Until two weeks ago, it looked like embattled Perry Meridian High School English teacher Connie Heerman would be allowed by the Perry Township School Board to resign and retire. But the school board took the proposal off the table last month.

Instead, the school board voted unanimously to suspend her without pay for the rest of this semester through 2009. School board member Steve Maple says they heard eleven hours of testimony before reaching their decision.

Terry Rice, president of the Perry Township Education Association, says the severity of the suspension is unprecedented and contends it amounts to not making a decision at all.

Heerman’s 27-year teaching career hit a brick wall last fall when the board suspended her for using the controversial book "The Freedom Writers Diary" in her classroom. The school board contends she didn't follow the rules for getting permission to use it.