Chelan County Superior Court Judge Lesley Allan heard former PE teacher Ed Knaggs’ termination appeal this morning, but needs more time before she will make a ruling on whether or not he will be reinstated with back pay.

In attendance were Knaggs and his attorney Quentin Batjer. Wenatchee School District’s attorney Charles Leitch represented the district with Superintendent Brian Flones. Director of Human Resources Lisa Turner attended as well.

Allan described the District’s decision of putting Knaggs into the situation of doing multiple things at once — PE teacher, lifeguard, and swimming instructor — as “completely inappropriate.”

According to Leitch, the District has accepted partial responsibility for not establishing appropriate policies, however they are disputing the conduct of Knaggs, including his failure to follow longstanding, yet unwritten policies.

The court brought up the issue of not having a lifeguard on duty, as required by state law. Allan referred to Hearing Officer William Etter’s findings of fact, which concluded that the student  drowning would have been unlikely if a lifeguard was on duty.

Allan will take more time to review the case and her decision will come in writing sometime after 30 days.