EPSB Suspends Orazen's License

This from H-L:

The Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board has released an order temporarily suspending the license of a former Nicholas County principal who was acquitted of charges that he assaulted a student in February 2009.

Joseph F. Orazen was Nicholas County High School's principal when he was accused of slamming student Dusty Green, then 15, to the ground. During Orazen's trial in December, defense attorneys said the boy was cursing and yelling at the principal. After 20 minutes of deliberations, a Nicholas County jury found Orazen not guilty of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

KSN&C Backstory:

Kentucky School News and Commentary: Principal Charged With ...
Feb 09, 2009
Nicholas County High School Principal Joe Orazen is accused of throwing a student to the ground, after an argument over a cell phone. The altercation with 15-year old Dusty Green was caught on school surveillance cameras. ...

Kentucky School News and Commentary: Orazen's Temperament
Feb 09, 2009
WLEX 18 has learned more about the Nicholas County principal who was captured on surveillance video in a physical confrontation with a students. Joe Orazen was arrested last Wednesday and charged with assaulting student Dusty Green, ...

Lose Cool - Lose Job

Feb 20, 2009

Nicholas County school spokesman Hank Bond declined to answer any questions in relation to Joseph Orazen after the school released a statement Wednesday afternoon that said the district will make no other comment or answer any questions ...

Orazen pleads not guilty to assault charge
Mar 05, 2009
It is not a hard to see how Orazen could have felt a direct challenge to his authority; a serious concern for a principal. But was he really threatened? At present, that argument hasn't been supported but may take shape in court on ...

Arguments heard in former Nicholas principal's assault trial
Dec 18, 2009
Did former Nicholas County Principal Joe Orazen use his knee to break the fall of Dusty Green, thus protecting him? Or did he deliver a threatened bodyslam just out of view of students in the school's lobby (but within view of the ...

Jury finds ex-principal not guilty of assault

This from the Herald-Leader:

ACQUITTED AFTER ALTERCATION

WITH BOY, 15,

OUTSIDE NICHOLAS CO. SCHOOL

A former Central Kentucky principal was found not guilty Friday afternoon of assaulting a 15-year-old boy in February. A Nicholas County jury of four men and two women returned the verdict, finding Joseph F. Orazen not guilty of fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor, after about 20 minutes of deliberations.

Orazen had been accused of slamming Dusty Green to the ground outside Nicholas County High School on Feb. 10. The boy had approached Orazen, asking to go inside the school to get his jacket, and was cursing and yelling at the principal, defense attorneys said.

Orazen was terminated from his position at the school, but his lawyers say they are appealing that decision.

Following the verdict, Orazen said he will probably not return to Nicholas County High School, but he would like to continue his career in education.

Orazen said he was relieved to finally be able to tell his story on the stand and to reporters following the verdict. He said he never considered doing anything other than seeing the case played out in court, even if it meant spending a year in jail, which is the maximum time for a misdemeanor. "Because I knew where my heart was," he said....

Arguments heard in former Nicholas principal's assault trial

Did former Nicholas County Principal Joe Orazen use his knee to break the fall of Dusty Green, thus protecting him? Or did he deliver a threatened bodyslam just out of view of students in the school's lobby (but within view of the school's security camera)?

Was Dusty Green a knife or gun toting terrorist deserving of comparison to Dylan Kliebold? Or was he just a mouthy kid with behavior problems?

Is Joe Orazen a hero or a bully? ...threatened or threatening? ...a hot head or a good guy who lost his cool?

Here's the KSN&C Backstory.

This from the Herald-Leader:

A Central Kentucky high school principal accused of assaulting a student in February restrained the student because he felt threatened, and the principal did not know whether the boy had a knife or gun, his attorneys said Thursday.

Defense attorneys told the jury that Dusty Green, then 15, cursed at Nicholas County High School principal Joseph F. Orazen and refused to leave school property.

Orazen's attorney, David Franklin, said the principal didn't want to let Green back inside the school because he feared there could have been a violent outbreak like at Heath High School in Paducah or Columbine High School in Colorado. Those two schools had tragic shootings in the late 1990s in which students were killed and injured.

Franklin said Orazen was justified in his actions.

If Orazen truly had reason to believe that Green was a potential terrorist, as Orazen's attorney now argues, why was he allowed to sit in in-school suspension all day? Did Orazen sit with him? Was a SWAT team present?

A 17-year-old female student testified that the video was not an accurate portrayal of what happened because it's difficult to see the individuals in the footage. She said Green was "moving a lot" and Orazen was trying to restrain him.

Robert Hopkins, the high school's football coach, said he watched as Orazen took Green to in-school suspension that day. He testified that Green was "very disrespectful" and "mouthy, but not violent."

Orazen's trial continues today. He's still got some 'splainin' to do.

Principal Charged With Assault Due In Court

This from WKYT:

A principal accused of assaulting a student is due back in court Wednesday.

Nicholas County High School Principal Joe Orazen is accused of throwing a student to the ground, after an argument over a cell phone.

The altercation with 15-year old Dusty Green was caught on school surveillance cameras.

Orazen has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He is on paid suspension from the school system.

Orazen pleads not guilty to assault charge

This from the Herald-Leader:

The lawyer representing a suspended Central Kentucky principal says his client felt threatened during an altercation with a student last month.

Nicholas County High School principal Joseph F. Orazen, 35, appeared in Nicholas District Court for an arraignment Wednesday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault.

"He's devastated," said Orazen's attorney, David Franklin of Lexington. "It's a bad situation he tried to avoid at all costs and couldn't do it."

KSN&C Backstory:

According to Franklin, Green refused to leave school property when he returned after school to pick up a confiscated cell phone, and "He wasn't going to take no for an answer."

"Believe me, there's a whole lot more to this than a 10-second video," Franklin said.

We do not yet have Orazen's side of the story in any detail, but the dispute seems to have revolved around whether Orazen was,

• advised by Green
• challenged by Green, or
• threatened by Green

Dusty Green described the altercation to WLEX this way,

"He's like - 'Don't make me slam you in front of everybody' - and I was like...'I don't think you can do that'. ...not saying, like, he couldn't, like, I don't think you're allowed."

But that is only the boy's story, and it seems clear that he was - at a minimum - not following school rules, and not following directions. Defiance is how situations get escalated.

After 26 years as a school principal, listening to all kinds of kids talk about all kinds of behaviors, I'm pretty sure of one thing - with the rarest of exceptions, when a student is in trouble, he's going to tell you that part of the truth that makes him look good. He's also going to leave some stuff out.

It is not a hard to see how Orazen could have felt a direct challenge to his authority; a serious concern for a principal. But was he really threatened? At present, that argument hasn't been supported but may take shape in court on April 1st.

Orazen's biggest problem may be whether or not he gets the benefit of the doubt from the court.

In most cases, people understand how difficult it is to work with some students. (I can't tell you how many parents [usually Dads] who told me they wouldn't have my job for all the tea in China.) In most cases, the principal should get the benefit of the doubt. But prior complaints filed against Orazen may throw that into question.

Since 2006, at least seven formal grievances were filed against Orazen citing angry confrontations.

Incredibly, Orazen was once suspended without pay for four days after refusing three requests from his own superintendent for a meeting! How Orazen kept his principalship after that stunt is astounding.

Superintendent Greg Reid might have chosen to slam Orazen instead of suspending him. But he couldn't.

Orazen's Temperament

WLEX 18 has learned more about the Nicholas County principal who was captured on surveillance video in a physical confrontation with a students.

Joe Orazen was arrested last Wednesday and charged with assaulting student Dusty Green, but this is not the first time Orazen has been accused of getting violent.

WLEX Video Here.

Orazen was suspended without pay for four days after the security camera video made national news,

LEX 18 has learned Orazen was also suspended without pay for four days in 2007, after Superintendent Greg Reid said on three occasions Orazen refused to meet with him.

Since 2006, at least seven formal public grievances have been filed against Orazen citing other angry confrontations...