Local News in Brief : Peggy Buckey Hearing

The state Commission on Teacher Credentialing began a hearing in Los Angeles Monday on an appeal by Peggy Ann Buckey, a former defendant in the McMartin Pre-School molestation case, for restoration of her credentials to teach handicapped children.

Buckey, a tenured teacher in the Anaheim School District, was suspended from her job and lost her credentials after she was charged in the McMartin case in early 1984. Buckey taught for five weeks in 1978 at the Manhattan Beach nursery founded by her grandmother, Virginia McMartin.

Criminal charges against Buckey, 32, were dropped two years later because of insufficient evidence, but the Anaheim school district refused to reinstate her, contending that her “moral fitness to teach” remains in doubt as a result of accusations made against her.

Five former students at the preschool, their parents, child-abuse experts and other witnesses are expected to testify at the hearing before administrative law Judge Ronald Gruen. The hearing, which may last up to a month, was originally to be closed to the public, but Gruen decided to open the proceedings, except when children are testifying.