A veteran Clayton County middle school teacher on Tuesday denied allegations he abused his special-needs students, saying the paraprofessional who leveled the charges made them out of personal animus.
Testifying before a three-person tribunal that will help decide his fate, Adamson Middle School teacher David Vollmer said the accusations that he groped and tickled a male student, destroyed another's artwork and followed a female student into the bathroom were either false or misrepresented.
"I'm here to help the students," said Vollmer, specifically trained to work with extremely developmentally disabled children, many of whom can't speak. Asked if he ever behaved inappropriately with a child, Vollmer replied, "Never."
The final decision on whether Vollmer will be terminated, as recommended by Teresa Reese, a personnel review officer with the Clayton school district, will be made by the county School Board.
Vollmer's accuser, Monique Hall, first complained to school officials last September, soon after she was hired to work with one of the students in his class.
A month later, she alleged that Vollmer touched a boy's genitals while tucking in the student's shirt. In another incident, Reese said he was observed "on his knees in front of the male student with [the student's] pants down."
Vollmer said he can barely get on his knees because, he testified, there is no cartilage in his kneecaps. "It's very painful," he said, adding it's difficult for him to stand once he bends down.
Vollmer's attorney, Warren Fortson, called Hall a "sick woman ... obsessed with sex" in his closing argument.
The hearing, which concluded Tuesday, was "the most contentious I've ever experienced," said Fortson, 83, who sparred repeatedly with Scottdale attorney Stephanie Banks, appointed by the Clayton school district as the tribunal's independent arbiter.
"You're going to have to curtail your behavior with me," Banks told Fortson during Tuesday's proceedings. "It's going to hurt you more than it helps you."
Vollmer, meanwhile, grew increasingly testy under cross-examination by the school district's attorney Winston Denmark, who repeatedly implied that the teacher felt he was above questioning by his peers.
"He didn't have to answer to state of Georgia, to Ms. Hall ... he didn't have to answer to anybody," Denmark said. "Vollmer was my best witness. He admitted to tearing up the young man's artwork. He was defiant."
Vollmer was suspended by Clayton schools Superintendent Edmond Heatley in November following Reese's investigation. Fortson said his client, an Air Force veteran hired 12 years ago to teach at Adamson Middle, has a spotless record, a claim verified by Susan Read, a compliance specialist with the district.
Read said Tuesday, "I've never heard anything but positive comments about Mr. Vollmer."
His accuser had also brought charges against another paraprofessional in Vollmer's class, Pamela Casson, who was fired in November for allegedly slapping a student, an allegation supported by another teacher at Adamson.
Casson testified Tuesday that Hall "wanted my job," though, as Denmark noted, each instructor held the same title.
After he was formally charged by school officials, Vollmer responded with a letter blasting Hall's professionalism. On Tuesday he produced a photograph that allegedly showed her sleeping during school hours. He said he had not complained about Hall previously because he feared retribution.
"I've been in other situations where I complained about other teachers and nothing happened," Vollmer said.
The sheriff's office has investigated the allegations made against Vollmer and has released its findings to Clayton District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson.
Lawson has yet to announce whether charges will be filed against the longtime teacher.
Regardless of whether Vollmer is exonerated, Fortson, based on his previous experience representing teachers accused of sexual misconduct, told the tribunal his client "will never, ever get a job again."
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