FAIRFIELD — A veteran Fairfield Middle School teacher has been suspended without pay, the superintendent said, after a school investigation showed he was sending inappropriate e-mail to other teachers from his school computer.

        Science teacher James Corwin will not return to the classroom until next fall, when he will be reassigned to another school, said Superintendent Robert Farrell, who suspended Mr. Corwin April 11. Mr. Corwin has been a teacher in the district for 26 years.

        Under a memorandum of understanding unanimously approved by the Fairfield Board of Education on Monday, Mr. Corwin also submitted his resignation, effective at the end of the 2004-05 school year — the year he becomes eligible for retirement.

        “These e-mails did not involve any illegal action or involve any student,” Mr. Farrell said. "But some of the material was inappropriate and some of it was sent and received at improper times.”

        An investigation began in January after school officials received a complaint from a teacher, Mr. Farrell said. Seven teachers besides Mr. Corwin are also being investigated. But those teachers are thought to have only received the e-mail — consisting of jokes and messages — without reporting the content, which is against school policy.

        “The others were of a lesser degree. They were receiving it — not forwarding it — and the discipline will be of a lesser nature,” Mr. Farrell said. "It's still under investigation.”

        During a 30-day period, Mr. Corwin sent 20 to 30 inappropriate e-mails to other teachers, Mr. Farrell said. Fairfield's policy forbids employees from using e-mail for anything other than educational or administrative purposes, Mr. Farrell said.

        As a result of the incident, Mr. Farrell said clarifications of the district policy on computer use and e-mail have been sent to teachers and the Fairfield Classroom Teachers Association has contacted its members about the policy.

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