Tim, believe me when I say that it's crap like that just ends up coming back to bite you in the ass.
Posted on 02/04/2005 3:43:53 PM PST by LibFreeOrDie
NASHUA - A Nashua High School South headmaster whose military history was being investigated by the school district has resigned.
Robert McDowell, the ninth-grade headmaster at the school, sent in a letter of resignation late Wednesday night, Superintendent Joseph Giuliano said Thursday.
Giuliano and Principal Tim Kelley had been investigating McDowell’s military past since late last week, when Kelley received a copy of a January 2002 letter signed by McDowell to the Secretary of the Navy. In the letter, McDowell, a Portsmouth resident, requested an “other than honorable” discharge and announced his resignation from the Navy, Kelley said.
In the letter, McDowell also admits to 23 offenses the Navy charged him with, including wrongfully wearing three Purple Hearts and posing as a doctor and attempting to obtain prescription painkillers, Kelley said.
In an interview with The Telegraph just before Christmas, McDowell said he was a veteran of 14 tours of duty and that he earned Purple Hearts when he was wounded in the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. The article was about McDowell spending winter break on a 12-day mission, where he said he was helping to train U.S. personnel on bomb deployment.
Kelley said information in the document he received contradicts what McDowell told the newspaper.
McDowell declined to comment. In his letter of resignation, McDowell said he was resigning for “personal reasons” and that his resignation would go into effect today. In the letter, McDowell thanked Kelley for the opportunity to work in Nashua with outstanding teachers and students.
“It is one of the finest schools I have ever worked in and you should indeed be proud of the learning environment that has been created here,” McDowell wrote.
McDowell was hired just prior to the beginning of this school year. He had applied for the same position in the summer of 2003, but was turned down.
Prior to working in Nashua, McDowell was chairman of the science department at Albert Einstein High School in the Montgomery County school district in Maryland. McDowell also teaches at the University of New Hampshire and McIntosh College.
Kelley said he sent out a notice to staff members Thursday, informing them of McDowell’s resignation. In the notice, Kelley said he expressed gratitude to McDowell for getting the freshmen academy, a new part of the high school structure, off the ground.
“I was pleased with the job he did,” Kelley said.
As a headmaster, McDowell was in charge of disciplinary issues for the freshman class and also assisted in evaluating teachers.
Kelley said he does not doubt the authenticity of McDowell’s letter to the Secretary of the Navy. Since receiving the letter, Kelley has been working with an inspector general to learn about McDowell’s military history.
Giuliano said he has also been trying to verify McDowell’s military past. But he said he has not made any headway on confirming whether what is stated in the document is true.
Giuliano said McDowell’s resignation brings an end to any investigations the district was conducting. He added the experience would not change the hiring procedure used by the district.
“We’re not going to change our interviewing practice because of this experience,” Giuliano said.
Giuliano said McDowell was given as thorough a background check as any district employee.
McDowell’s academic history checked out and his references provided positive recommendations, Giuliano said.
During McDowell’s tenure, Giuliano said he has received no complaints from parents or students about McDowell’s performance.
Giuliano could not say whether McDowell would have been hired had the district been aware of the document and the charges to which McDowell admitted. The document would have raised some questions, he said.
“It is an issue of integrity,” Giuliano said.
One of the charges levied by the Navy was that McDowell falsely claimed to hold a doctorate in oceanography from Cornell University. Kelley said McDowell never made that claim to the district.
In his application, McDowell said he has a doctorate in education administration from George Washington University. Kelley obtained a copy of McDowell’s transcript from George Washington, confirming his degree.
“(McDowell) did not misrepresent himself to get a job in Nashua,” Kelley said earlier this week.
Giuliano said the district began advertising to fill the position Thursday.
Other than that...?
Looked like he lied about lots of other things, too. More here:
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=50459
Tim, believe me when I say that it's crap like that just ends up coming back to bite you in the ass.
Nashua is just over the border from Boston.
Falsely wearing three Purple Hearts? HMMM.
Maybe he should apply to be on a certain Senator's staff, might fit in well.
Sounds like one of skerry band of brothers.
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