Hearings to begin Thursday for Burlington HS guidance director

The guidance director at Burlington High School will face his accusers Thursday.

Mario Macias is facing seven counts of misconduct filed by the Vermont Agency of Education. State investigators say Macias falsified student records, created a hostile working environment and "demonstrated incompetence" in his work. He's also accused of inappropriate contact with one of the student witnesses in the case. The secretary of education is recommending that Macias' educator license be permanently revoked.

The revocation hearing is extremely rare. The education department receives hundreds of complaints about educators every year. This is only the second time since the current educator oversight system went into place a decade ago that a case has proceeded to an administrative hearing.

The hearing is similar to a trial, with both sides calling witnesses to present evidence and a three-member panel acting as a jury. It will be conducted in open session, but testimony from students will be heard in secret. The hearing is not expected to end Thursday and might not resume until next month or later.