Local News in Brief : Fullerton : District Will Appeal Teacher’s Reinstatement

The Fullerton School District will appeal a state commission’s ruling that it should reinstate teacher King Steadman, who was arrested twice on suspicion of lewd conduct.

“We felt it was the best thing to do at this point,” Trustee Irene Armstrong said Thursday.

The school board meeting voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to appeal a Feb. 6 ruling by the state Commission on Professional Competency, which held that the district erred when it dismissed Steadman after parents protested to trustees.

The district has 30 days after the commission’s ruling to file an appeal in Superior Court, according to Trustee Fred Mason, who cast the lone vote against the appeal.

Last March, the board reinstated Steadman, after he served a 6-month suspension. But in September, it voted to dismiss him after parents packed a board meeting and complained.

“The only difference I can see between March and September is the public outcry and the newspaper publicity,” Mason said.

Parents wanted Steadman dismissed after discovering that he had been arrested at a Fontana adult bookstore in 1987 on suspicion of lewd conduct. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 1-day in jail and given 2 years’ probation, according to San Bernardino County court records.

In 1981, Steadman pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace after being arrested in the men’s restroom of Hillcrest Park in Fullerton on suspicion of lewd conduct.