Major Seth Adams Would Have Been Envious of How The School Systems Circle Their Wagons

Wagon Train - Ward Bond - Robert Horton


For those who have ever been placed in the unfortunate position of trying to obtain accountability from a public school system, there appears to be a pattern in which the systems deny, delay and distract and then cry being victimized when found guilty.

Read this series on Joel Chandler's blog and note the similarities in which the school systems lost their cases.

Litigation Update

Local bloggers should recognize the defense that some school systems use. It is called the "no standing" defense, in which the accuser is told, by the accused, that they have no standing to accuse.

Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act

Arrogance has a lot of power. And control.

Another Validation Of The PRO

I keep racking them up.

In the St. Pete Times we see this:

Barefoot penalty draws scrutiny | July 24

School official crossed

the line in toe touching

After reading Tom Marshall's article, I felt compelled to respond to this disturbing report. I am outraged that assistant principal Olayinka Alege was not disciplined for his actions and that the Hillsborough school district "considers the matter closed."

In the story, Alege is quoted as saying, "It was one of those playful things, just playing around with the kids so they felt more comfortable." At the same time, however, one student described the experience as "weird" and another reported feeling "uncomfortable," while yet another "asked Alege to stop."

As a pediatrician and advocate for children, I am sincerely concerned about the message the school district is sending our children by not disciplining Alege. This is not "playful." This is about a person in a position of authority who crossed boundaries with students by touching them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. My pediatric colleagues and I work very hard to help our children understand that this kind of behavior is unacceptable, whether it is coming from a person in a position of authority or from their own peers. Children should be taught that it is not okay for another person to touch any part of their body in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable. It is a violation of personal boundaries.

Shame on the school district for sending a mixed message to our children. Shame on them for not disciplining Alege and helping our children understand that this kind of behavior is not acceptable and should not be tolerated.

Elizabeth Brennan, M.D., Treasure Island

Barefoot penalty draws scrutiny | July 24

Punishment is due

Shame on the Hillsborough County school system. Your story about Olayinka Alege, the assistant principal at King High School playing footsie with students shocked me. How can the school system just dismiss his behavior?

Charges may not have been filed, but such physical acts with students cannot be ignored. Alege should receive more than a reprimand. Had a classroom teacher engaged in such behavior he/she would likely lose their job and be labeled a pedophile.

Even if a student consents to touches, it is still unacceptable behavior on the part of an adult to engage in any type of physical contact. Alege should know better. Further investigation should be conducted by the school system, and additional punitive action should take place.

Lynne Agrow, Tampa

They said it better than I did in my sardnonic, mocking manner:

PRO on HCPS: Teachers Are Treated Like An Acute Appendicitis. Administrators Are Given Back Rubs And Toe Massages

Looks like I was right about the body partialism, too.

Digging Through The Bovine Excrement

As a native of the great south east region of Fort Lonesome in the greater Hillsborough County in the greater state of Floriduh, I did my share of shoveling animal feces back in the day. I was an ace pile-it. I could pile it in the corner of the stalls, I could pile it in the wheelbarrow or I could pile it next to the vegetable crops.

When segregated, piles of manure had their own characteristics. Chicken salad burned your eyes, while cow patties steamed and stunk. Slightly dried horse dung made nice little throwing instruments of attack, and would explode when hitting an unsuspecting peer. Duck slime was like oil on asphalt, assuring that one stepped straight down and no shuffling.

While we country boys were not known for our academic wizardry, we did have an uncanny sense of the obvious. For instance, while walking through hundreds of acres of pastures, we could tell which pastures had cows on it and which ones did not. Even tax appraisers, trying to ferret out false claims of green belt exemptions, knew to look for tell tale evidence of animal existence. The dried up cow chips were a good indication of length of tenure.

I can only imagine what it would have been like for a representative of the school system to have made a turd assessment. I can easily envision, while there were piles of bull shit a plenty, an administrator writing a report that there was no evidence of cow pies to be seen.

Maybe it is because some types of bovines are protected through their association. Sort of like school administrators that belong to HASA. Perhaps it cost more money for a school system to pursue wayward administrator dumping than it is to pursue lower-level teacher farts.

Recently, there was a report of a school administrator at King High school calling boys into his office for toe popping. A link to the story can be found here on Detention Slip.org:

DetentionSlip.org: Administrator at Tampa's King High 'popped' students' toes for poor grades

After several days of sole searching, I am a bit corn-founded, and am in search of some arching answers to a few questions.

If the students had been girls, would the results be different?

Were the boys involved gay?

Did the boys involved have similar personalities that were vulnerable to "grooming"?

Did the fact that one boy had 20 consensual acts mean that, since it was consensual, there was a "no harm, no foul" assessment, and would that same criteria be held to consensal behavior of any kind between an administrator and a student?

Did the system see the writing on the wall regarding their level of liability and therefore erected their first bulwark of future defense?

Was the content and intent of this brochure followed?:

The following behavior may be indicative of misconduct that should be reported:
• being alone with a student in dark or closed room or secluded area
• behaving in an overly friendly or familiar way or failing to maintain an appropriate professional boundary with a student
• using forceful or unnecessary physical contact with a student
• administering discipline not compliant with district policy

While it certainly seems to be a fresh jar of jam, I can only wait for the next shoe to drop. Others may just have to put a sock on it.

Teachers Are Treated Like An Acute Appendicitis. Administrators Are Given Back Rubs And Toe Massages

It appears that there are plenty of dots to connect to draw a pretty good picture.

While not all teachers get their undies cleaned at the first sign of trouble:

PRO on HCPS: The No-Blog Defense Means Good PR: "Ragusa Complained About School's Public Reprimands:


'There was a pattern of inappropriate behavior,' Cobbe said of Ragusa's teaching record before the investigation. 'It was never anything that rose to the level of sex, but it was clear she didn't know her boundaries.'"

Then there are these kind of actions from the Professional Standards Office:

Professional Standards is B-R-O-K-E-N : Goader:

" (Goader) just spent an entire year under investigation for a single incident, which in comparison to the repeated behavior of an administrator with a foot fetish amounted to nothing."

Then there are these nagging media reports that are the sole reason for the HCPS bad reputation. If they could only identify who writes these messages of anger and misinformation, every thing would be fine within the great Emerald City:


Administrator at Tampa's King High 'popped' students' toes for poor grades - St. Petersburg Times:

"Cody from TampaJul 25th, 2009 12:09 PM

There are more kids involved that were discovered AFTER the investigation and they are not included in this report! Ask the students!!

There must be some criteria the Professional Standards Office uses to decide when look and when to overlook. Is there a Plan T for teachers and a Plan A for administrators? According to this toe-tapping article and the one in the Tampa Tribune, it appears that Professional Standards only engages in Professional Standard action if there is a dispute about the facts:

King High assistant principal told to stop popping students' toes:

"School board officials did not investigate the matter because there was no dispute of the facts."

We are left to wonder what would have happened to King High students if they had said that the AP had not popped their toes even though he said he did.

I assume that there was no dispute about the definition of Partialism -

or

The Lance: Past the Pages: "Therefore, foot fetishism may be considered to be a taboo or dark fetish, however, modern evidence shows that it exists on a continuum and that it is much more common than people realize. Whether you love to buy shoes, or you think feet are sexy, foot fetishism has its place in modern sexuality and it seems to be much less atypical than originally thought. However, if foot fetishism is interrupting your daily life or sexual functioning, then you should talk to the doctor to get referred for a psychiatric assessment and future diagnosing to get the help you need."

What Else Does A Bully Have After The Image Fails?

I will do what the PRO on HCPS does - connect the dots for those who do not see the picture.

The dots are within mine and the local blogs. Just connect them.

Earlier, I posted some comments about the situation at Middleton High School.

According to the article from the media, the Hillsborough County Public School's Superintendent was apparently trying to bully the local media to write more positive reports.

What if the local media does not kowtow to the Superintendent's inference that Middleton's problems are due to the media.

In other words, what if the local media is not bullied?


What does a bully have once their obfuscation is called?

What does a bully have once their claim to professionalism is seen as simply charlatan behavior?


What does a bully have once their claim that they know best doesn't work?

Bullying comes at us everyday.


I personally have been bullied. The day after I wrote a letter of complaint to the HCPS, I was threatened with trespassing on a public school property where my child was enrolled. I did the same behavior that I had done before, but suddenly, I was threatened. I was advocating for my son. I have had the finger of authority in my face. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now.

Arrogance with ignorance. What does a bully have other than an image?

The videos that Goader provides speaks loudly. I suggest you listen to them last to first.


Bullying Is Not Kidding Around : Goader

Once Again, Image Is Everything

If I lived in the Middleton area and had a kid in that school, I can only imagine how I would feel.

I have often written about how I think the school systems see image as a factor to be manipulated, not as a factor derived from reality or substance.

It is my understanding that Middleton has had several D ratings already, so they can't say this one is an isolated incident.

I was under the impression that several D ratings would sort of signify a poor reputation, independent of media reports. If fact, the negative media coverage would seem to be derived from the reality or substance of the several D ratings. Apparently, this year's D rating has a lot more positive with it.

If we can get the media to write a lot of good articles, we could submit them next year to the state. I never realized how much influence the local media has on the state grade.

Apparently, the Middleton community just needs to learn to trust. What else could it be?

Trust that the money is well spent.

Trust that there is some substance to the fact that the number of students enrolled in at least one AP class has tripled. Once again, I point out that the system deals with numbers, not people. Parents that care usually care about their child, not statistics. Spitting out numbers to parents concerned about their kid has a way of seeming to be dismissive. How callous would it seem if a hospital touted their low death rate to a family whose kid just died?


It appears a few people blame the students, the parents and even the culture of the community. Is this a fact, or are they guessing or hoping? There must be a slew of sociologists involved in this endeavor. A million dollars is a lot of money to just be throwing up against the wall of education just to hope it sticks.




Middleton group urges improvement:

"Middleton received another D rating from state officials this year, landing it on the list of schools at risk of state intervention. The only other school on that list this year is in Miami.


Elia spelled out the situation in two broad strokes: things are better at Middleton than many people know; the school's poor reputation is a result of negative media coverage.
'They don't want you to see the positive,' Elia said of the media."

SCHOOL POSITIVES

Hillsborough schools Superintendent MaryEllen Elia said Middleton High School is doing better than its portrayal in the media suggests. Among the positives she highlighted Saturday:

•The school district has spent more than $1 million at Middleton on new staff and training for current teachers aimed at improving students' performance.

•The number of students taking at least one Advanced Placement class has nearly tripled in the past three years.

•The number of students referred for disciplinary action has dropped 60 percent in the past three years. The school's population fell by 37 percent in the same period.

•Students have won recognition for activities from Japanese language classes to math to rocketry

Can Anyone Refute This?

What about Ziggy and Antigrammargrich?

You guys seem to have a more realistic view of the system. What do you think>



Florida & Tampa Bay schools blog - The Gradebook:

"

The problem with public education is most people in society are ignorant or don't care as apathy is rampant. This leads to poor quality politicians who just want to milk the system for their own benefit to easily win re-election.
Most Americans believe what they read or see on TV.
Unfortunately, most educators are lemmings and sheep which is the reason why we're in the shape we're in.
Face the facts, the districts lie to protect the hierarchy. If more teachers were in tune with what's going on or had a backbone they'd never get away with it.
Posted by: terminator | July 18, 2009 at 05:28 PM"