Petitioner requests a new hearing before an unbiased fact finder and the imposition of a more appropriate penalty. Respondent denies petitioner's allegations and contends that petitioner has failed to properly serve the petition. Where, as here, a school district is named as party respondent, personal service shall be made by delivering a copy of the petition to the district clerk, to any trustee or member of the board of education, to the superintendent of schools, or to a person in the superintendent's office who has been designated by the board to accept service. Respondent provides the affidavit of Shirley Pardee, the district clerk, in which she states that she does not recall being served with the petition and that she believes she was out of the office attending a Christmas party and had not returned at the time the petition was allegedly served. She also states that she was unable to locate any copy of the petition after searching her office records.
Petitioner submits an affidavit of the process server who executed the affidavit of service.
Upon the record before me, I find that petitioner has properly served the petition upon respondent. Accordingly, I decline to undertake an investigation as requested by petitioner. In any event, I note that the district clerk in her affidavit merely states that she does not recall having been served with the petition and that she does not believe the district was served. Such statements suggest a potentially mistaken belief by the district clerk rather than willful perjury as petitioner alleges. I will now address the merits of the appeal.