Larry Neace's Hearing Date Set

You'll recall Larry Neace, the Dacula, Ga., high school physics teacher who was fired May 6 for refusing an order from his principal to raise the grade of a football player who'd slept in class. Neace employed a ten-year-old policy that every student signed at the beginning of the term to lower the grade of an assignment handed in by the student, whose parent later complained.

His attorney appealed, and although the board of education in Gwinnett County refused to overturn his dismissal, the state Board of Education will hear his case on July 26. A decision is expected within 25 days of the hearing.