(jackass)
Posted on 11/10/2005 1:55:38 PM PST by Abathar
ELIZABETH, Pa. -- Angry parents told a school board it should fire an elementary school principal who publicly shamed an 8-year-old girl falsely accused of stealing $5 from another student.
William Penn Elementary School Principal Marlene Whitby paraded the girl from class to class last month, calling her a liar and thief. Soon after, the student who made the theft accusation recanted her story.
Whitby apologized privately to Katie White after the family complained to school administrators, but not publicly, said Ryan White, the girl's father.
Elizabeth Forward School Board members told angry parents at a meeting Wednesday they are "appropriately" handling the issue.
The president of the board, Lowell Meek, said he understood White's anger.
"If you understood my anger, (Whitby) would be gone," White said.
White said he spoke to Whitby and she acknowledged that she didn't look at a school bus video or talk to the bus driver to verify the theft accusation.
Tom DeRosa, a Forward Township supervisor who has a third-grade daughter, asked the board why it has taken nearly a month to investigate Whitby.
"There's no mystery about what happened," DeRosa said. "It should have taken one day."
Whitby, who remains the school's principal, didn't immediately return a message left at the school Thursday.
School board officials have refused to say what kind of discipline Whitby could face.
Thanks STFrancis. I sent my two cents to the beast.
The Principal should have been made to take that little girl back to every class and apologize to her publicly so all the kids would know that the little girl is, in fact, innocent, and admit that she was wrong.
Bingo.
Ask my two Son's.
They will tell you in a heartbeat what their mom would have done.
I raised them by myself, now 45 & 50.
I raised HELL many times in many places to take a stand for them.
Tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail.
mommy the bad principal accused me. waaa. my dad was raised by foster parents and spent time in the field sucking on a sugar teat (molasses in a burlap corner) while the adults picked cotton.
I pretty much sick of the soft coddled attitudes of today. Moms are some the worst at undermining school authority.
The present-day Mr. Brockelhurst.
Right...someone really wicked wrote your name on a woopie cushion and place it in the teacher's chair when she wasn't looking.
"Mea culpa"
The Rev. Lowell Meek, school board president, repeatedly tried to explain the district's policy for such investigations and that proper procedures must be followed. Meek announced at the start of the meeting that, "The board received a report during executive session today" about the incident and that "the district has thoroughly investigated and handled (the incident) appropriately." He failed to say how the incident was being handled. But White wanted to know how the district protected his daughter's rights at the time of the accusation. "What about my daughter?" White asked, incredulous. "She didn't get an investigation. She didn't even get five minutes." Tom DeRosa, a parent and a Forward Township supervisor, chastised the board for waiting too long to hear about the investigation. "What is the policy for the board to get information from the school?" DeRosa asked. "The board is not informed until the administration has investigated the report," Meek replied. "So, if you had a child molester in the school, it would take six weeks (for the board to find out)?" DeRosa shot back. District Solicitor Andrew Evankovich explained that investigations into all school matters are conducted by the administration - in this case, by Mueller. "Sometimes, it does take a matter of weeks," Evankovich said. "In a situation where there could be employee discipline, these matters are left to the district administration to determine. "Often these matters never reach the board in case the board has to sit in on a case that may involve termination." DeRosa then asked how long it would take to expel a student who brought a weapon to school. "Would that student be in school the next day?" DeRosa asked. Meek said such a student would not be in school the next day. "But you can have an employee who is a danger to the kids and let (that employee) stay in school," DeRosa said. "You guys did a terrible job here." Another parent, Timothy McMeans, said he closely read the district's policy for discipline and said he did not find anything that gave Whitby the right to do what she did to the little girl. "Is there a section that gives the principal the right to take a student from class to class and say the student is a liar and a thief?" McMeans asked. "You will not find that in our policy," Meek assured McMeans. "That's why this matter was investigated by the school district and appropriate action was taken." However, Meek refused to say what that "appropriate action" was, citing the district's policy of not speaking publicly about employee discipline.
"I don't have a problem with shame being used to stop bad behavior"
I tend to agree *but* if you accuse someone of wrongdoing and it turns out that you are wrong it is your DUTY to make things right. This principal should have been just as public in her apology as she was in her accusal. Trying to hide when you screw up just makes her look like an ass and does nothing to comfort the falsely accused.
"Moms are some the worst at undermining school authority"
Just have to use this forum to tell you I disagree with you.
I will not say what I think of your remarks, I don't want to be removed from FR.
SCHOOL DISTRICT: Elizabeth Forward School District, 401 Rock Run Road, Elizabeth, PA (412) 896-2312
SCHOOL BOARD: (412) 896-2310. Michael O'Rourke, president; Joan Astrab, vice president; Eva Marie Bizzozero; Dr. John Clark; Laurie MacDonald; the Rev. Lowell Meek; Ronald Skrinjorich; Linda Bennett; William Boucher.
So you're OK with a principal publicly humiliating a kid over a false charge of theft?
Public humiliation is a very powerful disincentive.
The principal should be fired
and the school board should be flogged.
Do jackasses like these EVER protect the right people?
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