Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
PARK CITY — A Park City High School dance teacher is fighting to keep her teaching license, which could be suspended for two years.
Melanie Hiatt is also pushing back against the school district that put her on leave before a final decision is even made.
The allegations that could lead to Hiatt's license suspension date back several years, are not criminal in nature, and are not even connected to the school where she currently works. She told KSL-TV she believes she should have been allowed to stay in the classroom, especially this week.
"This is my busiest week, or busiest two weeks, of my entire school year," Hiatt said Tuesday, "and they removed me from it."
Under investigation
Hiatt has taught at Park City High School since 2023. Lately, she's been preparing her students for an end-of-year dance showcase. But last week, the Park City School District put her on paid administrative leave – not because of anything she's done there, but because of an investigation into allegations at Providence Hall in Herriman, where she used to teach.
"It's been very frustrating," Hiatt said.
According to a report from the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission, which serves as an advisory panel to the Utah State Board of Education, Hiatt communicated with students at Providence Hall by text and social media against school policy.
The panel found Hiatt's communication could be "blunt, manipulative, and even disparaging," and that she "did not maintain professional boundaries with students and blurred the line between acting as their teacher versus acting as their surrogate parent, counselor, friend, and confidante."
While noting the allegations against Hiatt "involved no sexual misconduct and did not rise to the level of any criminal violations," the panel recommended the state board suspend her teaching license for two years.
"Do I think I deserve this?" Hiatt asked. "No. One thousand percent, no. I've never pretended to be perfect, but I do not deserve a two-year suspension. It seems heavy considering the weight of the allegations."
Concerns about process
Hiatt and her attorneys argue the panel's investigation was flawed, relying too heavily on one former student's testimony and ignoring evidence suggesting that Providence Hall didn't implement a formal ban on teacher-student texting until 2023.
Hiatt also questions Park City's decision to put her on leave before the state board has even decided anything. "I felt like I was guilty before being heard," she said.
Late last week, Hiatt went to court to try to get the Park City School District to temporarily reinstate her so she could lead students through the end-of-year dance showcase, but a judge said no.
During a court hearing Friday, Joan Andrews, an attorney for the school district, defended putting Hiatt on leave since her license could soon be suspended.
"It might be a conservative approach, but it's well within the discretion of the district to make that decision," Andrews told the judge.
But Hiatt insists the whole ordeal is only hurting her students.
"They're not able to communicate with me. I'm not able to communicate with them," Hiatt said. "I essentially fell off the planet, and nobody knows why."
The Utah State Board of Education is scheduled to meet on Thursday to decide if Hiatt's teaching license will be suspended or not. That's the same day the dance showcase at Park City High School is set to begin.
"I'm still hopeful that the board's going to do the right thing and allow me to go back," Hiatt said.
The Park City School District declined to comment.
