The Pennsylvania State Education Association said it is planning to file a grievance on behalf of a Hermitage man who was suspended without pay from the Grove City Area School District on the grounds of "immorality" among other things.

"They have dismissed Mr. Konnen because of a personal Web site he created as a college student before he was ever hired by the district," PSEA attorney Tod Park, said of Dan Konnen, 24, who was a music teacher and assistant band director in the high school and Hillview Intermediate Center prior to his suspension in March. "It may come down to a First Amendment issue. We are planning on filing a grievance -- absolutely."

But Grove City schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Post said the school board's decision Monday night to begin dismissal proceedings was just "partly to do with a Web site," but said he could not reveal any more information because it is a personnel issue.

"It's part of it, which would make one believe there are other things," Post said. "We have a procedure for following up on any type of allegations made against our staff or actual observations made by us."

Park, who was speaking on behalf of Konnen, described the Web site as "containing no pornographic material. This is it. He talks about who he is. There are pictures of him fully clothed in (Hickory High School) band camp. There's horoscopes and jokes people sent him that he put on (the site), his favorites songs, marching band conditioning, all appropriate pictures."

The PSEA lawyer said some jokes center on a body part, a scene from a South Park episode, and a joke about a man named Jack Schitt, but "I suspect that this would not be blocked by a screen or filter. Nothing that uses the f-word, no inappropriate pictures," he said. "He didn't tell the high school students about it. He didn't encourage them to access it. My understanding is that a couple of students had done a Yahoo or Google search with his name. The things that are on here ... most high school students have access to far more objectionable material."

He also said that the Web site had not been updated since September 2001. "Can you be fired for something you did before the district hired you?" asked Park.

Konnen was hired last August as a music teacher and assistant band director. During 2001-02, he was an assistant band director with a supplemental contract, Post said.

Park and Post also explained that the words used by the school board Monday night -- "immorality, incompetence, intemperance, persistent negligence and persistent and willful violation of the school laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania" -- were taken from the school code to be used for the purpose of legally firing Konnen. "Those words are statutory grounds for dismissing teachers under the Pennsylvania school code, especially in this particular situation," Park said. "The school code reasons for firing a teacher are so incredibly broad that they usually take one offense and fit it into many categories."

"I'm very comfortable that we are following procedure as we have in other cases," Post said.

But Park thinks the district is blowing the Web site out of proportion and said Konnen was never asked to shut down the Web site. "I don't believe there was ever a directive," the PSEA attorney said.

"That's their feeling," Post said. "But I have no comment on that."

Konnen is a recent graduate of Grove City College and an alumnus of Hickory High School in Hermitage.

No criminal complaints have been filed against Konnen, Grove City Police Chief Dean Osborne said Tuesday

Once the PSEA files a grievance on Konnen's behalf, the case will go before an arbiter, Park and Post said.

"We'll move forward to the hearing stage, which looks like it will be before the arbitrator, by their choice," Post said. "I think it's important that the hearing be held. And of course we are required to follow the law. That's important that we do that."

Post said if an arbiter rules in favor of Konnen, the school board could appeal. "Either side could appeal an arbitrator's award to the Mercer County courthouse, whether Mr. Konnen was uncomfortable or the school board was uncomfortable," he said. "It's just a process and we have to follow it and we'll see where it ends."

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Sherris Moreira-Byers at sbyers@sharonherald.com