Yerington, NEVADA

No contest plea. Probation and two years of hell for the parents.

Oct 24, 2007 - Kevin Kegel, 28, a Yerington High School teacher, has been charged with with one count of "sexual conduct by a school employee with a pupil (age 14 or 15) from the same school" and two similar counts including a pupil of age 16 or 17. [A single victim.]

FIRED Kegel was arrested in July. He was fired in late June following a vote by the Lyon County School District Board of Trustees.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Nov 5.
Full Name: Kevin Joseph Kegel

Nov 22 - Kegel waived his preliminary hearing and will now continue to District Court for arraignment in the case.

Kegel was originally charged with one count of "sexual conduct by a school employee with a pupil (age 14 or 15) from the same school" and two similar counts including a pupil of age 16 or 17.

As of Monday, he has been bound over on only the latter two counts.

Lyon County District Attorney Bob Auer, in a later phone interview, said the first count was dropped, as evidence came forward showing the victim was 16 at the time of the incident.
Arraignment is scheduled for Dec 17.

ARRAIGNMENT Dec 21 - Kegel pleaded no contest. He will return to court March 24 for judgment and sentencing on the class C felony. [A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but an admission that should the case go to court, the defendant would likely be found guilty. It has the same effect as a guilty plea.]

SENTENCED March 26, 2008 - Kegel was sentenced to 16 months to four years in the Nevada State Prison; however, probation was granted with the special condition that he spend three months in the Lyon County Jail.

The mother charged she found sexually explicit text messages to the victim; and that when she confronted Kegel he was quick to create a cover story, though his pursuit of the victim did not wane. The father said a restraining order was filed against Kegel; however, Lyon County Sheriff's reports show this did not stop the defendant from trying to contact the victim.

Seattle, WASHINGTON

March 25, 2008 - Curtis Rapp, 50, a teacher at Small Faces Child Development center, was charged with child molestation for allegedly fondling a 9-year-old girl who attended the school.

When interviewed by a detective, Rapp initially denied any wrongdoing, but court documents say he later confessed to putting his hand's down the girl's pants and fondling her. A Seattle police detective wrote in a statement of probable cause that Rapp said "I know it's wrong," after admitting the abuse. Rapp has worked as a teacher at the daycare since 2000 and supervises children ranging in age from 5 to 12.

The girl told her parents and police that Rapp fondled her several times between June and September 2007 and that Rapp told her not to tell anyone.
Full Name: Curtis Allen Rapp

Small Faces Child Development Center is a private daycare center.

ARRAIGNED Apr 1 - Rapp was arraigned on March 25 and pleaded not guilty. He is in jail on a $200,000 bond and a hearing is scheduled for April 3.

UPDATE August 14 - There was a status hearing/conference. A trial date has been scheduled for December 8, 2008.

Carbondale, PENNSYLVANIA

March 25, 2008 - Jane Forgione, 62, a special education teacher at Carbondale Elementary School, was sentenced to 18 months' probation after pleading no contest to hitting her autistic students last year.

Teacher's aides working in the back of the classroom saw the incident and reported it to school officials. Forgione was also accused of biting an autistic student and pinching and twisting anothers' cheek.

PA School Watch Journal entry on Forgione arrest in 2007.
Forgione received the 2006 Teacher of the Year award from the autism support group Parents Loving Children Through Autism.

Long Beach, CALIFORNIA

You won't find a newspaper more proud of their miscreants than the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

March 25, 2008 - All five candidates for the school board appeared at the NAACP forum. (Total attendees: 50.) However, the 6th District Councilman Dee Andrews didn't appear. He won in a special election in May. He said his absence was a response to what he describes as "smear tactics" being used against him, which may be a reference to a Web site that references Andrews' past drug convictions.

From news story: Andrews, a local football and track legend, was a teacher at Wilson High School when he was arrested in 1983 on drug charges. He was imprisoned in 1984 for eight months after pleading no contest to selling cocaine to an undercover police officer and has since had the conviction expunged.
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ONLINE: The web site is http://www.eyeoncorruption.com/ where they reported "When he was a teacher at Wilson High School, Dee Andrews was arrested and convicted for using and selling marijuana and crack cocaine." The site also links to the California Commission on Teacher Credential revocation of Andrews' license.
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Prior Long Beach coverage from TT blog.
Entry Entry Entry Entry Entry
Holton entry.

The Long Beach Press- Telegram is owned by the Media News Group. They also own the Oakland Tribune. If there is a poster child for dysfunctional educational system, it's Oakland, California.
Entry Entry Entry

Teaching Slump?

Puzzling linkage.

March 24, 2008 - Does this make any sense?

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The demand for teachers in Florida is on a decline. Education officials are looking for 17,000 new teachers this fall, compared to 32,000 in 2006.

Officials blame it on looming state budget cuts and lower enrollment tied to the economic slump.

Sean Snaith is the director of the Institute for Economic Competition at the University of Central Florida. He says he expects teacher hires to rebound when the housing market bounces back.

TT - hmmmm.

Camden, NEW JERSEY

Former teachers union president charged in theft pleads guilty.

Nov 16, 2007 - Claraliene Gordon, 66, the former head of the Camden Education Association, was indicted, charged with with stealing thousands of dollars from the teachers union and spending it on gambling. The indictment alleges that she used her union-issued credit card in Atlantic City casinos at least 26 times during the six years she was union president.

The indictment is the second stemming from a sweeping state criminal probe launched in 2006 into alleged test-rigging and spending practices in the Camden school system.

In March, four former Camden school employees were charged with stealing $40,000 from the district and from parents.

Gordon, who was a high school math teacher in Camden for more than 30 years, retired last year. The union also owed the school district at least $200,000 in reimbursement for Gordon's salary and benefits while she was president and excused from teaching duties to handle union business. The union has paid about $100,000 so far, he said.

Nov 15 - From the Courier Post Online:

The questionable spending came to light in 2006, after the New Jersey Education Association requested an audit. The state subpoenaed financial records from Gordon's tenure in February.

A review also found the CEA had failed to reimburse the city school district for Gordon's salary for several years. The union now is repaying a $280,000 debt to the district.

GUILTY PLEA March 25, 2008 - Gordon pleaded guilty to misapplication of entrusted property, a third-degree offense. The prosecution will recommend probation if Gordon makes full restitution. She will be sentenced May 16.

Nashua , NEW HAMPSHIRE

Another illegal strike.

March 25, 2008 - The Nashua school district is trying to hire 900 subsitutes for the planned March 31 strike. It is illegal for public employees to strike in New Hampshire. The superintendent is recommending that teachers who strike be fired.

In Nashua, teachers are led blindly into a strike by poor leadership
You won't believe what the city offered.

Board asks for hefty fines in case of strike
The board of education is asking the courts to fine the Nashua Teachers Union and each of its officers $10,000 a day if they follow through on a threat to go on strike next week.

Vian, OKLAHOMA

Odd that they would recommend firing before a criminal investigation was complete.

March 25, 2008 - Vian School Superintendent Lawrence Barnes recommended on March 10 that two Vian High School teachers, be dismissed as teachers. Both teacher remain suspended with pay and benefits. Both teachers are female and are under criminal investigation for alleged inappropriate behavior with male students. The investigation is not complete.

A pre-termination hearing for one is scheduled for April 14. A pre-termination hearing for another teacher is scheduled for April 22.

St. Louis, MISSOURI

A role model no one should be proud of.
A school district no one should tolerate.

March 24, 2008 - Floyd Irons, 60, former Vashon High School coach and principal, was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison in a $1.6 million mortgage loan fraud and kickback scheme. He was also ordered to pay back more than $653,000 in losses to banks.

In September, Irons pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud, for buying or arranging the purchase of four homes totaling about $1.6 million, according to federal prosecutors. In each case, Irons paid significantly more than market value and falsified loan application documents to secure the money, prosecutors said. Mineo, the mortgage broker, then paid Irons and his partner kickbacks from $20,000 to $60,000 per house, according to prosecutors.

Irons was an award-winning coach. However, five of the titles may be stripped because of recruitment violations. The state association is investigating the eligibility of at least 15 Vashon players spanning nine school years, from 1998 to 2007. In 2005, an audit showed mismanagement of ticket sales, fundraiser proceeds and travel expenses associated with the basketball games and events. The audits point to basketball coach and former Principal Floyd Irons.

Last month, U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber called the scheme one contribution to the financial "catastrophe" in the U.S. mortgage industry.
------------------------------
TT - Not a single article that praised his long career mentioned the abysmal academic standards at Vashon High School that rates a 1 at Greatschools.net

The school is 100% black. They spend $10, 714 per student (compared to $7,858 statewide.) The St. Louis School District rates a 2 overall. Last year, after decades of performance problems, the state took over the district. Entry

Contra Costa County, CALIFORNIA

PROSECUTORS DROP ALL CHARGES

March 4, 2008 - James Toland, 63, a music teacher at high schools in Moraga, Orinda and Lafayette, was charged with 10 counts of molestation, attempting to destroy evidence and distributing marijuana to a minor.

Two of Toland's alleged victims were 15-year-old boys and the third was a 16-year-old boy.

Toland was formally charged and arraigned but not taken into custody. He remains free on bail.

He was employed at Campolindo High School in Moraga, Acalanes High School in Lafayette and Miramonte High School in Orinda. He also worked with choirs and gave private music lessons. The molestations occurred at his home during private lessons.
Photo Costa Sheriff's Department

CHARGES DROPPED March 24 - The District Attorney's Office today dropped all charges against James Toland after Superior Court Judge John Sugiyama ruled inadmissible any evidence obtained under a warrant used to search Toland's home and personal computer. Lawyers for Toland successfully argued to the judge that the affidavit used by a sheriff's investigators was obtained using false information and omitted other relevant facts.

The prosecution has the right to re-file charges related to the alleged victims in the case in the future.

PROSECUTORS DROP ALL CHARGES

New Port Richey, FLORIDA

Third teacher in two weeks arrested for sex with student in the same school district.

March 24, 2008 - Lisa Marinelli, 40, a substitute teacher in -- where else? -- Pasco County schools was arrested and charged with unlawful sex with a minor. She also is accused of giving the 17-year-old boy a pair of her underwear as a memento of their sexual relationship.

Police were alerted after the boy's father saw him exiting Marinelli's car "holding his pants together and putting them back in place." The father provided documents of hundreds of cell phone calls, and there were about 35 text messages still on the victim's cell phone.

Marinelli is married. She was teaching at Mitchell High School.
Full Name: Lisa Robyn Marinelli,

Under Florida law, a 17-year-old cannot consent to sex with a person 24 or older.

Anyone with information may call the sheriff's office at 1-800-854-2862.

Marinelli is the third teacher to be charged in two weeks with a sex-related crime against a minor. In Hillsborough County, former Davidsen Middle School math teacher Stephanie Ragusa and Freedom High English teacher Mary Jo Spack of Wesley Chapel face charges of having sex with underage students. TT entry for Ragusa TT entry for Spack

Since 2005, at least 10 schoolteachers in Hillsborough and neighboring counties have been arrested on similar charges.

TEXT MESSAGES March 25 - According to the arrest report, it all started in December, when Marinelli identified the teen as being "on the list" of potential boyfriends for her 15-year-old daughter. The report also included some of the text messages between Marinelli and the student.

QUALIFICATIONS St. Petersburg Times (March 30) reports that Ragusa went through alternative certification and that Lisa Marinelli, a Pasco long-term substitute arrested on similar charges, has a high school diploma and two days of training.

NOT GUILTY PLEA April 29 - Marinelli entered a written plea of not guilty this morning. She did not appear for the arraignment.

School ethics policies

March 21, 2008 - An education task force that included a panel of attorneys, ethics leaders, veteran educators and school system officials was convened by the state schools superintendent to address making educators' licensure and resignation conditions stricter.

At Thursday's meeting, N.C. Assistant Attorney General Laura Crumpler questioned whether the list of possible reasons to revoke a teaching license should be expanded. She also suggested examining what she referred to as "passing the trash."

School systems are not obligated to report to the state if a teacher is caught looking at pornography.

Crumpler said some school systems are hesitant to report reasons behind resignations because it's an effective settlement with teachers they want to get rid of.

Jill Wilson, attorney for the Guilford County school board, admitted school systems do love resignations because there are sometimes allegations you can't prove against a teacher. She suggested reporting those allegations to the state would be futile because "you have no evidence."

"We will decide if we don't have enough evidence," [N.C. Assistant Attorney General Laura] Crumpler retorted.

Wilson also told the group it shouldn't be a crime for teachers and students to have a romantic relationship if the student is over the age of consent and meets a teacher outside of school.

"Teachers shouldn't be having sex with students, period," Toney said.

Audrey Toney is a retired Pender County Schools assistant superintendent who is both part of the task force and on the state superintendent's ethics committee.
------------------------------
TT - Guilford County School Superintendent role model. entry.
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ONLINE RESOURCE: NC State Board of Education Disciplinary Actions
------------------------------
TT Some glaring problems with the disciplinary actions:

Travis Thompson, 39,
sentenced Oct 2007 for indecent exposure to a 13-year-old girl, sentenced to probation and registration as a sex offender.
NO DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Rebecca Withrow, 30,
sentenced June 2007 for having sex with an 11-year-old student. Plea called for her to surrender her teaching license. She is a registered sex offender.
NO DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Janet Klatt, 44,
sentenced February 2007 for sexual contact with a student.
NO DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Michael Olliver, 47,
sentenced January 2008 for attempted murder.
Disciplinary Action: Suspended Reason: Convicted of attempted murder
Date: January 2008

Chicago, ILLINOIS

March 22, 2008 - Dennis Goggin, 42, a Chicago firefighter and a girls swimming coach at Lincoln Park High School, has been arrested and charged with indecent solicitation of a child and criminal sexual abuse. He allegedly tried to solicit a child on the Internet.

He was fired Friday from his coaching job at the school. He's now on paid administrative leave from the Chicago Fire Department.

Photo courtesy Elmhurst Police

Middleborough, MASSACHUSETTS

“A kid was brutally tortured because [the school district] didn’t notify police,” Russell said. “The terror that went on in this kid’s life the last 13 days is unthinkable.”

March 22, 2008 - Police Chief Gary J. Russell says he holds school officials partly responsible for failing to notify police about a child who reported being burned with a cigarette.

When a boy reported abuse to a teacher at Memorial Early Childhood Center on March 4, the police were never notified. He remained in the home for nearly two more weeks in what authorities say was a severely abusive situation.

“He was sent home to be tortured another 13 days that he didn’t have to be,” Russell said. “He’s lucky to be alive.”

The Department of Social Services also failed to notify police immediately. They acknowledged their failure. The school superintendent, however, said they had followed normal procedures.

The School Department has a “memorandum of understanding” with the police that outlines the types of situations in which the schools agree to notify police, Sullivan said.

But the agreement does not include a procedure for notifying police about allegations of child abuse off school grounds. It doesn’t address “caretaker abuse” in any way, [School Superintendent Robert M.] Sullivan said.

The police chief was blunt.

The School Department’s approach, Russell contended, has often been to handle issues in house, without police intervention. This has long made him “uncomfortable,” he said.

The chief said Sullivan can not hide behind the language of the memorandum of understanding. “There’s nothing that says they can’t notify the police,” Russell said.

---------------------------------
BACKGROUND
In December, a school nurse said she notified DSS of possible abuse when the boy told her Privette hit him with a belt. He began to cry and told Johnson, “I don’t want no more whippings,” according to the report.

On March 4, the school nurse said she had noticed abrasions and bruising on the boy’s back. Again, she did not call police, but she said she notified DSS of possible abuse.

On March 17, the boy showed a school nurse and the school principal several marks on his body including burn marks on his pelvic area and buttocks, according to the police report. The marks include one on each side of his penis and one on his buttocks, the police report stated. The burns were seven to ten days old when he showed them to the school principal.

APOLOGY March 25 - Before Selectmen, Superintendent of Schools Robert Sullivan read a prepared apology to a 7-year-old Middleboro student for the school system’s delay in acting upon the abuse the boy reported to the school.

Sullivan noted that the school staff “met all legal requirements as a mandated reporter of child abuse under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 119, Section 51A.”

However, noting that DSS did not take immediate action to report the abuse to the District Attorney’s Office and the Middleboro Police Department, Sullivan said “it is clear that compliance with our legal requirements as mandated reporter was not enough in this case. The system failed our young student.”

The police chief also spoke.

Dr. Sullivan has never to my knowledge kept information from the Police Department. Past administrations have and that is what made me very uncomfortable.”

Tampa, FLORIDA

Absolutely Clueless.

March 22 - The chairwoman of the Hillsborough County school board is planning an emergency meeting (date unspecified) to discuss hiring practices after two Hillsborough teachers were arrested for having sex with students.

She said she will invite members of the teachers union, representatives for the schools' staff and Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober to the meeting. No mention of any parents to be involved in the discussions.
---------------------------
TT - Why invite union representatives? Unions provide free defense for their members, including those accused of sex crimes against children, no matter how young the victim or how numerous the victims.

What the school board ought to be doing is advocating legislative changes to

• make sex with students a felony,
• provide for a $20,000 fine,
• automatic registration as a sex offender, and
• automatic and permanent revocation of their licenses.

As it is, there is no, none, nada, zilch cost to the teacher aside from the faint chance of, in most cases, probation. Morally, these people are repugnant. They have no shame. They betray their husbands, children, families their students and their colleagues. Probation is an inconvenience.

At a minimum there ought to be a burdensome financial penalty, guaranteed registration as a sex offender and protection of other students by automatic revocation of their license.

TT entry for Spack
TT entry for Ragusa
TT entry for Butler
TT entry for student suspended for reporting Butler
TT entry for suspensions and two firings
TT entry for Ronnie (Ronald) Lewis
TT entry for Christopher Gillis

Staten Island, NEW YORK

March 21, 2008 - Janet Redmond-Mercereau, 38, a Tottenville High School teacher, was indicted by Richmond County grand jury of killing her husband, a New York fire marshal, with three gunshots to the head while he slept. He was murdered in December.

She was charged with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. She claims she didn't hear gunfire because she was wearing earplugs and was sleeping in another room with one of her children.

According to the indictment, the defendant tampered with evidence found at the scene. Prosecutors alleged that she wiped traces of evidence off the Smith and Wesson pistol, removed shell casings and washed her clothing in an attempt to conceal the alleged crime. Then waited two hours to call police. She entered a plea of not guilty.

BAIL DENIED April 15 - Justice Leonard P. Rienzi denied defense attorney request for $1 million bail and house arrest. Justice Rienzi followed Justice Stephen J. Rooney's bail denial last month and remanded (sent back to custody) Redmond-Mercereau on charges of second-degree murder, three counts of tampering with evidence, and two counts of weapon possession. She is due back in court on May 30.

HEARING October 31 - At a hearing, a retired detective testified that detectives questioned Redmond-Mercereau despite being notified by her attorney that he was her lawyer and instructing detectives not to question the widow.

The retired detective's admissions yesterday could throw a monkey wrench into the prosecutors' case should a judge rule that any statements made by police or Mrs. Redmond-Mercereau outside of her attorney's presence are inadmissible during a trial.

Her lawyers want her statements to police thrown out. The trial is set to start in early December.

Sharon, MASSACHUSETTS

March 21, 2008 - Andrew Merck, 32, Sharon Middle School math teacher was convicted of two counts of open and gross lewdness by a jury that found him guilty of twice stripping and touching himself, as well as urging a developmentally disabled man to disrobe himself.

The victim was in his twenties and not connected to the school.

Merck was sentenced by Judge Mary Hogan Sullivan 2 years in jail, with one year to be served, and the balance suspended for 5 years. On the second count, Merck was sentenced to five years of probation after serving his jail sentence. With the conviction, he cannot work with children for five years after he is released from jail. He also must register as a sex offender.

Merck is a graduate for Framingham State College, according to a 2003 Mathematics Department newsletter.
----------------------------
July 1 - Merk's family sent a letter to every member of the House of Representatives "alleging the misconduct" on the part of State Rep. Lida Harkins, D-Needham, who was a neighbor of the victim.

Merck’s parents said they are not accusing Harkins of any wrongdoing, just posing some questions, after learning during testimony that the victim knew and lived near Harkins.

“We’re not accusing her; we’re just saying there were a lot of irregularities,” said John Merck, Andrew Merck’s father.

State Rep. Lida Harkins, D-Needham, vehemently denied allegations that she unduly influenced a criminal case in which her neighbor was the victim.

Milledgeville, GEORGIA

March 21, 2008 - Alison Ivey, 28, was arrested and charged with sexual assault for an sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student at Baldwin High School.

Ivey, who previously worked with public relations for the Baldwin County School system, is a marketing teacher at the high school. Under Georgia law, a teacher accused of a crime is placed on paid administrative leave until a hearing by the school board can take place. Such a hearing could provide difficulties in Ivey’s case; Ivey’s mother is the chair of the Baldwin County Board of Education.

Coincidentally, a case is currently under investigation in Montgomery County where a school counselor, whose mother was the school system superintendent, is suspected of having sex with a student.

Full Name: Alison Diane Ivey

Ivey is unmarried. She is the daughter of Baldwin County School Board Chairman Judy Ivey.

Mamaroneck, NEW YORK

This is public education, folks.

March 20, 2008 - The husband of a guidance counselor at the Hommocks Middle School was arrested and charged with aggravated harassment, a Class A misdemeanor, for allegedly making a harassing telephone call to one of the new counselors who was hired this year at the school.

Roger Denhoff, 43, is the husband of Elizabeth Denhoff who has been on administrative leave since last October. A previous story said that she and another guidance counselor at the middle school were “administratively reassigned." No reason given, and the union claims the reassignment is unrelated to a grievance filed on behalf of the counselors protesting a requirement that they attend the sixth grade community dinner on October 25, which is outside of the contractual work day of 8 am to 4 pm and something the counselors had not agreed to do.

The district was in the middle of contract negotiations at the time.

Before his arrest, Mamaroneck Police had Roger Denhoff under survelliance for many weeks after numerous calls to the new guidance counselor, including one on February 27 in which he reportedly said, “I’m coming after you soon, bitch.” Mr. Denhoff is also alleged to have made two harassing, but not threatening, calls to the Hommocks principal, Dr. Seth Weitzman on March 11 and March 14. Denhoff was spotted at a pay phone at the time when the calls were made.

Denhoff was arrested in the parking lot of Mamaroneck High School.

DECEMBER MEETING In December, 100 teachers in black t-shirts attended the Mamaroneck School Board meeting where the two "reassigned" counselors were discussed. Superintendent Fries explained the disciplinary process and explained that it could go on for as long as 1½ years. Until that time, the school district will be paying double salaries for the two positions.
--------------------------------
Letter that went out to parents in November 2007. PDF

New Bern, NORTH CAROLINA

March 20, 2008 - A group of parents expressed concern at the Craven County Board of Education meeting that it should do more to protect children and act more quickly when students make complaints about the actions of teachers.

A New Bern High School teacher was suspended with pay in late February, and two teachers at West Craven High resigned during winter break, all for investigations about misconduct with students.

No one would say what kind of conduct the system is investigating.

Feb 21 - The Craven County Board of Education voted 6-1 to change the way it selects members for personnel and student hearings to avoid conflicts. Three longtime board members said they have been selected for hearings in which they had conflicts. One said she was once selected for a hearing for a family member.

The new selection process will be random by computer.
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Board Minutes are online for 2005-2006, but nothing current.