Foxboro, MASSACHUSETTS

March 31, 2008 -
Gregg Woodward, 45, a Foxboro High School English teacher, was arrested and charged today for possession of child pornography.

The FBI notified local police on Friday. Woodward was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Worcester. Woodward is advisor to the school literary magazine and past advisor to the National Honor Society. He has been suspended without pay.

U.S. Attorney's Office Press Release (dated March 31, 2008)

Agents assigned to the FBI, Innocent Images Unit (IIU) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Cyber Crimes Unit, have been conducting undercover transactions in an effort to identify and gain access to websites purportedly distributing child pornography.

According to the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, such undercover transactions, revealed that WOODWARD allegedly purchased access to at least two websites that distribute child pornography, "The Sick Child Room," and, “RH Collection.” He allegedly purchased a thirty day subscription to The Sick Child Room on June 21, 2007, and paid $99.95, and on March 16, 2007, he purchased access to RH Collection, paying $94.95 for a thirty day subscription.

He is scheduled for a probable cause and detention hearing on April 2, 2008.

PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION ORDERED April 3 - U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Hillman ordered Gregg Woodward temporarily released, conditional on immediately seeking admission to the psychiatric unit at St. Vincent's Hospital in Worcester or another hospital. He must surrender immediately to U.S. marshals upon his release from the hospital, or if no hospitals admit him, after which he will face a detention hearing.

Brighton, COLORADO

Another chapter in the sordid Brighton Charter High School saga. Sentenced again. It would be good to think that she won't be teaching again. But it's Colorado.
Pity me picture.

Nov 13, 2006 -
An arrest warrant was issued for Carrie McCandless, 29, a social studies teacher and cheerleading coach at Brighton Charter High School, on charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust. She also faces a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The charges stem from a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old male student.

Her contract was terminated last week. She is also the principal's wife. It gets worse.

This is the second time in less than a year an adult at Brighton Charter High has been investigated for having an inappropriate relationship with a student,

David Mundy, Jr., 31, who used to be a substitute teacher at the school, pleaded guilty earlier this year to sex assault on a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Mundy was a Brighton firefighter at the time of the incident. He resigned in October because of the case. Mundy also has ties to school management. He is the son of David Mundy, Sr., the chairman of the charter school board of directors.

Continued here for space considerations.

SENTENCED June 8 - Denver Post: McCandless was sentenced to 45 days on the misdemeanor charge. Compare the Denver Post with Rocky Mountain News:

Judge James Hiatt told the 30-year-old former Brighton Charter High School teacher that she was supposed to be the trusted adult who set the boundaries.

"All of this sounds like something a 16- or-17-year-old student would be doing and would have been expelled for," he said

The Rocky Mountain News also reports that she will serve five years of probation and be required to register as a sex offender. They also report that In court today that as McCandless was led away, she blew a kiss to her husband and friends, saying: "Goodbye, guys."

JAIL - NOT PRISON - TIME March 31, 2008 - McCandless turned herself in to serve 30 days in jail - not prison. She turned herself in Friday on charges related to contributing to the delinquency of a minor. From The Coloradan: It's unclear exactly what the charges are, and whether they are new ones or violations stemming from her original conviction last summer.

CHARGES - The sexual encounter was discovered on March 6 when a parole officer arrived at the apartment of another one of his parolees and he found McCandless in bed there. The sex was a violation of her probation terms because it was not reported to or approved by McCandless' treatment team.

Upon discovering her at the apartment, McCandless also did not originally disclose the offense to the parole officer. The encounter also resulted in her violation of the 8:30 p.m. curfew established as a term of her probation. The sexual encounter was discovered on March 6 when a parole officer arrived at the apartment of another one of his parolees and he found McCandless in bed there. The sex was a violation of her probation terms because it was not reported to or approved by McCandless' treatment team. It was not her husband or a juvenile.

McCandless also had another sexual encounter in December that was not approved or reported to the treatment team.

SEXUAL OFFENDER INTENSIVE SUPERVISION The five years of intensive supervision requires permission from parole officers before she can seek sexual contact with others.

McCandless remains married to the charter school's former principal. She, her husband and the school are being sued negligence stemming, in part, from her criminal case.

BRIGHTON SCHOOL - April 6 - The Denver Post looked at the history of the troubled school and the scandals. One new fact: Chris McCandless resigned as principal and runs a pet-sitting business.

West Hartford, CONNECTICUT

Back in court for failure to comply with probation.

Oct 5, 2007 - Matthew Glasser, 31, a Northwest Catholic High School music teacher, pleaded guilty to two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault and tampering with a witness.

Police arrested him in June 2005 and charged him with eight counts of second-degree sexual assault for a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. Police charged Glasser under a provision of state law that deals with sexual relations between teachers and students.

School officials, according to the warrant, learned of the affair in early May 2005 after the girl feared that she might be pregnant. The girl, according to the warrant, had known Glasser for years. He had been her teacher at St. Thomas School, an elementary school in West Hartford.

He is expected to be sentenced to 10 years' probation on Oct 17. The plea agreement calls for registration as a sex offender.
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SENTENCED (sorta) Oct 17 - Glasser was sentenced to seven years SUSPENDED and five years of probation. The victim was unwilling to testify. He forfeits his right to teach in Connecticut schools. He must register as a sex offender.

When police arrested him and searched his apartment, they took his Spiderman pillowcases and a stuffed frog from his bed. The victim identified them.
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PAROLE VIOLATION - Feb 20, 2008 - Glasser has returned to court, accused of violating the conditions of his probation , including deactivating his MySpace account and e-mail address and finding a place to live approved by his probation officer. His probation restricts him from having any Internet access and requires Glasser to live an adequate distance from minors or public places - such as high schools - where children are present.

Glasser also dismissed the conditions of his probation during one meeting, saying, "My family has taken the stance that I did not commit the offense that I was arrested for and I did nothing illegal," the affidavit says.

At a later meeting, he asked Mandeville-McGeough, "If I become your pal, would I get privileges?"Prosecutor Sandra Tullius said the state also is concerned that Glasser was giving piano lessons to a 13-year-old girl.

His lawyer says that Glasser had two jobs: one in which he sets up sound equipment for concerts and another with the Connecticut Criminal Law Foundation. He will return to court March 7 for a hearing on the violation of probation charge. Later Glasser told his probation officer that he did not understand the conditions of his probation because he has a "learning disability."
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VIOLATION OF PROBATION HEARING March 15 - The hearing is in the second day.
The hearing expected to resume on March 25.

TO PRISON March 31 - After a hearing, a judge ruled that Glasser violated the terms of his probation and ordered the Tolland man held without bond pending a June 3 sentencing.

He failed to find a place to live that was an adequate distance from schools and parks where minors frequent, according to the arrest warrant affidavit filed by his probation officer. He also continued to maintain his Internet and e-mail accounts, including a MySpace account, although the court prohibited him from having online access, the affidavit said.

"He is not following the conditions," Judge Edward J. Mullarkey Mullarkey said.

Apr 1 - One of the violations was failing to delete his e-mail and MySpace website accounts. Glasser tried to deceive the system when he transferred those Internet accounts to his father, Judge Edward J. Mullarkey said.

Because Glasser is a registered sex offender, Mullarkey said, he should be housed by the state Department of Correction with other sex offenders for his own safety.

Apache Junction, ARIZONA

FUGITIVE TEACHER CAPTURED after two years.

Sept 14, 2007 - A charter school principal still has her job despite pleading guilty last year to a reduced charge of failing to report neglect of a minor.

Carolyn Kennedy was sentenced to two years probation, a suspended 90-day jail sentence and a $2,500 fine following her plea deal.

Police say she knew that her son, former Morningstar teacher Bobby Kennedy, 28, was molesting a girl in his class in 2005 and did nothing to report it. They also say she wouldn't help them locate her son after he skipped bail.

He is still a fugitive.

Even worse: State officials charged with enforcement of charter schools can't say why Kennedy is still at the school or even if they have plans to investigate.

Morningstar owner C. Steven Cox, has been hit with a 112-count indictment for theft and misuse of charter school funds in California. His assets have been frozen as well.

Charter Disaster
No school oversight Connect the dots
Forbes: Charter School Network Founder Indicted
San Diego Union-Tribune: Founder of big California charter school network indicted

CAPTURED March 18, 2008 - Deputy U.S. Marshals in Oklahoma captured accused child molester Bobby Kennedy, 29, at a residence in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Deputy U.S. Marshals from Phoenix developed significant information that Kennedy was residing in Lawton, OK with his wife and small child. This information was relayed to Deputies in Oklahoma who immediately established surveillance on the residence and arrested Kennedy a short time later.
Source: Press release from the U.S. Marshals office.

Photo: U.S. Marshals Office

Ex-A.J. teacher wanted by police caught in Okla.
U.S. Marshals arrest fugitive Apache Junction teacher

Anthony, NEW MEXICO

March 31, 2008 - David Munoz, 52, a Gadsden Independent School District special education teacher, was arrested Thursday on a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. The arrest was the result of a three-year investigation.

The FBI says Munoz had facilitated two deliveries of 50 kilograms of cocaine to two undercover agents. Authorities believe Munoz had traveled between New Mexico, Texas and Mexico on several occasions to meet with the agents.

See Teacher Arrested On Suspicion Of Dealing Drugs

TT - The location may change when we find out the school name.

Clark County, NEVADA

March 30, 2008 - Readers in Clark County, Nevada respond to a news story that math scores in Clark County are the lowest ever. The letters to the editor to the Las Vegas Review Journal are thoughtful and practical and to the point. Sample, but, by all means, read them all.

So schools consultant Bill Hanlon has discovered that teachers aren't teaching advanced math skills because they're too busy teaching basic math skills? Doesn't this mean that students shouldn't be passed on to advanced classes until they have achieved grade-level in basic classes? Whatever happened to the concept of retaining students who weren't ready for advancement?

And,

After reading your Thursday article about the math test failures, I don't know which is worse: the actual scores or that the administration seemed so surprised. How could it be that no one knew the level of education was so poor? What are the school principals and administration doing all day?

If the Clark County School District were a business, it would be bankrupt for not delivering on its promises.

TT - Preliminary math test FAILURE RATE link

March 28 Las Vegas Review Journal article on the shock

End-of-semester math exams developed to measure whether students were mastering concepts required by district standards were given for the first time in January. The preliminary results, published Wednesday in the Review-Journal, shocked everyone, including Superintendent Walt Rulffes.

Rulffes said the district voluntarily developed and administered the test, knowing the results might not be positive. But the results, even though they're disappointing, are a necessary step in improving math performance, reducing the level of student remediation required in college and meeting higher federal standards.

A major finding: Teachers are departing from required curriculum to review basic math skills, which means they aren't covering all the areas students need in the first semester. It's a deficit that's compounded from year to year.

Clark County school district encompasses Las Vegas and surrounds and is the fastest-growing district in the country. It is the fifth largest in the country. See Clark County School District entry at Wikipedia.

Tampa, FLORIDA

NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL

March 29, 2008 - From the Tampa Tribune: "Public Fed Up With Teacher Sex Cases"

Sometime during the overexposure of Debra Lafave - the Barbie-like teacher turned sexual predator - people started to think differently about female teachers having sex with students.

And that, we would argue, helps explain the number of female teachers being arrested for sexual misconduct - a string of trysts that has kept Tampa in the national headlines.

At Freedom High, a fellow instructor turned in English teacher Mary Jo Spack and at Martinez Middle School, a colleague who heard rumors of an affair involving math teacher Stephanie Ragusa blew the whistle. In Pasco County, the father of the boy who was allegedly having an affair with Mitchell High School substitute teacher Lisa Marinelli alerted authorities after spotting his son getting out of the teacher's car.

Male teachers are being held accountable too. At Newsome High School, a student reported soccer coach Ronnie Lewis for having sex with a female student.

Don't be surprised if more cases arise. It's not something in the water and it's not teachers have suddenly gone wild.

It's that the rest of us are finally recognizing these relationships for the crimes they are.

TT - Teachers aren't being arrested because the public is suddenly aware. They are being arrested because they sexually exploit students and they've gotten what? Probation.

The final sentence in that editorial is a little disturbing but not unexpected. Not when newspapers report sexual abuse as "an affair" or a "romantic relationship" and the clandestine meetings to avoid detection as "trysts" and when a newspaper actually editorialized against a sentence for a teacher because it was a "complicated affair."

Our first annual IDIOTIC HEADLINE WRITERS AWARDS

Tampa, FLORIDA

March 30, 2008 - In Tampa, teachers are worried about the bad publicity after seven educators were arrested in the last two months, most arrested for sex with students.
--------------------------------------
Best information in the article:

Pinellas teachers association executive director Jade Moore sees another factor at play, too.

"It's a function of the quality of teachers we're hiring, in my opinion," Moore said. "When you don't have anyone to choose from and you have to hire anyone who comes in the door, you get in trouble."

Hillsborough teacher Stephanie Ragusa, arrested on charges of having sex with a student, went through alternative certification. Lisa Marinelli, a Pasco long-term substitute arrested on similar charges, has a high school diploma and two days of training.

FAST FACTS from the article:

Teachers in the news
Jan. 31: Newsome High coach Ronald Lewis arrested on seven counts of unlawful sex with a minor girl student.
Feb. 9: Azalea Middle teacher Jason Williams recommended for unpaid suspension over inappropriate text messaging with a student.
March 10: Pasco Middle teacher Michael Aaron Black sentenced to 22 1/2 years for having sex with a 13-year-old student.
March 13: Former Davidsen Middle teacher Stephanie Ragusa arrested on charges of having sex with a male student.
March 14: Former Greco Middle teacher Debra Lafave requests an end to her house arrest stemming from her 2005 conviction for having sex with a student.
March 20: Freedom High teacher Mary Jo Spack arrested on charges of having sex with a male student.
March 23: Mitchell High substitute teacher Lisa Marinelli arrested on charges of having sex with a male student.
March 24: Seminole High teacher Thomas J. Anderson resigns amid accusations that he took home a female student and got a massage from her.
---------------------------
TT - Ragusa had three prior arrests that she did not mention on her application. The school district found out and hired her anyway. Her first semester in the classroom, the principal reported her to the Child Abuse Hotline. Her second year, at her third school, that principal accused her of using profanity and telling students about her personal life. TT entry Ragusa

There simply is no cost to teachers when they sexually exploit children.

Raymondville, TEXAS

Judge, formerly a fifth-grade teacher, indicted (again.)
Former school board president indicted for extortion plot against judge.
Former District attorney, formerly a teacher, indicted.

March 29, 2008 - County Judge Eliseo Barnhart, a former grade-school teacher who won office in a landslide victory in 2006, has been re-indicted by a grand jury on two counts of aggravated perjury.

Barnhart was indicted in September. It is alleged that Barnhart perjured himself in a deposition when he told a Texas Ranger that he didn't become sexually aroused when he allegedly fondled a secretary and later saying he was sexually aroused. The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended Barnhart with pay after grand jurors handed down the first indictment. Barnhart pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The grand jury re-indicted Barnhart on a count of perjuring himself before a jury.
-------------------------------
TT - In other Willacy county news, Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra tried to indict his political rival Gus Garza (who beat him in one election), Raymondville Police Chief Uvaldo Zamora, Chief Deputy David Martinez, Sheriff Larry Spence, District Clerk Gilbert Lozano and County Clerk Terry Flores. whose actions lead to felony indictments against him. The indictments led to Guerra's arrest.

[TOTALLY IRRELEVANT BUT INTERESTING: Sheriff Spence fired Deputy Martinez after Martinez ran against him in the Democrat primary. Martinez is now homeless, since he was living in a department-supplied trailer unit in Port Mansfield.]

In 1991, county commissioners appointed Guerra as District Attorney. He was a former science teacher and businessman who grew up as a migrant farm worker.

YouTube video - Guerra (Oct 2007) worried about being indicted again.

Guerra was finally voted out of office.

Indictments (PDF) "I did not get a hard on" whereas, in truth and in fact, he did admit to having a hard on." (THIS IS LEGALESE, FOLKS.)

Evansville, INDIANA

March 29, 2008 - Jennifer Schwitz, 25, a teacher at Dexter Elementary School, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a crash.

Indiana State Police said she drove off the roadway, crossed both northbound lanes and hit a utility pole and highway sign. Troopers say she left the scene of the accident and almost hit a trooper while turning onto Riverside Drive

Natchez, MISSISSIPPI

March 29, 2008 - Roosevelt M. Green, a Robert Lewis Middle School physical education teacher, was arrested Wednesday on charges of possession of marijuana.

Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said the arrest, stemming from a tip to the police department, yielded two bags containing approximately five grams of marijuana each. Possession below 30 grams is a misdemeanor.

TT - Why is it we have zero tolerance for marijuana for schools but not for teachers?

Chillicothe, OHIO

March 29, 2008 - Michael McCafferty, 38, an intervention specialist at Tiffin Elementary School, was arrested and charged with one count of possession of drug paraphernalia - syringes and a spoon with black residue used for heroin.

Officers from the U.S. 23 Major Crimes Task Force and Ross County deputies were working to serve a warrant on McCafferty, and pulled him over just inside the Pickaway County line. McCafferty allowed officers to search his vehicle and a black zippered bag was found behind the passenger seat. According to the report, syringes and a spoon with black residue was found inside.

Officers say McCafferty told them the items were used for heroin use.

Intervention specialists work with children who have mild or moderate to intensive disabilities. He also served as an assistant football coach and has been with the district for at least two years. McCafferty is now on paid leave.

Drug raid results in seven arrests, including school teacher
Detectives had received information that alleged McCafferty was selling heroin, which is why they had a warrant for his arrest. They were working on a community tip.

Columbus, OHIO

Watching out for parents one story at a time.

March 29, 2008 - Continuing the newspaper's excellent education coverage, Jennifer Smith Richards in the Columbus Dispatch, reports that Worthington Christian Schools are revamping their policies on sex allegations. Three educators resigned in the past six months because of sexual-misconduct allegations or convictions.

The school commissioned two independent reviews got recommendations from a group of concerned parents and alumni. The changes include an oversight board that will include some members with expertise in law enforcement. Employee discipline will be well-documented and might be shared with future employers. Teachers will be trained on sexual-abuse issues and appropriate teacher- student relationships starting this fall.

A nepotism policy will be drafted that will prevent the repeat of a situation such as that of Dwayne Smith, a science teacher and soccer coach who had been rehired by Worthington Christian despite admitting that he had inappropriately touched a middle-school girl. Smith had been rehired by his father, who was superintendent at the time.

Dwayne Smith resigned days after being highlighted in "The ABCs of Betrayal," a Dispatch investigation that was published in October and revealed flaws in the state's educator-misconduct system.

Within a week of the series' publication, a second teacher and coach was arrested in relation to charges of sexually abusing a student at a previous job in Wisconsin. Jason Crary was convicted in January of four felony counts of sexual assault by a school staff member. He's scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.

In late February, Superintendent Bill Williams resigned after one of the independent reviews ordered by the schools found that he had behaved inappropriately with a student several years ago. Williams disputed that finding.

TT - The newspaper award-winning series ABCs of Denial can be found here. The Columbus Dispatch took first place for hard-news coverage in the national Education Writers Association contest. The paper also won a special citation for investigative reporting for its series about Ohio’s teacher-discipline, the ABC's of Denial.

LICENSE SURRENDER April 8 - Smith is officially is surrendering his license, which the state then permanently revokes, for committing “actions unbecoming to the teaching profession.” Smith was never charged with a crime..

There was never any denial that the school was aware of Smith's misconduct. But in past months, the school has said Smith should not have been rehired. Last week, an official letter of apology was sent to parents, alumni and church members.

“Although we felt we followed biblical principles in this matter and trusted the Lord's promise to forgive and cleanse those who repent, we regret that it has resulted in division and distrust among the WCS family,” said the letter from Executive Pastor Jim Augspurger and Pastor Jim Custer, both of whom were in leadership when Smith was rehired.

“We appreciate the fact that some of you would have made a different decision regarding Mr. Smith. Knowing what we know now, we also would have made a different decision.”

TT - The misguided efforts by the Catholic Church and educrats in public education to arbitrarily absolve priests and teachers of guilt in defiance of established law, is a despicable act of arrogance and the result of unchallenged power and corrupted authority. No apology can suffice for their hubris; no forgiveness is possible for their perversion of power or conceit that diminishes institutions that ought to represent decency. In their arrogance they may forgive themselves, but morality doesn't dictate that anyone else do so.

TT - We are accepting no more posts on this entry.

Lawrence, MASSACHUSETTS

SCHOOL DISTRICT STORY OF THE DAY
Such districts are poverty traps.

March 29, 2008 - Police are asking why they were not notified by the school when a 12-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a classmate. Police only learned of the assault five days later when the father brought his daughter to the police.

The state's mandatory reporting law requires that teachers and school officials report possible abuse of children. Assistant Superintendent Mary Lou Bergeron confirmed that the School Department is conducting its own internal investigation as to why police weren't notified about the incident that happened before the Easter break.

"It was reported by the teacher (to the assistant principal) and some how or another the communication didn't get followed through. ... That's our standing protocol, that we report it immediately. Our initial contact with police is the school resource officer," she said.

The school principal did not find out until Monday when the father came to the school. When he asked school officials about what they planned to do, the father said he was told the student would receive a suspension. When he pressed what other action would be taken, he said school officials told him that his daughter could be transferred to another class or to a different school.

The 13-year-old boy reached over to the girl's shirt and pulled the top of it out and then looked down her shirt. The girl told police she heard a the teacher telling him "to stop doing that," police said. The teacher denies that he witnessed the incident.

PREVIOUS INCIDENT

This is the second case in recent weeks of an alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old female student on school grounds.

Two Frost School students were arrested late last month on charges of pushing a female classmate into a school closet and fondling her. A 12-year-old boy was charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. A 13-year-old boy was charged with assault and battery and battery on a child under 14.

WHAT WE FOUND

South Lawrence East Middle School Rates a 1 (out of 10) at Greatschools.net The school, like many in Lawrence, is 81% HISPANIC. The district spends $13,190 per student, compared to a state average of $11,642 for test scores results where only 14% of fifth-graders are proficient in math. Statewide is 51%. (Proficiency isn't a whiz bang performance. It means at grade level.) It gets worse by grade 7 and 8, dropping to 12% and 11%. Lawrence Rates 2 overall for their schools.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education information on the school is bleak. The Hispanic school population has risen to 85% in the current school year. Graphs

PAYING MORE FOR LESS The average teacher salary was $56,282 in 2006. (Found at bottom of information page.) A new contract with teachers signed last month granted them an 8% raise.

Under the current contract, teachers in Lawrence earn a basic salary of $37,000 annually. Those with a master's degree and four years of experience earn $46,229. A step 10 teacher with a master's degree makes $63,514, and the salary increases to $70,000 for a teacher with a doctorate.

Look at the size of their budget at the story. The school district is " the largest employing agency in the city with just under 2,200." (Found in nepotism story.) Not unsuprisingly, the school does not offer school choice.

SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS Standard & Poors School Matters on the 2007 school demographics indicates that while 86.4% are economically disadvantaged, only 14.6% are classified as language learners. In other words, language or lack of English is not the problem.

SCHOOL COMMITTEE The elected school committee (same as school board elsewhere) has a website that is not current. There are no school agendas or school committee meeting minutes there or at the Lawrence city website.

Lawrence, Massachusetts entry at Wikipedia explains the immigrant population. See Troubles of the 1980s and 1990s.
Category OOI - Our Own Investigation
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MANDATORY REPORTING Readers might recall a 2004 story when two boys in Columbus, Ohio forced a girl, who was developmentally disabled, to perform oral sex in the school's auditorium. The story made national headlines for days. Less well covered was the fact that the school principal was subsequently tried for failing to report a sexual assault and found not guilty, but it took another three years to fire her. TT entry for Regina Crenshaw.

Few teachers or administrators are ever prosecuted for failure to report as required by law. It's hardly worth the effort as it is a misdemeanor and no teacher or administrator that we know of has lost a license for it.

See our links for Mandatory Reporting requirements.

Aurora, COLORADO

March 29,2 008 - Yvette Starzyk, 26, a substitute teacher at Hinkley High School, was arrested on suspicion of having sexual relations with a 15-year-old male student in 2004. She is charged with sexual abuse of a child by one in a position of trust and is being held on $20,000 bond.

She was fired last Thursday, four days after the Aurora School District began investigating the allegations.












She is charged with sexual abuse of a child by one in a position of trust and is being held on $20,000 bond. Police began their investigation after a school resource officer at Hinkley reported concerns related to Starzyk to the Crimes Against Children Unit
Photos: Aurora Police Department

Police said they believe there may be more victims involved with Starzyk and are asking anyone with information to contact Det. Chris Fanning at (303) 739-6096.

Fort Worth, TEXAS

Registered sex offender for the rest of his life.
Sentence? Deferred adjudication. - Meaning that after seven years, there will be no finding of guilt, the case will be dismissed, and he will not have a conviction on his record.

March 29, 2008 - Philip Walker, 59, a music teacher at Westpark Elementary School, who touched a student's breast in an apparent "moment of weakness" has been sentenced to seven years' deferred adjudication probation.

Walker reached a plea-bargain agreement Thursday and pleaded guilty to indecency-fondling in exchange for the sentence. Walker's attorney, said his client voluntarily surrendered his teaching certificate

Walker must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and can never teach children again.
Full Name: Philip Lee Walker

Lewiston, MAINE

Red flags are at FULL MAST on this one.

March 28, 2008 - A 27-year-old male teacher who is out on bail accused of molesting four students - ages 7 and 8 - wanted his bail conditions changed so that he could have contact with children under age 18 outside his family.

His attorney explained,

[Walter] McKee explained that the request was made pending Raymond's trial so that he would be able to socialize and "isn't just sitting alone, isolated.

The District Attorney objected and asked that even contact with family members under 18 be supervised. The judge agreed.

TT entry for Raymond James

Blue Hill, MAINE

Decades of persistent abuse of children and finally a prosecution.

March 28, 2008 - Howard Evans, 64, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault and one count of unlawful sexual contact with a teenage male.

A former teacher at Liberty School, an alternative school that closed in December 2007, Evans had been named in two previous lawsuits filed in 2006 and 2007 that allege sexual misconduct. Both civil suits, which have since been settled, sought several thousand dollars in damages. While the financial details of the settlements have not been disclosed.

Evans had been a licensed massage therapist and acupuncturist. He voluntarily surrendered his license to practice last year after a complaint was filed against him with the state of Maine Board of Complementary Health Care Providers alleging “sexual impropriety,” according to a consent agreement.

The surrender of his license was part of the consent agreement with the board, the Maine Attorney General and the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.
His trial is scheduled tentatively for August 1.

Evans is the former chairman of the Blue Hill Planning Board.
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From The Working Waterfront (June 2007): A support group was formed in March in the Blue Hill community made up of parents, friends, former friends, and colleagues of the accused who also feel angry and betrayed.

The abuse goes back decades. Evans wrote parents in 1996, apologizing for the damage he had done to their son between 1984 and 1986.

In the letter, Evans admitted to “The sexualizing of a deep trust and friendship” and enclosed a check “as a way of creating a final end to the abuse and harm” he had caused. Evans wrote, “What I did to Nat will never happen again with any young person entrusted to my care.”

Brush, COLORADO

In Arizona, child pornography can net a sentence of 200 years.
In Colorado, pffft, probation is the norm and even a misdemeanor.

Feb 26, 2008 - David Davies, 53, a former Brush teacher convicted in 2007 of possession of child pornography is back in Morgan County to face probation violation charges. A probation revocation hearing is scheduled for March 27.

Davies was teaching in Brush, Colorado, when he was arrested in 2006. He entered a guilty plea in Morgan County Court in March 2007 and was placed on five years’ probation in June 2007. The probation was transferred to Missouri.

Officials in the 13th Judicial District probation office indicated that Davies would be facing child pornography charges, possibly federal charges, in Missouri.

TT - Let's hope the feds bring charges. They don't screw around with perverts.

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING March 28, 2008 - Davis pleaded guilty Thursday to a probation violation. sentenced Thursday in Morgan County Court to a year jail - not prison - for probation violation in a child pornography case.

HE WAS ARRESTED AGAIN in Missouri last month on new child pornography charges. It is expected that he will be moved back to Missouri to face charges there. Those could include federal charges. After the Missouri case is concluded, he could face additional child pornography charges in Florida and Colorado.

TT - One year in jail is brutal by Colorado standards. Heck, if he had been, say, a local music talent or a playwright or someone dear to the community, he might have gotten probation. But he'd have to live in Aspen.

Child Pornography and Educators
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.

Teacher Ethics Bill

Teacher Ethics bill passes senate in Florida.

March 27, 2008 - Senate Bill 1712, known as “The Ethics in Education Act,” passed 38-0 in the Senate.

The bill would prohibit schools from entering confidentiality agreements with teachers who get in trouble.

The bill also provides that any public officer or public employee, whether working in schools or elsewhere in the public sector, forfeits their right to state retirement benefits if convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct or sexual battery involving minors.

The Senate earlier this month passed a resolution asking Congress to help solve that problem by passing a national ethics standard.
--------------------------------
TT - SB 1712 history text (html)
You can track the bill at the history link.

The bill would also classify certain teacher offenses as a breach of public trust.

The bill provides that a district school superintendent or district school board member forfeits his or her salary for a specified period following failure to report allegations of misconduct by instructional or administrative personnel.

Requires charter schools to adopt ethical standards for all employees. And prohibits confidential agreements.

Provides for the suspension the educator certificate of a person who knowingly fails to report child abuse or suspected or actual misconduct by instructional personnel.

SB 1742 urges Congress to support the passage of laws establishing ethical standards for professional educators and to support a national clearinghouse to strengthen state efforts in the reporting, screening, and sharing of critical information relative to educator misconduct, etc.

SB 1742 history text (html)
You can track the bill at the history link.

Leavenworth, KANSAS

March 27, 2008 - Mohamed Dirshe, 26, a substitute teacher in Leavenworth schools, was arrested March 17 and faces three felony counts of unlawful sexual relations and three felony counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor for illicit purposes.

Police said one of the incidents involved a student from Immaculata High School while the other two involved a Leavenworth High School student. Dirshe is accused of inviting two 16-year-old male students to his home, giving them alcohol and having illegal sexual relations with them while they were under the influence.

Mar 27 Substitute teacher from Somalia charged with sexual misconduct

Springdale, ARKANSAS

March 26, 2008 - Richard Smith, 55, an elementary teacher at Salem Lutheran School, was arrested Wednesday in connection with felony distributing, possessing, or viewing child pornography.

Smith teaches fourth and fifth grade at the school. Police were alerted by a tipster who told police Smith had images of child pornography on his home computer.

Smith voluntarily came to the Springdale Police Department for questioning and confessed to having images of children, toddlers to preteens, engaged in sexual activity, according to police. He admitted to downloading the images from various Web sites on the Internet over the past six years, police said.

Full Name: Richard Lester Smith

Smith was fired Wednesday. [TT - See how easy that is when it's not a public school?]

Washington County Detention Center inmate information.

INDICTED May 30 - A federal grand jury indicted Smith with six counts of knowing receipt of child pornography transported in interstate and foreign commerce and one count of knowing possession of a computer containing images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct shipped in interstate and foreign commerce. A jury trial is scheduled for July 22.

Background checks

March 26, 2008 - Legislators are considering a bill to extend criminal background checks. Two separate bills filed last week seek to broaden the Child Protection Act, which determines what information school districts can receive from background checks conducted by State Police.

Currently, school districts are provided with that information going back only 10 years.

The bills, which will be heard in committee after the legislative session begins March 31, would remove the 10-year limit for convictions outside the Child Protection Act.

The legislation was prompted by the arrest of a school janitor who had been hired despite known prior arrests. School officials hired Schwertz despite the fact that he was serving five years of probation for bank fraud when he applied to work in St. Tammany schools and that two protective orders had been taken out against him, by his fiancee and by his parents. He had also been convicted of DWI.

He was arrested in March and is facing seven counts of aggravated rape and two counts of child molestation.

Joan Hunt, deputy counsel for the Department of Education, said the teachers union has traditionally opposed strengthening the law for fear that changes would encroach on privacy rights.

TT - What a surprise.

Santa Fe, TEXAS

March 26, 2008 - Michael Ingersoll, 29, a social studies teacher at Santa Fe High School, was arrested on charges of sexual assault of a child and improper relationship between an educator and student.

Ingerson was arrested at the high school by Texas Rangers. He remains in jail on $80,000 bond.

“The investigation ... was initiated after the parents of the 16-year-old girl found e-mail communications between their daughter and the accused,” [Galveston County District Attorney Kurt] Sistrunk said. “Further investigation revealed that the child was sexually assaulted by the accused at his home in Santa Fe.”

Ingersoll taught at the high school for two years. He was suspended with pay.

Home Schooling

March 26, 2008 - California court agrees to rehear homeschooling case

The 2nd District Court of Appeal agreed Tuesday to schedule another hearing in the case of a Southern California couple it ordered to send their children to a conventional school. The children were educated at home by their mother, who is not a credentialed teacher.

The court ruled that parents who home school their children had to hold teaching credentials.

The court says it plans to solicit more briefs on whether non-credentialed parents have a constitutional right to teach their children at home and to rehear the case in June.
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TT - Not all public school teachers are credentialed. It varies from district to district in California, with some districts having as low as 70% of the teachers credentialed. Which made the appellate court decision ill-considered and impetuous. (Which is nothing new for that court.)

State data on teacher credentials and experience. By County

For instance, Antelope Valley Schools range from 72% to 90% teachers with full credentials.
(Defined as "Teacher has completed a teacher preparation program and holds a preliminary, clear, professional clear or life credential.")

So, if parents must have a credential, so, too, all teachers in the classroom would have to be credentialed. No more "emergency permits" or "waivers. It would close down most schools in the state.

Education Reform (NOT)

Partisan politicking with the safety of children.

March 26, 2008 - A Calfiornia senate committee on education approved a bill that would allow California to automatically suspend teachers' credentials when they have been convicted of a sex offense or other serious crime in another state.

The bill (SB 1110) was introduced by Jack Scott (D-Pasadena) would require the California Teacher Credentialing Commission to automatically suspend a teacher's license if it had been revoked in another state. Credentials also could be revoked after a criminal conviction that limits a person's contact with children.

The other bill (SB1105) that was held over for "more information" was introduced by Bob Margett, (R-Arcadia) would address the problem of teachers who are accused of sexual misconduct in California but enter no contest pleas to a lesser offense can sometimes retain their teaching credentials. It is a "no contest" loophole.

The credentialing commission's attorney, Mary Armstrong, said current law allows teachers who plead no contest to be treated differently than those who plead guilty. Armstrong said teaching is the only profession that draws the distinctionArmstrong said teaching is the only profession that draws the distinction.

[TT - A no contest plea is an admission that if the case went to court, the defendant would likely be found guilty. For all intents, it is a guilty verdict and is treated as such in sentencing and in the criminal record.]

The Teacher Credentialing Commission sponsored both bills.

The California Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union, testified against both of them.

The committee delayed action on Margett's bill so he could address the concerns about due process raised by the teachers union.
-------------------------------------
INFO: Members of the Senate Education Committee.

TT - If a teacher pleads guilty or is found guilty of a sex offense, they immediately lose their license. However, if a teacher pleads no contest - which is essentially agreeing that they would be found guilty in court and is treated EXACTLY like a guilty verdict or guilty plea - the teacher remains suspended until a final decision by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing is made.

Not mentioned in the news story was this provision in Margett's bill:

Removes the one-year limitation for making adverse action findings available to employing school districts, thereby requiring the CTC to make the findings available indefinitely.

Margett's bill would correct the "no contest" loophole and the one-year limitation on public records, but it is unlikely that it will be passed, now or any time in the future despite being supported by:

• California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Sponsor)
• California District Attorneys Association
• California School Boards Association
• Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
• School Innovations and Advocacy

The bill can be tracked here.

Tucson, ARIZONA

Former teacher acquitted on sex charges, now accused of murder.

March 26, 2008 - Netzahualcoyotl Ramos, 34, is being held on a charge of first-degree murder of two men in a drug deal that went bad. He is being held on a $1 million bond.

Ramos, along with Vincent A. Valenzuela, 21, were arrested on first-degree murder charges and identified as the shooters in an incident that began as a drug deal involving crack cocaine and marijuana, court documents show

Last September, Ramos was acquitted on six counts of sexual conduct with a 13-year-old student.
Full Name: Netzahualcoyotl G. Ramos

Another Florida teacher investigated

March 26, 2008 - Another Tampa teacher is under investigation. Police confirm that a Middleton High School teacher is being investigated after a student reported seeing the teacher engaged in text messaging with another student.

Last Thursday, Freedom High teacher Mary Jo Spack was arrested and charged with having sex with a student.The week before last, deputies arrested 28-year-old Stephanie Marie Ragusa and charged her with 5 counts of lewd and lascivious battery involving a student. Last October, police arrested Middleton High teacher Christina Butler after she admitted having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.

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WHAT WE AT TT FOUND:
Pasco County/Hillsborough Female teachers. (age) Story date. Allegations.

TT entry for Mary Jo Spack (age 45)
---- Hillsborough County Schools
---- Arrested March 20. Sex with two boys 17 and 18.
TT entry for Stephanie Ragusa (age 28)
---- Hillsborough County Schools
---- Arrested March 13. Sex with 14-year-old boy.
TT entry for Lisa Marinelli (age 40)
---- Pasco County Schools
---- Arrested March 20. Sex with 17-year-old boy.
TT entry for Christina Butler (age 33)
---- Hillsborough County
---- Arrested in October. Sex with a 9th grader.
TT entry for student suspended for reporting Butler.
TT entry for Jaymee Wallace (28)
---- Hillsborough County Schools
---- Sentenced Dec 2007. Lesbian sex with student.

Male Teachers
TT entry for Michael Black (28)
---- Pasco County Schools
---- Sentenced Jan 2008. Sex with 13-year-old girl.
TT entry for Michael Allen Welch (32)
---- Pasco County Schools
---- Arrested Oct 2007. Drug arrest.
TT entry for Ronald Lewis (35)
---- Hillsborough County Schools
---- Arrested Jan 2008. Sex with 17-year-old girl.
Same article: Christopher Gillis (22)
---- Hillsborough County Schools
Suspended, under investigation. Jan 2008

TT entry for John Sinibaldi (46)
---- Hillsborough County Schools
---- Suspended Nov 2007. Text msging student.
Same article: Christy Ayala, school secretary.
---- Hillsborough County
---- Accused molestation 15-year-old boy.

Wikipedia: Pasco, along with Hernando, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, comprise the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Teacher Quality

NEWSPAPER
EDITORIAL

March 25, 2008 - An editorial from the DesMoines Register asks the governor to veto HF 2645, the hastily-approved bill that at expands the power of public-employee unions.

Senate passage Monday came six after the proposal was introduced, when many Iowans were away during school districts' spring breaks. The measure surfaced Tuesday, March 18, in an amendment to House File 2645, which originally was expected only to tweak Iowa's collective-bargaining law.

March 26, 2008 - Jack L. Hill, president of the Iowa Association of School Boards, explained why the bill would strip school boards of much of their authority and their ability to fire teachers. Districts must have the flexibility to make the decision to terminate teachers. At present, their decisions can be taken to arbitration after which districts can appeal to courts to make a final determination.

The new bill removes the ability to appeal that decision to district court. School board decisions, overturned by adjudicators, are regularly upheld by the courts.

Sheridan, ARKANSAS

Cyber sex, reportedly on a school district computer. Sentenced (sorta) to probation.

Dec 17, 2007 - James Gatling, 58, a Sheridan Junior High School golf coach, was arrested and charged with sexual indecency with a child for after allegedly having sexually explicit Internet conversations with a person Gatling believed to be a 13-year-old female. It turned out to be a police officer.

Police say recorded webcam videos, now in evidence, show Gatling performing sexually explicit acts on himself, asking to meet with the "girl." Gatling allegedly admitted to authorities that he had used a Sheridan School District computer to engage in the sexually explicit conversations.

Conway police are filing similar charges against Gatling. Federal immigration and customs enforcement officials are also involved in the investigations.
Full Name: James Randy Gatling

Sheridan Coach Charged With Indecency
Former Coach Charged With Sexual Indecency Appears in Court
Sheridan coach arrested for sexual indecency <-- Source of Gatlin spelling

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING (sorta) March 26, 2008 - Gatlin pleaded guilty Monday to sexual indecency with a child and was sentenced to serve four years of probation. He must also register as a sex offender.

Vanceboro, NORTH CAROLINA

March 26, 2008 - John Rasberry, 33, a West Craven High School teacher, pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with a female student.

Rasberry was sentenced to 13 to 16 months in prison, suspended for 36 months. He was put on intense probation for six months and regular probation for 30 months. Rasberry, the father of two small children, has to turn in his state teacher's license and register as a convicted sex offender.

Full Name: John Franklin Rasberry
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Parents complained recently about how the school board handles complaints. Two teachers resigned during winter break, all for investigations about misconduct with students. TT entry.

Oswego, NEW YORK

March 26, 2008 - Jennifer Dempsey, 28, a Spanish teacher at Oswego High School, was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old male student.

Dempsey has been placed on paid leave.

It was Demspey's second suspension within two months, [Superintendent David] Fischer said.

She was suspended on Feb. 11 after parents complained to high school officials that Dempsey had sent inappropriate electronic messages to their children. Fisher said the messages were sent to "3 of 4" children. He declined to reveal the content of the messages.

Dempsey is due in Oswego City Court on April 3.

"At this point there are no allegations involving sexual contact," said Oswego County Assistant District Attorney Greg Oakes. Oswego Sheriff's Office Report (dated March 26, 2008)

Phoenix, ARIZONA

March 26, 2008 - Barrett Williams, 44, an elementary school teacher at Pendergast Elementary School, was sentenced to three years in federal prison for possessing child pornography.

Williams pleaded guilty last July. He will be a registered sex offender and will be on lifetime probation.

Williams was arrested after investigators, in October 2006, found child pornography on his computer, including images of boys younger than 12 engaged in various sex acts with adult men, she said."Williams was discovered because of his subscription to a billing company which was known to accept payment for Web sites supplying child pornography,"said [Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.]

He previously taught at West Side Private School in Glendale (from 1999 to 2001) and Northwest Community School in Phoenix (from 1996 to 1999 .)
Full Name: Barrett Keith Williams

Child Pornography and Educators
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.