P E Y T O N W O L C O T T |
| h o w w e t a k e b a c k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n -- o n e p e r s o n , o n e q u e s t i o n , o n e s c h o o l a t a t i m e . Copyright 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott |
| Commentary |
| N E W L Y U P D A T E D |
| HOW IMPORTANT ARE SUPES' PRIVATE LIVES? By Peyton Wolcott - UPDATED July 1, 2006 - 11:30 p.m. |
| Is what a superintendent does behind the front door of his/her home his/her own business? How relevant are his/her personal habits and proclivities, faults and failings? What about incidents of lawbreaking not directly involving his/her own students? As now-retired superintendent J. Michael Maloney writes, "The personal scrutiny by the public is well known by most superintendents. What has not been widely understood is how it affects the way the school district's chief executive is perceived by the board of education. While most of us undoubtedly believe the connection between our professional effectiveness as school leaders and what we do in our personal lives has no place in official school board assessments, evidence suggests that boards make that link concrete and clear." (SOURCE--March 1999/The District Administrator, pub. AASA) So, on the one hand, much is at stake for superintendents when school boards link their supes' private and professional lives--jobs, income and careers are on the line. But on the other we have seen so many cases of superintendents receiving probation for what appear to be to most of us serious crimes, former Bremond ISD supe Kenneth Johnson's sentencing Monday to five years in prison being a notable exception. When things go bad in districts, the first statement released generally is of the "let's put the past behind us and move forward" variety. Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling no doubt would have preferred such a course of action over a post-Enron jury trial. Where does the buck stop for superintendents? And at what point are superintendents and other administrators denied do-overs? |
| Darryl Dean's progression from school superintendent |
| To post-arrest mug shot . . . . |
| . . . . to day in court. (PHOTOS/WXIA-TV) |
| CASE STUDY #1: EARNEST DARRYL DEAN (GA) A former prison guard turned Pike County superintendent of schools, Dean was "sentenced to three months in prison on charges of computer child pornography and child exploitation. Earnest Darryl Dean, of Zebulon, was a 43-year-old superintendent last March when he was arrested after being accused of using the Internet to entice what he thought was a 15-year-old into a sexual encounter. Instead, the correspondent was an undercover police officer, authorities said. During an Internet sex sting operation, Peachtree City police had searched Dean's office and found condoms, pornographic videotapes and a package of a prescription drug sold to enhance sexual performance. Dean was originally released on a $25,000 bond, under condition that he couldn't access the Internet nor contact any children under the age of 16, except his own. But after going on a trip with his girlfriend and her 10-year-old child, Dean had a motion for bond recalled. After the judge revised the conditions, he was able to post a $55,000 bond on Aug. 19. Dean, who had been superintendent for two years in the largely rural county, about 40 miles south of Atlanta, also lost his teaching certificate." (SOURCE--AP/Griffin Daily News) |
| Arrested at school during meeting Dean "used school phones and computers to chat during work hours with 'Holly,' 15—the same age as one of his two daughters at the time. His wife told authorities she had never seen him using the computer at home. In his e-mails, Dean was clearly aware he could get in trouble. He once wrote that he had been 'thinking about 2 things, loosing [sic] everything I have for [having sex with] a 15 year old, and then thinking about how much I wold love to train [you to have sex].' His e-mails were disturbing and aggressive, prompting police to arrest him during a meeting at his office in Zebulon before a group of stunned principals. Police found pornographic images on his computers; in his office drawer, they found Viagra pills and an empty box of condoms. Police also discovered a 'black book' with contact information for men and women that Dean talked to. They put the number at 'somewhere between a hundred and a thousand.' " (SOURCE--Saeed Ahmed & Kathy Jefcoats/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) |
| More below (pink box) re Peachtree City, GA's Internet predator sting operation |
| CASE STUDY #2: MICHAEL A. COSGRIFF (MA/NH) Then-Northampton Public Schools supe Cosgriff's problems appear to have started the night of June 29, 2004 when he had an argument with his live-in girlfriend [name deleted at request of this individual] [newspaper account here] then watched an action movie starring Steven Seagal in the Southampton home they shared, then confronted [name deleted] with a silver handgun which he pointed at her waist before pulling the gun's slide back, a movement similar to cocking a gun. Although Cosgriff was initially charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, the charge was dropped after [name deleted] declined to testify. (SOURCE--The Republican) In accepting Cosgriff's resignation shortly thereafter, Northampton committee members "also voted to pay off all of his accrued sick time and vacation time. Committee vice- chairwoman Lisa Minnick declined to say how much Cosgriff will be paid under that arrangement, but said paying off accrued leave is standard procedure when a school employee resigns." (SOURCE--Ryan Davis/Daily Hampshire Gazette) It was announced in December that "Cosgriff will be keeping the more than $16,000 in unemployment benefits he received from the city after his resignation." His salary as Northampton PS supe was $99,700. (Ibid.) |
| Michael A. Cosgriff |
| Fourteen months later, "saying the state should educate people better about gun storage requirements, former school superintendent Michael A. Cosgriff pleaded guilty...to improperly storing weapons in his home." Cosgriff was sentenced to a year of probation and has since sold the guns to a dealer. (Ibid.) |
| From Massachusetts to New Hampshire Cosgriff's new job at the 400-student Lincoln-Woodstock Cooperative School District in New Hampshire appears to have hit a momentary snag last June when the board told him he first needed to clear up his weapons charges which he was able to do in time to assume the Lin-Wood superintendency, where he currently enjoys a two-year $80,000 per year contract. (SOURCES--WHYN-AM, The Republican) Cosgriff's attorney told the court last August that Cosgriff expected "to continue living at his 3 Beccari Lane home in Southampton, spending only Monday through Friday in New Hampshire...in asking that Cosgriff not be required to report frequently in person to probation." Cosgriff has been reported by the Porsche Club of America's North Country Region to have purchased a membership in that group, which covers all of New Hampshire; annual memberships are priced at $42. More here: http://www.ncr-pca.org/northlander/2005/2005-12.pdf |
| Lincoln-Woodstock PS (New Hampshire) |
| Property records re 54 Pequot Point Road in Westfield, Massachusetts: http://www.businesswest.com/pdf/realestate8.05 a.pdf Property records re 3 Beccari Lane home in Southampton, Massachusetts: http://www.businesswest.com/pdf/realestate08.0 2.pdf |
| INTERESTING PORSCHE CLUB FACTS The Porsche Club of America's "North Country Region (NCR) covers all of New Hampshire, and is one of the 18 regions which together form Zone 1 of the Porsche Club of America (PCA). NCR has almost 500 members and hosts many events including Drivers Education, Autocross, Rallies, and Technical Sessions, as well as several different social events." (SOURCE--Porsche Club of America) |
| CASE STUDY #3: THOMAS BYRNES (MO) Hard to imagine, but just last August then-supe Tom Byrnes' biggest apparent worry was whether construction would be completed on time on three new schools in his district. The former 1996 Missour Milken Family Foundation "National Educator Awards" winner, Byrnes was still serving as superintendent of the Wentzville R-IV School District in Missouri at the time of his arrest six months later for stalking a district employee and offering to pay her $200 a week to have sex with him. |
| Frontier MS (PHOTO/KSDK) |
| Events leading up to arrest for stalking, patronizing prostitution "Byrnes was arrested outside the woman's Lake Saint Louis home in early February. The woman had gone to police about a week earlier and was recording conversations before the arrest. Not realizing police were setting up a sting operation, Byrnes had already given her $200 in cash and planned to meet her at the home to have sex, police said. When he was arrested, police found sex toys and personal lubricant in the trunk of his car. The woman wrote in a statement to police that Byrnes first started acting inappropriately toward her in 2004 after she interviewed for a job she didn't get. When she asked why, he said she was "too cute and little," the statement said. In March 2005, he called her to his office to talk about another job and he ended up telling her details of his sex life and asked about hers. 'At the end of that conversation he told me if I said anything to anyone I would lose my job,' she wrote. In the following months, he continued to talk to her about personal issues and asked her out for drinks, saying his daughter could baby-sit her young daughter, the woman wrote. Byrnes told her she was "sexy" and "hot," and asked her about her recent divorce, she wrote. After offering the woman money for sex, she told police, Byrnes said: 'I made you an offer to sweeten your life. I'm willing to give you what you need for what I need in return.' " (SOURCE--Valerie Schremp Hahn/St. Louis Post-Dispatch) WalMart grant check "The report said Byrnes offered to increase the woman's salary and arrange to have a summer school program she organized at the location she chose. The woman eventually contacted police, who asked her to record her conversations with Byrnes. In one conversation...he discussed ways to pay her with district and grant money, noting that she could do what she wanted with a grant check the district received from Wal-Mart. Prosecutors don't believe he used district money." (Ibid.) |
| Byrnes' 1996 Milken Family Foundation award portraiture |
| Taxpayer-funded Wentzville superintendency portrait |
| Judge to Byrnes: "reprehensible" and "despicable" In sentencing Byrnes to two years' probation last Thursday, St. Charles County Associate Circuit Judge Dan Pelikan told Byrnes, "I find your conduct reprehensible. To take advantage of an underling is despicable." (Ibid.) Byrnes entered an Alford plea Thursday to misdemeanor charges of stalking and patronizing prostitution, meaning "he does not admit guilt but concedes that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him. Byrnes, 55, was given a suspended sentence as part of a plea agreement. If he completes probation, the charges will not be on his record. He will have to give up his state teaching and administrative certificates and not accept a job or volunteer position in education. Pelikan also required that Byrnes write a letter of apology to the victim, 29, and pay for any therapy or treatment she might need. He is not required to register as a sex offender." (Ibid.) |
| Mug shot |
| It's reassuring to know that former Milken Family Foundation award winner Byrnes was on the Superintendent Council of CHARACTERplus, a 501(c)3 program which states that it is " a project of Cooperating School Districts" and "works to advance the cause of character education and sustain its impact on the lives of educators and students by: designing, promoting and facilitating processes and best practices; serving educators and enhancing their commitment to character education; actively recruiting and developing community support; and continually evaluating the impact of our programs and services. Started in 1988 by a concerned group of educators, parents and business leaders who decided that something had to be done about the deterioration of basic values, CHARACTERplus now reaches more than 600 schools in over 100 districts, 25,000 teachers and more than 300,000 students throughout Missouri and Illinois. CHARACTERplus also has the support of over 30 businesses, countless individuals, as well as foundations, federal and state grants. It is the nation’ s largest community-wide initiative in character education. CHARACTERplus helps schools build consensus about what values or character traits to teach and which programs to use. Using the CHARACTERplus Process, each school develops a character education curriculum and program that meets its community’s unique needs. |
| CHARACTERplus "Peace Balls" |
| World Peace through Peace Balls According to CHARACTERplus, Peace Balls (above) are on display at The Magic House. 2006 Facts: • 67 schools created 70 lbs. worth of peace balls in one month. • Each pound equals roughly 2,000 acts of peace. • Each peace ball represents the collective actions of the student body • Schools focused on catching students in acts of peace in November and January |
| What we're talkin' about: One example of CHARACTERplus: Perseverance: Staying with a task; not giving up. |
| MORE ABOUT BYRNES' MILKEN FAMILY FOUNDATION AWARD Byrnes received the award ten years ago when he was principal of the Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights; the award states: "fostered a style of leadership that relies on shared decision-making strategies, encourages student involvement and emphasizes open and frequent communication within the school and with the community. By implementing a mandatory community service program, Dr. Byrnes has introduced a spirit of responsibility and reciprocity throughout the school community. As a participant in a district-wide effort to improve technology education, Dr. Byrnes has helped his school make significant progress in the acquisition of technological facilities and in furthering student mastery of technological literacy." |
| CASE STUDY #4: STEVEN HENSON (OK) Oklahoma school boards in both Boynton-Moton and Buffalo Valley have had to ask themselves questions about the relevancy of their superintendent's private life on multiple occasions since 1999, all involving their superintendent, Steven Henson. Henson's first reported brush with the law occurred in November 1999 while serving as superintendent at Buffalo Valley Public Schools (in Talihina, just south of Tulsa) when he was arrested for driving while "extremely intoxicated," according to Oklahoma City police. Five days after pleading guilty on March 27, 2000 to "several misdemeanor charges of straddling lanes, speeding, transporting an open container of beer and not wearing a seat belt," Henson resigned from Buffalo Valley. |
| Steve Henson (PHOTO/Muskogee Phoenix) |
| His next job was as supe at Boynton-Moton Public Schools two hours to the southeast in the heart of the old Indian Territory, start date: June 2000. He also married that year, and his wife Kristie D. Henson worked as a receptionist at the district. Trouble struck again two years and a few months later when Henson was arrested after a domestic disturbance call at his home. Although there were stitches to the back of Mrs. Henson' s head--which she characterized as treatment for a migraine headache to local newspapers--the DA declined to press charges at Mrs. Henson's request, and the school board voted to allow him to remain as supe. |
| Talihina, Oklahoma Population: 1,226 Median household income: $20,875 Median house value: $36,900 ++++++++ Boynton, Oklahoma Population: 279 Median household income: $17,917 Median house value: $17,500 |
| Buffalo Valley PS, Oklahoma |
| New arrest June 10 And now Henson has been arrested again, this time for assaulting his wife who has risen to the position of registrar at the school district; charges include "reckless handling of a firearm, assault on a minor and domestic violence in the presence of a minor." (SOURCE--The Daily Ardmoreite) Following this incident, the Boynton-Moton school board voted "7-to-nothing to suspend Steve Henson pending an investigation into the felony charges against him. The 44-year-old was arrested by McIntosh County sheriff's deputies Saturday and jailed until Monday when he was released on $15,000 bail. He was charged Tuesday with injury to a minor child, domestic assault and battery in the presence of a minor child and reckless handling of a firearm. The weapon is a .32-caliber pistol and the child is his 15-year-old stepdaughter. Henson says when the investigation is over, he will do the right thing." (SOURCE--KFOR.com) |
| Henson receives notice of termination from school board "The Boynton-Moton School Board voted unanimously Friday to notify suspended Superintendent Steve Henson of his possible termination. The motion came after an executive session to discuss Henson’s employment. Henson was charged June 13 in McIntosh County District Court with felony injury to a minor child. A filing in the case alleged he hit his stepdaughter in the mouth and spilled hot coffee on her during a domestic disturbance June 10. He also is charged with two misdemeanors in connection with the same incident at his home: assault and battery in the presence of a child and reckless handling of a firearm, a pistol. He is free on $15,000 bond. June 15, the school board suspended him with pay, pending the special meeting Friday." (SOURCE--Donna Hales/Muskogee Phoenix) |
| McIntosh County Courthouse Oklahoma |
| Felony charge dropped; Father's Day card presented "The felony charge against Henson was dropped by prosecutors at a Wednesday hearing in which Assistant District Attorney Karen Volz also submitted a copy of a Father’s Day card the minor child, Henson’s stepdaughter, had sent him. Henson’s attorney, Deborah Reheard, said Volz announced the charge would be refiled as a misdemeanor assault and battery. Also submitted into evidence Wednesday was a letter written by Henson’s stepdaughter to the McIntosh County District Attorney’s Office that there was no criminal intent on the part of Henson in regard to the June 10 incident, which the letter described as an accident. Henson, 44, said he was told Friday night to expect the 'possible termination' letter and that he would have 10 days after receiving it to seek a due process hearing." Commented Henson, “I’m making it one day at a time.” (Ibid.) |
| THE HENSON'S DIVORCE FILING HISTORY The Hensons had a divorce case pending in April 2001 in McIntosh County District Court that was dismissed by settlement in May 2001. Another divorce case filed in August 2002 was withdrawn in 2003 and a June 2005 divorce hearing was stricken, reset for December 2005, stricken again and scheduled for June 23, 2006. --Donna Hales/Muskogee Phoenix |
| Why Peachtree City: Kids alone, and online (Excerpt) By Saeed Ahmed, Kathy Jefcoats The Atlanta Journal-Constitution May 21, 2006 In the Peachtree City Police Department, no one has the luxury of being responsible for just one task. Cpl. Heather Lackey is a community resource officer. But whenever she can squeeze in a couple of hours between speaking to community groups or filing reports, she sits in a small room inside the police station and goes hunting. Mounted on a wall above her are the unsmiling faces of all the men she helped catch. Officers call it the Wall of Shame. Posing as a girl — sometimes 15, sometimes younger — she visits teen chat rooms, community forums or adult dating sites, often carrying on several conversations simultaneously. To convincingly pass for a teenager, she deliberately misspells words and uses shorthand, such as LOL for "laughing out loud." During their conversations with Lackey, the men usually shave a couple of years off their age, but they make it pretty clear they are adults who want to teach her about sex, she says. Armed with the bits and pieces of information that the men let slip about themselves, Lackey can usually gather more about them through Web searches. In doing so, she often comes across the men's personal home pages, with pictures from their kids' birthday parties or their trips abroad. "You see Christmas pictures or pictures of their kids growing up and it's kind of hard thinking that by tomorrow, there are so many other people who are going to be affected because of this person's actions," Lackey said. Come 5 p.m., she logs off and heads home. She knows that most of the men who talk to her have ended their workday and will probably not come online until the next morning, when they are once again away from the prying eyes of their spouses. Maintaining the persona of a coy, carefree child while being subjected to an endless stream of degrading conversation can take its toll, she said. "I have to tell myself whatever it takes to get through it. 'It's your job. You need to do it to help the kids,' " she said. For her mental health and because of other departmental needs, the chief makes sure Lackey doesn't devote more than about eight hours a week to pursuing predators. "If I had her working on this full time, we'd make one arrest 365 days a year," Police Chief Jim Murray said. "If I had eight officers working on this, we'd make eight times that many." Why Peachtree City: Kids alone, and online Peachtree City in Fayette County, about 35 miles south of Atlanta, might seem an unlikely place to mount such an aggressive pursuit of sexual predators. The planned community of approximately 33,000 residents has one of the lowest crime rates in the metro area and has won plaudits from as far away as Europe for its use of golf carts as an alternative to automobiles. But it's also home to many dual-income families — and computers are a part of virtually every household, making it a ripe target for internet predators, Police Chief Jim Murray says. Three years ago, the department arrested Peachtree City resident Billy Murphy, a then-45- year-old youth minister and newspaper columnist, after a family member reported that he was communicating online with a 13-year-old Peachtree City girl. Later, police learned Murphy had met and had sex with another teenager in another county. He was sentenced to two years in prison for possessing child pornography. "It opened our eyes to how easy it was for these people to meet with young girls," Murray said. "We decided to step out and see what was out there." What they discovered made their heads reel, Murray said. Within minutes of an officer posing as an underaged girl in a chat room, she was bombarded with solicitations for sex, he said. And, they later found, most of the predators were married working professionals with kids of their own — using their office computers to entice minors who were home alone after school. Murray says his 58-person department could spend its time arresting criminals who break into unlocked cars or go joyriding in golf carts — the city's most common crimes — but, he says, "I got into police work to protect people who can't protect themselves: the elderly and the children." "I know we won't get all the pedophiles out there," said Murray, who has been chief for 17 years. "What I want is for someone to immediately end the conversation as soon as he sees the words 'Peachtree City.' " |
| What do you think? Do administrators who assault their wives and girlfriends and stepdaughters with guns and fists serve as good role models for students? What about administrators who think they're enticing young girls into sex with 'an older man'? Or, what about a supe's driving while intoxicated, do you consider this a good example for the guy/gal in charge to set for students? ------------- Where do we as a society draw the line? |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
AASA - American Association of School Administrators ASA - Association of School Administrators CSD - Consolidated School District DOE - Department of Education ES - Elementary School HS - High School ISD - Independent School District JHS - Junior High School MS - Middle School MSM - Mainstream media NSBA - National School Boards Association NSPRA - National School Public Relations Association PS - Public School(s) SBEC - State Board for Educator Certification SD - School District Sup't - Superintendent TAKS - Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills TASA - Texas Association of School Administrators TASB - Texas Association of School Boards TASBO - Texas Association of School Business Officials TEA - Texas Education Agency TEKS - Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills USD - UnifiedUnited School District |
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| QUOTES |
Separatists in India's north-eastern state of Manipur have shot six male teachers in the leg for allegedly helping students cheat in exams. Two women teachers were beaten with sticks for the same offence, the rebels of the Kanglei Yana Kan Lup group said. The teachers were abducted from their homes after an exam on Thursday. The rebels said the teachers took up to 5,000 rupees ($110) for helping students cheat and warned of further punishment if the cheating continued. The Kanglei Yana Kan Lup (KYKL) is one of many separatist groups fighting Indian administration in Manipur. It said it abducted the eight teachers from their homes in and around the state capital, Imphal, because of reports they had taken bribes. --By Subir Bhaumik - BBC |
| ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS: Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you. |
| Copyright 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott |
| POP QUIZ: How do you yourself know for a fact that your state or local supe is actually using the funds entrusted to them for the correct purposes? |
David v. Goliath: How America's Moms & Dads are taking on Education, Inc. PEYTON WOLCOTT |
| QUERY THE SUPE & THE PR GUY |
TO:
KATHY COX-GEORGIA
SUP'T OF SCHOOLS &
CEO-GEORGIA DOE
CC:
DANA TOFIG-
GEORGIA DOE
PUBLIC INFO. OFCR.
DATE: JAN. 22, 2006
Can you please send me
the annual dollar
amount for each school
year (the five annual fiscal
cycles 2000-2005) that the
Georgia Public Schools
DOE has spent with
vendor Computer
Consulting Services
Corp., described as a
consultant to Georgia's
DOE.
KATHY COX-GEORGIA
SUP'T OF SCHOOLS &
CEO-GEORGIA DOE
CC:
DANA TOFIG-
GEORGIA DOE
PUBLIC INFO. OFCR.
DATE: JAN. 22, 2006
Can you please send me
the annual dollar
amount for each school
year (the five annual fiscal
cycles 2000-2005) that the
Georgia Public Schools
DOE has spent with
vendor Computer
Consulting Services
Corp., described as a
consultant to Georgia's
DOE.
| STATUS: No response rec'd from Sup't Gray as of July 1, 2006 |
The question is not how to measure excellence at public schools and education agencies. The question is how to measure competence. -- Dianna Pharr |
| QUERY THE SUPE (& CC THE BOARD) |
DATE FIRST SENT:
FEB. 14, 2006
RE-SENT 03/26/06
Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:
I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....
Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive
1. What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?
2. Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?
Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers
4. What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?
5. There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?
Regarding trainings
and conferences
6. Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?
7. In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?
It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.
FEB. 14, 2006
RE-SENT 03/26/06
Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:
I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....
Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive
1. What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?
2. Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?
Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers
4. What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?
5. There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?
Regarding trainings
and conferences
6. Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?
7. In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?
It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.
| CONTACT: Peyton Wolcott P.O. Box 9068 Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657 peyton@peytonwolcott.com |
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