Intemperance
Intemperance is one of the reasons (causes) stated in 24 PS § 11-1122 for which a professional or temporary professional employee can be dismissed from employment by the school board. It is also conduct for which the Professional Standards and Practices Commission (Commission) may impose discipline on a professional educator as stated in § 5(a)(11) of Act 141 of 1973 (P.L. 397). Under the power given by § 5(a)(11), the Commission adopted Chapter 237 of 22 PA Code to define terms, one of which is intemperance.
Dismissal
Section 11-1122 of The Public School Code of 1949 does not define intemperance, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court judicially considered "intemperance" in Horosko v. Mount Pleasant Township School District, 335 Pa. 369, 6 A.2d 866, cert. denied, 308 U.S. 553, 60 S.Ct. 101, 84 L.Ed. 465 (1939):
Nor need intemperance be confined strictly to overindulgence in alcoholic liquors-temperance implies moderation, and a person may be intemperate in conduct without being an alcoholic addict.
Although it may include alcohol or drug use, intemperance also refers to the loss of self-control by the professional educator, as stated by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in Belasco v. Board of Public Education, 87 Pa. Cmwlth. 5, 486 A.2d 538 (1985):
The same conclusion follows with regard to the Board's finding of "intemperance." We agree with the Secretary's interpretation that a loss of self- control, which may be inferred from the use of excessive force, is the main element of intemperance. There is no showing of loss of self-control or of excessive force in the actions of either Petitioner.
Discipline
The scope and effect of Chapter 237 of 22 Pa Code is stated in 22 Pa Code § 237.2. Cruelty is defined for the purposes of discipline imposed upon a professional educator by the Commission in 22 Pa Code § 237.5:
Intemperance is a loss of self-control or self-restraint, which may result from excessive conduct.
School Code 24 PS § 11-1122
Regulations of the State Board of Education 22 PA Code § 237.4