A civil trial is expected to last all week involving a discrimination suit filed in July 2014 by a former Jefferson City Public Schools (JCPS) instructor against the school district.
Jury selection took place Monday and testimony is expected to start today.
An attorney representing the schools has indicated former journalism teacher Karen Ray's lawsuit originally may have stemmed from a misunderstanding.
Tom Mickes, JCPS's attorney of record for the case, noted that prior to Ray 's decision to leave the district, she was the one and only teacher responsible for overseeing the school's two main student publications - the Red & Black and the Marcullus.
Mickes suggested that with increased enrollment the desire was to open up more sections for students and the district's plan was that Ray would be in charge of all those sections.
Mickes suggested that was why Ray was asked to train a younger teacher who would help her with the program.
Ray's lawsuit against the district alleges she was subjected to age and gender discrimination and harassment by school administrators.
According to the lawsuit, Ray was employed as a faculty member - teaching all journalism classes from beginning to advanced and serving as faculty adviser for the school newspaper and yearbook publications - when former Principal Jeff Dodson stated she was being replaced as newspaper adviser to "relieve some of the stress of the job."
Ray's suit contends Dodson said he was giving the newspaper to a male teacher who lacked the proper certification to teach the courses.
One of the contentions of Ray's lawsuit is that Dodson threatened to withhold a positive recommendation if she did not agree to train the less-experienced staff member.
Ray's petition contends she resigned on April 5, 2013, because of a hostile work environment, but JCPS's response denies that was the case.
The district's answer points out Ray wrote an email to administrators indicating the No. 1 reason she was leaving the district "is the fact that she misses her family too much to stay two and a half hours away from them."
According to the brief, Ray also stated: "I appreciate all of your help and support the three and a half years I was here," and, "I appreciate (Dodson's) kind words to (Nixa High School Principal Mark McGehee). It means a lot to me, and know that I will always help you in kind if you ever need me."
The school district's answer also offered a different interpretation of an altercation that allegedly occurred outside Ray's classroom door.
According to her lawsuit, Ray attempted to open her door to return to her classroom when an assistant principal put his hand on the door, shut it and told her, "You're not going anywhere!"
A second assistant principal placed his hand on Ray's shoulder, stating, "You need to calm down!"
Ray interpreted these events as harassing and intimidating. In contrast, the school district admits the request to calm down was said in "a concerned tone."
It's not clear if the dispute stemmed from who would receive the extracurricular stipends.
According to the 2014 stipend schedule, a teacher with 11 or more years of experience would receive $4,388 to serve as newspaper sponsor and $4,388 to serve as yearbook sponsor. The stipends are comparable to the last year Ray worked in the district.
Ray's lawsuit contends the staffing changes meant she was losing the stipend the newspaper class provided. It also contends the work environment caused her to seek employment in Nixa at a salary $10,000 less than her Jefferson City pay.
The school district denies both those allegations.
Mickes noted administrators did hope Ray would have continued to be a leader of the school's journalism program, and he added if she was displeased with how events unfolded, she could have turned to the district's grievance process for a remedy.