Dalton appealed the termination but later turned in his resignation for the purpose of retirement, said his attorney Mark Deters.
“He had agreed to retire which would have terminated his contract but that wasn’t good enough,” said Deters, who added that the district could have saved money by accepting the resignation instead of proceeding with a termination hearing.
“This is a waste of taxpayer money for Southeastern,” he said. “He’s retired, the situation’s moot in the sense that he quits.”
Board President Rick Burton said the board opted to pursue the termination to ensure that Dalton wouldn’t seek employment with another Ohio school district.
“We didn’t want to put another school district possibly in that jeopardy,” Burton said.
In April, Dalton used a board-paid cell phone to email sexually explicit photos of himself and solicit sexual favors to someone who claimed to be 26-years-old, according to a hearing referee’s report.
After the photos were sent, the recipient told Dalton he was 16-years-old and lived with his parents in Springfield.
Dalton told the person he still wanted to meet and asked to speak to him by telephone to decide “where and when,” according to the report.
The person was actually a South Charleston police officer communicating with Dalton under an assumed name.
Clark County Prosecutor Andy Wilson confirmed in August that his office had investigated Dalton but did not find evidence of a criminal violation.
Dalton had been laid off at the end of last school year in a series of budget cuts but the termination ended his rights to return to the district if a position opened during this school year.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0373 or mgildow@coxohio.com.
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