Christine Jackson
State Board for Educator
Certification
ATTN: Deputy Associate
Commissioner
1701 N. Congress, 5th
Floor
November 19, 2010
Re: Request
for Investigation of Educator Misconduct
Request made by:
Christine Jackson on
behalf of Joseph Jackson, a minor.
Educators whose investigation of
conduct is requested:
|
Matthew Donnell Coach
(817) 547-4000 |
Rodney Bailey Assistant Principal
(817) 547-4000 |
|
Susan Taylor Principal
(817) 547-4000 |
|
Dear
Deputy Associate Commissioner,
Please
consider this correspondence as a request for investigation of ethical misconduct
of the before mentioned educators Matthew Donnell, Susan Taylor and Rodney Bailey. Following is a synopsis of the factual
circumstances underlying the report as well as a description of where I believe
misconduct occurred according to 19 TAC Chapter 247 Educators Code of Ethics of
the Texas Administrative Code. Should
the event occur that you do investigate, it is my humble request for your final
decision in this matter to be made consistently with the SBEC’s
Disciplinary Policies and Guidelines; SBEC’s General
Principles; SBEC’s Core Principles and SBEC’s Mission Statement.
Events leading up to this request:
On March 4,
2010, Joseph Jackson (my son) was assaulted and sexually harassed by another
student in the shower after athletics class. The other student rubbed his
penis on Joseph and threatened him with rape.
This is not the first time the other student had harassed Joseph, but it
was the most extreme case. (Prior
incidents include Public provocation to fight; Harassment- absurdities and
threats; Pushed Joseph down into a desk; Punched Joe in athletics locker room;
stepped on Joe, crushing Joe's testicles, while Joe was sitting on the ground
in athletics.
All of
these were brought to the attention of named staff and / or administration, yet
incidents continued to occur and escalate throughout the school year
leading up to the March 4 incident. On several
occasions, as encouraged to do so by me and other family members, Joseph
brought attention to these matters by means of talking with teachers and
administrative staff. As matters worsened and Joe had not received relief
from the child's harassment and assaults, I stepped in on Joseph’s
behalf. On two occasions I spoke with the Assistant Principal
regarding all issues. After seeing no relief (harassment continued) from
speaking with him, I contacted the Principal.
Both the Principal and the AP
appeared to be receptive to our conversations, but in the end all they did for
Joe was refer him to the school crisis counselor. Ironically, the
school crisis counselor referred him back to the circle from which he came by advising
he report the incidents to the administration and try to resolve them on his
own by using methods Joseph had already exhausted. On every occasion I
spoke with Susan Taylor she expressed her deepest sorrow for how difficult it
must be for me to be a single parent ( I know this is irrelevant, but am
using this as an example to the irrelevant responses I had received
throughout the school year from the principal and later from higher ranking
administration) In the least, it was frustrating and exhausting.
Joseph immediately reported this to Coach Donnell.
The coach did not report the incident to school administration that day. The
school has, to this date, never notified me of the incident. Joseph notified
me of what happened that afternoon when I picked him up from school.
March 5, 2010: Joseph returned to school to find the child, who had assaulted him,
was still attending athletics and was allowed back into the public showers.
Joseph called me (on his personal cellular phone) to tell me of such and told
me he would be refusing participation in class because he did not want to
shower in the assailant's presence. I asked to speak to the coach; Joseph
passed the phone to him.
When I had inquired, the coach told me he was aware of what had happened the
prior day and Joseph did not have to participate. He also told me he had
spoken with the assailant and told him if he ever did this again, he would no
longer be allowed in the athletics program. The coach told me he had addressed
the whole team on the matter of respecting privacy. I asked if the coach
intended to do anything else about the incident, he replied with a simple
"no."
I, then, informed the coach I would pursue the matter outside of the school
district by filing charges with the police department.
Only after my phone conversation Coach Donnell, the coach promptly reported the
incident to school administration and informed them I would be in contact with
the police department. Assistant Principal, Rodney Bailey, immediately contacted
the police. The police, in turn, contacted me. Charges were
pressed.
The days following, the assailant continued to attend school and participate in
athletics. I withdrew Joseph from the athletics program.
Upon completion of the police investigation, the police could not move forward
because Rod Bailey had reported he did not believe the incident occurred.
This is documented in the police report, a copy is available. Rod Bailey
also reported, even though this incident did not occur, the assailant is known
to urinate on students in the shower because "he thinks it's funny."
The police department informed me of their hands being tied and referred me to
the municipal court for further consideration; I took the complaint to the
municipal court. The city prosecutor accepted Joseph’s case and
prosecuted the other child for assault by contact.
I began the process of a formal grievance against the coach, the principal and
the assistant principal. In the first meeting that occurred as a result
of the grievance process, Mike Shabay (of the Student Services department of
BISD) stated the assailant could not be removed from the shower because he is a
minority student and that would be an act of discrimination, regardless of his
behavior. Mr. Shabay and Coach Donnell then proceeded to insist that Joseph
should be put in a separate shower to prevent his feeling threatened by the
other student. In this meeting, the
administration gave me every reason to believe the investigation of the
incident was over and nothing would be done because if something did happen it
was an "accident."
I, then, took
Joseph’s and my experience with the administration and staff of
Shortly
after the airing of my family’s experience on the local news, the assailant was
withdrawn from Haltom middle school by his mother. Only after grievance
filing and publicity, the school/district finally acknowledged the incident did
take place and placed the student in an alternative program for a short amount
of time. The grievance procedure continued,
May 23,
2010: I filed complaint with the Texas Education Agency via email to complaintsmanagement@tea.state.tx.us.
May 26,
2010: Jo Frazier, Ed.D.,
School Governance, TEA responded to my compliant via email. Her response
included: “You have the right to file a grievance against every school
district personnel who is remiss or derelict in their duty regarding this
assault. You should also appeal any or all grievances to a Level III
Hearing with the full school board if necessary. According to Complaints
Management staff, If the board of trustees determines
that the educator has violated a code of ethics (local or state TAC 247
standards) then the superintendent is required to file a report with TEA under
TAC 249.14. If the board’s decision finds the educator in violation, the
parent may also send the board’s decision to TEA. Complaints Management
will assign the 249 complaint to Ed Investigations for determinations.”
I had
questions about Dr. Frazier’s and about how I should proceed with my complaint
with TEA. I phoned her for
clarification. She instructed me to
complete the grievance process with
June 24,
2010: Level III Hearing of Joseph’s grievance
Susan
Taylor ruled “I cannot find where any members of the HMS staff have violated
state law, district policy, or procedures.” Jay Thompson ruled “While I do not
find violations of board policy requiring disciplinary actions for Coach
Donnell, Assistant Principal Rod Bailey, or Principal Susan Taylor, there are
concerns regarding how communications where made with you as a parent.”
The ruling
follows grievance surrounding failure of Susan Taylor; Rodney Bailey, Vice
Principle of Haltom Middle School and Matthew Donnell, Athletics Coach and
Health Educator of Haltom Middle School to document and effectively act on
numerous complaints of assault and harassment involving two students throughout
the school year; neglect to notify victim’s parent of assault and violations of
19 TAC Chapter 247 sections 3.2, 3.3 and 1.6.
I informed
Dr. Frazier, via email, of the Board’s decision and the finality of the
grievance.
August 2,
2010: I filed compliant with the U.S.
Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights surrounding how my son’s case
of sexual harassment was handled by school staff and administration.
August 2,
2010: Dr. Frazier phoned me and referred me to Isabel Lozoria
of the TEA’s Legal Services Department. Ms. Lozoria instructed
me on how to proceed. I followed her
instruction through an appeal process to the Texas Commissioner of Education.
August
4, 2010: I appealed the
August
16, 2010: Acknowledgement of receipt of my appeal to the Commissioner of
Education’s Office was sent to myself and to the
Superintendent of BISD. The letter
assigned a Docket number 081-R10-0810 and gave BISD 30 days to respond to my
appeal.
September
2, 2010: U.S.
Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights announced investigation of
September
16, 2010: BISD’s council faxed her response to my
appeal to me and filed with it with TEA.
I learned a great deal from her response. In short, her response stated the
Commissioner of Education does not have jurisdiction over the Educators Code of
Ethics and requested dismissal of the appeal.
After research, I have found her statements are true.
October
1, 2010: Pre-hearing Telephone conference with Administrative Law Judge
Christopher Maska and
November
1, 2010: Amended Appeal was filed with Commissioner.
November
16, 2010: Council’s Response was filed with Commissioner. The appeal process is
still taking place.
Observed violations of the Educators
Code of Ethics:
19 TAC Chapter 247, Standard 3.2 Rod
Bailey knowingly treated a student in a manner that adversely affected the
student’s learning, physical health, mental health, or safety.
Rod Bailey ignored prior complaints (specifically naming the
assailant) of assault and harassment, made by Joseph and myself. Mr. Bailey treated one complaint as an
“isolated” incident Level I Transcript,
page 42. I say these complaints are
ignored simply because all, but one, are unacknowledged by Mr. Bailey.
Contrary to Rod Bailey’s prior statement of one of our
complaints being “isolated”, he goes on to say even The assailant admitted to
“bullying Joseph during the school year,” Level
I Transcript, p. 36 and Mr. Bailey stated The assailant had been “urinating
on another student,” Level I Transcript,
p. 31; Mr. Bailey had “worked quite a lot with” The assailant “over the
last two years” and this year “as hard as, I guess, it is, he did do better
this year.” Level I
Transcript, p. 45 and the assailant “does this because he thinks it’s
funny.”
Joseph Jackson was repeatedly harassed and assaulted by the
assailant throughout the school year.
The incidents were repeatedly reported, by Joseph and me, to
Rod Bailey throughout.
The complaints were repeatedly ignored.
Joseph Jackson has been adversely affected physically;
emotionally; mentally; educationally and his safety has been affected in the
most disgusting manner- repetitively.
19 TAC Chapter 247, Standard 3.2
Susan Taylor knowingly treated a student in a manner that adversely affected
the student’s learning, physical health, mental health, or safety.
Susan Taylor ignored prior complaints (specifically naming the
assailant) of assault and harassment, made by Joseph and myself. I deem these complaints are ignored because
all are unacknowledged. Mrs. Taylor does
proudly profess that after speaking to me on one occasion, she accomplished to
arrange a visit with the guidance counselor for Joseph. The guidance counselor, ironically, suggested
Joseph talked to Mr. Bailey and Mrs. Taylor about what had been happening to
him.
Again, Joseph
has been affected in all of the before mentioned ways.
19 TAC Chapter 247, Standard 3.2
Matthew Donnell knowingly treated a student in a manner that adversely affected
the student’s learning, physical health, mental health, or safety.
Mr. Donnell allowed the assailant to re-enter the showers
the day immediately following his reported assault (made with his genitals)
against another student.
Joseph’s learning, physical health,
mental health and safety were only the beginning of the effect that
morning. Each child in the shower, that
morning, with the assailant was affected in the identical manner.
Standard 3.3 Rod Bailey knowingly
misrepresented facts regarding a student.
Standard 1.6 Rod Bailey falsified
records or coerced another to do so.
Rod Bailey reported to Brandi Perkins he “feels the incident
did not take place.” Bailey said “Joe
does not always tell the truth and had been caught telling his mother things
that just weren’t true.” Haltom City Incident Report, last paragraph,
page 2. Mr. Bailey’s allegations of Joseph’s
credibility have no precedence. Rod
Bailey later denied making this statement.
Mr. Bailey’s statement to the police left Brandi Perkins
unable to serve the assailant a citation for his assault against Joseph
Jackson. The case was referred to Haltom
City Municipal Court for further consideration.
Upon arrival at court, I learned Mr. Bailey’s statement to
the police had a significant impact on the integrity of Joseph Jackson
resulting in the prosecutor’s unwillingness to prosecute the assailant. The prosecutor places full trust in police
statements and had taken the report as fact.
Mr. Bailey was kind enough to return my phone call to tell me he had
never made the statement documented in the police report. Mr. Bailey’s return phone call arrived as Joseph
and I were in the Haltom City Court House proceeding with civil charges against
the assailant. The call took place on
speaker phone; witnesses include the City Prosecutor. After Mr. Bailey’s denying his statements,
the case was then accepted and date was set for the assailant to appear before
the court.
After leaving the court house, I briefly visited Rod Bailey
and Susan Taylor to show them the police report. Again, Rod Bailey denied making the
statement. I encouraged him to contact Haltom City Police Department in regards
to their falsifying his words. To my
knowledge, he has not done so. The
record stands as previously stated.
Standard 3.3 Matthew Donnell
knowingly misrepresented facts regarding a student.
Matthew Donnell said (three times) he had told Joseph to
call me on Friday, March 5, 2010 (using Joseph’s cellular phone). Dr. Kempe’s Report on Investigation and Level I Transcript,
pages 8 and 9. IF this happened,
it was purely coincidental. I instructed Joseph to call her from athletics to
get Matthew Donnell on the phone, Joseph did so.
Twice, Matthew Donnell stated he had told me (on Joseph’s
cellular phone) that he “would be contacting administration” about this
incident. Dr. Kempe’s Report on Investigation and Level I Transcript, page 8. Mr. Donnell said no such thing; he did
not so much as imply he would contact administration. He told me he had discussed the incident with
the assailant- Mr. Donnell said he told the assailant “If he did this again, he would not be allowed
to participate in athletics.” Mr.
Donnell also told me he had talked with the team as a whole regarding the
incident. From speaking to Joseph and
others, this did not occur either.
Extensive documentation of local record is available upon
request.
Thank you, in advance, for your consideration of my request.
Regards,
Christine Jackson
(817) 551-2211
Witnesses:
|
Joseph Jackson Student and Complainant c/o Christine Jackson
(817) 551-2211 |
Julie Allen Counselor
(817) 547-4000 |
|
Christine Jackson Mother of Joseph Jackson
(817) 551-2211 |
Mike Shabay Student Services 6125 (817) 547-5790 |
|
Brandi Perkins School Resource Officer, Haltom City Police Department
(817) 834-7321 |
Detective Miller Haltom City Police Department
(817) 834-7321 |
|
Prosecutor
|
Mel Meza Assistant Principal
(817) 547-4000 |
Possible Witnesses:
|
Mark VanDine Assistant
Coach
(817) 547-4000 |
Brian Allen Assistant
Coach
(817) 547-4000 |
|
Charles Tucker Assistant
Coach
(817) 547-4000 |
|