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Gregory Hamilton, an Elk Rapids High School guidance counselor since 1986, was also charged with insubordination relating to the creation of that class, according to the charges.

Hamilton was suspended with pay by a board vote of 7-0 on Jan. 29 after a closed session requested by the counselor was held to discuss the charges. Hamilton has filed a claim of appeal with the state tenure commission, but a hearing date has not been set, said attorney Michael Shoudy, who is representing the counselor.

Hamilton was placed on paid administrative leave on Dec. 14, according to a letter from district superintendent Jon Hoover to Hamilton. He was put on leave after a Dec. 1 disciplinary hearing at which he was charged with falsifying a grade report and official transcript by placing a class on those documents, according to a Dec. 19 letter from Hoover to the counselor.

Hoover filed the tenure charges with board secretary Sherry Steffen and in his letter outlines both the incidents of misconduct and insubordination. Hamilton was approached during the 2005- 06 school year by a male student who "asked him whether there was a way in which he could teach himself Algebra 3," according to the charges. The charges state that Hamilton asked three math teachers, including math department head Dave Parks, about the possibility of creating an independent study.

"Each teacher which Mr. Hamilton approached indicated that independent study for that class was inappropriate, and that they would not approve of same ... Despite being informed that independent study was inappropriate for that course, Mr. Hamilton nevertheless forged a record 'enrolling' the student in a fictitious Algebra 3 course, designating Mr. Richard Patterson, a high school mathematics teacher, as the course's purported instructor," Hoover states in the charges.

According to a letter written from Patterson to high school principal Steve Gallagher, he was approached by Hamilton in January 2006 to supervise the independent study.

"I told Mr. Hamilton that, for several reasons, it was not possible to do independent study for Algebra 3," he states in the letter. In September or October, while checking a grading program, he discovered his name on an Algebra 3 class, "which was strange since I had never taught Algebra 3," according to the letter.

After checking with Parks to see if he had given permission for the class, Patterson found that Parks had not, according to the letter.

In a Nov. 30 letter from Hamilton to Patterson, Parks, Hoover and Gallagher, he wrote that "I had good intentions in setting this up for a student who wanted to learn more about math."

"Mistakes were made in the way this was handled after it was initiated, as Mr. Patterson didn't agree to oversee the class after initial discussion about it ... I can understand that some might perceive this issue as underhanded, unprofessional and even unethical. It was never my intentions to do anything but help out a kid who had an honest desire to acquire more math skills," Hamilton states in the letter.

According to the tenure charges, Hamilton was also charged with insubordination for establishing the class despite knowing his actions "were contrary to School District standards and policies."

The tenure charges relating to misconduct also include an incident that occurred during the 2004-05 school year in which a dissatisfied parent approached Hamilton after her daughter had received none of the classes she had selected. According to a letter written by the parent in November, the parent and her daughter met with Hamilton and his student intern.

"Hamilton asked my daughter and his student intern to leave the room, and he told me that he could 'make my daughter's next few years easy or hard' and that it was in my best interest to get along ... My daughter heard him threaten me, because, as she said, 'he was yelling so loud it came through the door,' " she states.

Hamilton has been suspended by the board until one of three events occurs: Hamilton fails to contest the charges; a preliminary decision and order discharging or demoting Hamilton is issued by an administrative law judge of the state tenure commission; or, if a preliminary decision and order reinstates Hamilton, until a final decision and order is rendered by the state tenure commission, according to the resolution to suspend Hamilton.

The process could take several months, as outlined in the Teachers' Tenure Act section 38.104.