Tag: school
Colorado teacher accused of assaulting student who wouldn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance
A teacher with Colorado’s Boulder Valley School District was placed on paid administrative leave following an alleged incident at the middle school, the school district said Thursday. CBS Denver confirmed the Lafayette Police Department is investigating reports that teacher allegedly assaulted a student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Karen Smith, Angevine’s physical education teacher, was placed on leave Thursday.
The school’s principal, Mike Medina, sent a letter home to parents Thursday evening notifying them there had been an “incident” involving Smith but said he could not elaborate.
The Lafayette Police Department responded to an incident at the school around noon Thursday.
A parent waiting to pick her child up at Angevine Friday afternoon told CBS Denver that her daughter knows Smith as a “strict” teacher but has never had an issue.
Two other parents who spoke to CBS Denver off camera said they believe the story has been “blown out of proportion” and expressed disappointment.
The school is working closely with the Lafayette Police Department on the investigation. For now, it has hired a substitute teacher to take Smith’s place.
No charges have been filed.
Teachers resign at Pennsylvania school where they claim to be attacked by first-grade students
Teachers say they’re being terrorized by unruly students as young as six in a Pennsylvania school district where more than 40 teachers have resigned since the start of the school year.
Amanda Sheaffer, a first-grade teacher who attended a Harrisburg school board meeting on Monday, said, “I have been kicked, punched, hit, scratched. I’ve had a student physically restraining me in front of my other students,” according to PennLive.com.
Sheaffer, who has worked in the district for four years, said the incidents interrupt her day, as she’s required to clear the room, call security, and write a report.
Teachers are now asking for support after a series of violent altercations with students led to at least 45 resignations between July and October, according to the Harrisburg Education Association.
Association President Jody Barksdale, who says more teachers have resigned since then, wants the association to establish a task force to address the children displaying violent behavior.
“Teachers and students are being hit, kicked, slapped, scratched, cussed at … and observing other students flip over tables, desks and chairs. Teachers have had to take the rest of their class into the hallway to protect them during these outbursts,” Barksdale said.
Several teachers and parents from Melrose and Downey elementary schools appeared at the meeting on Monday, calling for the school board to take action after Barksdale first relayed complaints in January. The district claims not all of the teacher resignations were due to student violence. Still, Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney says the district understands that there is a “different type of support that is needed.”
via: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/penn-teachers-terrorized-unruly-students-article-1.3649759
CONVICTED FELON HIRED AS VICE PRINCIPAL OF CHESTER HIGH SCHOOL
Freddie Dean Smith has a lengthy record, but that hasn’t stopped him from bouncing around from state to state applying for jobs working with kids.
A quick Google search of his name easily turns up reports of his sordid past. So, we are asking how he slipped through the cracks and into a Delaware County high school.
Article after article written by New York journalist Robert Cox documents a decade of investigations into the elusive Freddie Dean Smith.
“This is a guy who keeps managing to keep slipping through the cracks, and to me is a dangerous, sick individual who does not belong anywhere near children,” Cox said.
Cox says Smith was denied teachers certifications in Maryland and Virginia, but somehow this convicted felon landed in Chester High School.
“This is somebody with a criminal record. I can’t imagine that any parent would want someone like that as an administrator at their child’s school,” said Cox.
A background check and records obtained by Action News show in 2002 he was found guilty of eluding police, which is a felony. And in 2001 and 2003 in two separate incidents in South Carolina he was charged with sex crimes for approaching women in two different stores, and exposing himself and touching himself in a lewd fashion.
We went to Chester High School looking for Smith and answers. Superintendent Dr. Juan Baughn directed us to a written statement they provided, which says in part: “Mr. Smith was only with the school district for one day as per diem assistant principal. He took part in training sessions, during which he had no unsupervised contact with students.” We told the superintendent how some people say Smith is unfit to be around kids.
“He is not around our kids. He is not around our kids. He is not here,” Baughn said.
Sources tell Action News that Smith was hired for the last six weeks of class at Chester High School using an emergency certification to fill a void after the principal left and a vice principal was promoted.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education could not tell us if Smith has a valid Pennsylvania teaching certification, and the Department of Human Services would not tell us if any background checks were run as required by law, citing privacy concerns.
The superintendent said the school district did a background check themselves. Smith worked there on May 2nd, last week for a single day, until his criminal past was revealed.
And while we were not able to track down Freddie Dean Smith, Cox says that is no surprise. He’s been trying for a decade, and he wonders if and when Smith will show up somewhere else.
“Freddie Dean Smith is a very elusive figure who understands how to game the system and avoid public scrutiny from the media,” Cox said.
Cox tells us that Smith is still licensed in the state of New York, and he has been able to get jobs using that certification in other states that have reciprocal agreements with New York.
Full statement from Chester Upland School District:
It is our standard procedure to conduct criminal background checks on all new hires before they begin employment with the school district. The check performed on Freddie Dean Smith did not reveal any misconduct related to sexual assault.
Mr. Smith was only with the school district for one day as per diem assistant principal. He took part in training sessions during which he had no unsupervised contact with students.
He is no longer with the district. As always, the safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority.
via: http://6abc.com/news/convicted-felon-hired-as-vice-principal-of-chester-high-school/1973641/
Custodian accused of unlawful videotaping at Crest Hill school
A school custodian at Chaney Monge School in southwest suburban Crest Hill is charged with unlawful videotaping and being held on $25,000 bond, police said Tuesday.
Some parents expressed shock and anger after learning of the arrest from school administrators, who called parents and posted a message on the school’s website.
Ryan Thompson, 27, has been charged with one count of unauthorized videotaping, which is a felony.
Chaney-Monge is a combined elementary and middle school. In court, prosecutors said Thompson used his phone to videotape eight grade girls in a locker room from under the door of a supply closet. Police said they have discovered video of only one incident but they are investigating Thompson’s other electronic devices.
“It’s currently under investigation. We’re going to keep looking and searching electronic media to find any more images, if there is any more images, or any further criminal activity,” said Interim Chief Ed Clark, Crest Hill Police Department.
Investigators have declined to say in detail what the images show and how the images came to light. But they say they were taken between February 1 and March 11.
“We’ve been in contact with the administration from Chaney Monge, and they’re working hand and hand with families to make sure that the children are still safe. We’ll continue to work with them. This case will continue to be under investigation. There is a lot of work to be done,” Clark said.
“The school district has to do a better job in sifting through who should be working at the public schools with these kids,” said parent Erick Rice.
The district superintendent in a statement said: “…we are cooperating with the police in every way possible. Please be assured that the safety and security of our students is and always has been our top priority.”
School officials say Thompson has been removed from the district.
via: http://abc7chicago.com/news/custodian-accused-of-unlawful-videotaping-at-crest-hill-school/1800691/
6th grader stabbed in chest with pencil suffered punctured lung, and school DID NOT call 911
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A middle school student in Colorado was stabbed in the chest with a pencil during a fight, but the school did not call police or an ambulance, according to FOX21 NEWS.
Kyle Nipper was stabbed when he got into a fight with another 6th grader at Carmel Middle School on Friday.
School District 2 released a statement saying his injuries “did not appear to be severe at the time.”
However, Nipper’s parents took him to the hospital, where doctors said one of his lungs was punctured and he needed trauma surgery, FOX21 reported.
Now parents and family friends want to know why no one at the school called 911.
“They should have called 911. I mean, if you don’t know how to call 911 when somebody’s stabbed in the chest and can’t breathe, then there’s something wrong with you,” Aaron Coates, a friend of the Nipper family, told FOX21.
“You really need to check your priorities. I mean, I know it was late at night, end of the day on Friday and you know, they probably wanted to go home and get high or something, but you know, when you’re at work, you’re at work,” Coates said.
“That kid’s parents, really for real, how are you going to teach your child that something like that is even an option? I mean stabbing somebody with a pencil? I seen somebody get stabbed with a pencil once, you know where that was? In prison, okay? Thank you!” Coates said.
Nipper’s parents told FOX21 they want to raise awareness about bullying and see changes in training.
The district superintendent said all the health techs at each school have CPR training and emergency management training, along with district nurses that provide additional support.
The superintendent also said there is no evidence bullying was a factor in this situation.