shouldn't make any comments."

State Rep. Bill Brawley,  a Matthews Republican,  read this post and says he has a pretty good idea what's going on.  Temporary total disability,  a worker's comp category that indicates an employee is totally disabled but might be able to return to work in the future,  has created a number of situations like this,  he said.

"We had cases of prison guards who had been on total temporary disability for 17 years and the prisons had to pay overtime to cover for them,"  Brawley said.

In 2011,  the legislature capped the length of time that disabled workers could collect under this category.  But Brawley said the cap only applies to people disabled after the revision.

I won't be able to sort out all the questions related to this right away.  I've been looking up workers comp and finding contradictory information;  apparently there's a reason HR people and lawyers get paid to wade through these regulations.  But the case of the absent teacher raises a question for taxpayers and employees:  Is this system working the way it should for all involved?