Hosting a dialogue among parents, educators and community members focused on improving our schools and providing a quality, equitable education for each of our nearly 100,000 students.
~ "ipsa scientia potestas est" ~ "Knowledge itself is power"
I am positive that if the personal director knew about this he would have acted. However, if there was no charges than there may not have been a record of it until January.
With all the police office force we have I do believe we could do backgrounds checks more often than this.
This is sad. Again, this makes Dekalb County School System look bad. The School System has made so many bad decision lately that the news media are on alert for news from Dekalb County.
One thing is for sure. This guy will not be going back into the classroom for awhile. The children will be put first once the school system knows. Also in the school systems defense the principal may not have told the central office.
A teacher was willing to speak to a TV stattion and state that the principal had been given a note that this teacher was under investigation. If the principal did not contact DCSS HR, the principal needs to be suspended!
I think it was a parent, not a teacher who was interviewed. She said the principal was informed in 2008. Also - the inditement was handed down two months ago - and the school system still didn't know until the news station told them?!!
This may be a principal problem of communication. I hate to blame the school system for something that may not be actually their problem. It is there problem because the principal is their principals. However, principals do not pass everything on.
There also are all kinds of legal issues if these are just accusations. All individuals have rights. This is a real tough situation until their is evidence.
I am so sorry this happen in the school system now. This is embarassing.
The School Board has the decision to fire employees. The School Board must be involved for an employee to be fired. The School System itself cannot fire a teacher under contract. It is not that simply. There has to be a hearing before a teacher can be let go. It is more complicated than a normal job. A principal cannot fire an employee. The school superintendent can recommend to the school board that the teacher is fired. This is my understanding.
It is a tough balancing act. It is very difficult to fire based solely on accusations. The accused is entitled to their day in court. Our system is based on the premise that you are innocent until proven guilty. I tell my sons all the time that the "girls hold the cards" and they are "guilty until proven innocent" (ala the Duke rape case or the Tennesee pizza guy case) so I think it is important not to jump too quickly to conclusions. The trouble here is that if the charges are true, the guy should not have had access to other teenagers. I'm not quite sure what the answer is other than a really fast investigation to see if he presented any "clear and present threat" to other children in class so as to balance his rights to his day in court and the rights of the children in the classroom to be safe and to not be taught by child molesters. Background checks on a somewhat regular basis would definitely make sense and the principal should be very on top of what is going on with his or her staff, particulalry when contracts are up for review in our "at will" employment state. We should definitely be working with our police and doing this inexpensively -- it is another example of inefficiencies at work, this time, clearly putting the safety of our children at risk.
It's not that difficult of a balancing act. When a police dept. is investigating a teacher of school employee for charge such as rape and child abuse, that employee should immediately be moved to a position where the employee does not have contact with students, or placed on leave. The charges are rape and child abuse, they cannot be any more serious.
If the principal or any other DCSS administrator knew of these charges and allowed the teacher to remain in the classroom, he/she should be terminated. DCSS is such a large, inefficient bureaucracy, failures like this are regular occurances. I wonder how often DCSS checks driving backgrounds for any employee that drives any DCSS vehicle, not just bus drivers. Are there DCSS employees with severe driving violations, such as DUI or other, and DCSS is not aware of the employees histroy. Local cities check the driving record annually for an employee who drives any city vehicle.
The DCSS Central Office has not one but two employees responsible for background checks. But things consistently fall throug the cracks. What do you expect when your superintendent is more worried about demanding a $300,000 light system for his new Central Office auditorium than he is about about the implications of a tax increase?
The system certainly should be on the lookout for criminals within the system. When you have over 13,000 employees, you can be certain that some of them are not law-abiding citizens. Our school system employs more people than the populations of many small towns!
The system has become so bloated and huge, the administration can't even keep up with the most basic of duties. It is not too much to ask that every employee has a background check and driving check every 24 months. The early summer when school is out is the perfect time for Central Office staff to handle this task. Maybe it's too much to expect that it be done annually, but right now DCSS only checks teachers every five years? What? Every DCSS employee should have these two checks done every 2 years. I wonder how often schools like Marist, Arbor Montessori, etc. check their employees. I'm sure they would never allow a teacher being investigated for rape to remain in a classroom.
The Central Office's has problems using technology for data collection and analysis and then communicating that data to all departments that need it.
Dr. Lewis and his direct reports are not well versed in technology or the power of technology. Therefore the DeKalb School System misses out on much of the power that technology inherently gives organizations. I'm not implying Dr. Lewis and his direct reports need to program the systems, but they should be able to communicate the goals of technology systems as they relate to the school system.
"Falling through the cracks" often relates back to inadequate data collection,analysis, and communication systems.
Data collection, analysis, and communication systems cause us to have many more support people than is necessary. Half of your personnel in a school system should not be dedicated to performing HR, Service Center, Instructional leadership, and Transportation functions to name a few overstaffed departments.
It's left up to MIS to create the functional programs that run our system. The difficulty is that MIS does not have any personnel with educational backgrounds (with the exception of Instructional Technology, a tiny department used solely for student software selection and teacher training).
MIS needs technology personnel who understand the educational needs of the teachers and students in the schoolhouse so they can be more effective at creating systems that: 1. Ensure child safety 2. Aid teachers in their day to day teaching responsibilities 3. Provide data services that lead to less support and admin personnel needed to run the school system
Conversely, DeKalb needs to have a superintendent and top level Central Office administrators who have some understanding of what is necessary in data systems.
The eSis mess is but one example of of an inefficient data collection, analysis and communication system. Security and backgrounds check information that is communicated laterally and horizontally obviously need to be in place as well.
I subscribe to a service that notifies me of bookings in DeKalb (dekalbmugs.com)and Gwinnett (gwinnettmugs.com). I believe it is available for any county. It is public information.
The website emphasizes that these people have NOT been indicted, only arrested, but it would seem that this information could be viewed by someone in DCSS, and they would at least be aware if a DCSS employee has been booked so they can look into the situation and discuss appropriate action.
Taking care of this teacher should have involved three phone calls. Principal to his/her area superintendent. Area Superintendent to Superintendent. Superindentent to HR. Teacher is escorted out of the building and fired for lying on his application for employment.
Money spent: $0 Need for publicity: 0 Leadership and critical thinking: priceless
He's been a teacher at Stephenson Middle for a while and just recently has he been investigated for child molestation and rape. The incident didn't happen till January 2008 and it's not as simple as to fire him cause of accusations, because children lie.
When a teacher is being investigated by police for child molestation and rape, he/she needs to be moved out of the classroom until the investigation is over. it is not proper to fire a teacher only for an investigation, but it is proper to make sure that teacher does not have contact with children until the investigation concludes. It is also common sense for DCS to run background checks and driver background checks every two years. I'm amazed we may have staff with DUI's driving system vehicles, or staff charged with criminal activity, but DCSS only does background checks on teachers every five years. it should be every employee, especially administrators!
No, they haven't. There are hundreds of thousands of teachers and school system staff in georgia. Unfortunately there is always going to be a very small number of some very bad people who should never be around children: http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/former-middle-school-swim-308443.html
A school system has to have checks & balances in place so no one falls through the cracks. It is not to much to ask that every teacher, staff and volunteer coach have a background check and driving check done every 12 or 24 months.
19 comments:
I am positive that if the personal director knew about this he would have acted. However, if there was no charges than there may not have been a record of it until January.
With all the police office force we have I do believe we could do backgrounds checks more often than this.
This is sad. Again, this makes Dekalb County School System look bad. The School System has made so many bad decision lately that the news media are on alert for news from Dekalb County.
One thing is for sure. This guy will not be going back into the classroom for awhile. The children will be put first once the school system knows. Also in the school systems defense the principal may not have told the central office.
A teacher was willing to speak to a TV stattion and state that the principal had been given a note that this teacher was under investigation. If the principal did not contact DCSS HR, the principal needs to be suspended!
Why did the principal renew that contract last year? (09)
I think it was a parent, not a teacher who was interviewed. She said the principal was informed in 2008. Also - the inditement was handed down two months ago - and the school system still didn't know until the news station told them?!!
This may be a principal problem of communication. I hate to blame the school system for something that may not be actually their problem. It is there problem because the principal is their principals. However, principals do not pass everything on.
There also are all kinds of legal issues if these are just accusations. All individuals have rights. This is a real tough situation until their is evidence.
I am so sorry this happen in the school system now. This is embarassing.
The Cobb School board just overrode the decision of that school system to fire a counselor who had been accused of fondling a student.
The School Board has the decision to fire employees. The School Board must be involved for an employee to be fired. The School System itself cannot fire a teacher under contract. It is not that simply. There has to be a hearing before a teacher can be let go. It is more complicated than a normal job. A principal cannot fire an employee. The school superintendent can recommend to the school board that the teacher is fired. This is my understanding.
It is a tough balancing act. It is very difficult to fire based solely on accusations. The accused is entitled to their day in court. Our system is based on the premise that you are innocent until proven guilty. I tell my sons all the time that the "girls hold the cards" and they are "guilty until proven innocent" (ala the Duke rape case or the Tennesee pizza guy case) so I think it is important not to jump too quickly to conclusions. The trouble here is that if the charges are true, the guy should not have had access to other teenagers. I'm not quite sure what the answer is other than a really fast investigation to see if he presented any "clear and present threat" to other children in class so as to balance his rights to his day in court and the rights of the children in the classroom to be safe and to not be taught by child molesters. Background checks on a somewhat regular basis would definitely make sense and the principal should be very on top of what is going on with his or her staff, particulalry when contracts are up for review in our "at will" employment state. We should definitely be working with our police and doing this inexpensively -- it is another example of inefficiencies at work, this time, clearly putting the safety of our children at risk.
It's not that difficult of a balancing act. When a police dept. is investigating a teacher of school employee for charge such as rape and child abuse, that employee should immediately be moved to a position where the employee does not have contact with students, or placed on leave. The charges are rape and child abuse, they cannot be any more serious.
If the principal or any other DCSS administrator knew of these charges and allowed the teacher to remain in the classroom, he/she should be terminated. DCSS is such a large, inefficient bureaucracy, failures like this are regular occurances. I wonder how often DCSS checks driving backgrounds for any employee that drives any DCSS vehicle, not just bus drivers. Are there DCSS employees with severe driving violations, such as DUI or other, and DCSS is not aware of the employees histroy. Local cities check the driving record annually for an employee who drives any city vehicle.
The DCSS Central Office has not one but two employees responsible for background checks. But things consistently fall throug the cracks. What do you expect when your superintendent is more worried about demanding a $300,000 light system for his new Central Office auditorium than he is about about the implications of a tax increase?
The system certainly should be on the lookout for criminals within the system. When you have over 13,000 employees, you can be certain that some of them are not law-abiding citizens. Our school system employs more people than the populations of many small towns!
The system has become so bloated and huge, the administration can't even keep up with the most basic of duties. It is not too much to ask that every employee has a background check and driving check every 24 months. The early summer when school is out is the perfect time for Central Office staff to handle this task. Maybe it's too much to expect that it be done annually, but right now DCSS only checks teachers every five years? What? Every DCSS employee should have these two checks done every 2 years. I wonder how often schools like Marist, Arbor Montessori, etc. check their employees. I'm sure they would never allow a teacher being investigated for rape to remain in a classroom.
The Central Office's has problems using technology for data collection and analysis and then communicating that data to all departments that need it.
Dr. Lewis and his direct reports are not well versed in technology or the power of technology. Therefore the DeKalb School System misses out on much of the power that technology inherently gives organizations. I'm not implying Dr. Lewis and his direct reports need to program the systems, but they should be able to communicate the goals of technology systems as they relate to the school system.
"Falling through the cracks" often relates back to inadequate data collection,analysis, and communication systems.
Data collection, analysis, and communication systems cause us to have many more support people than is necessary. Half of your personnel in a school system should not be dedicated to performing HR, Service Center, Instructional leadership, and Transportation functions to name a few overstaffed departments.
It's left up to MIS to create the functional programs that run our system. The difficulty is that MIS does not have any personnel with educational backgrounds (with the exception of Instructional Technology, a tiny department used solely for student software selection and teacher training).
MIS needs technology personnel who understand the educational needs of the teachers and students in the schoolhouse so they can be more effective at creating systems that:
1. Ensure child safety
2. Aid teachers in their day to day teaching responsibilities
3. Provide data services that lead to less support and admin personnel needed to run the school system
Conversely, DeKalb needs to have a superintendent and top level Central Office administrators who have some understanding of what is necessary in data systems.
The eSis mess is but one example of of an inefficient data collection, analysis and communication system. Security and backgrounds check information that is communicated laterally and horizontally obviously need to be in place as well.
I subscribe to a service that notifies me of bookings in DeKalb (dekalbmugs.com)and Gwinnett (gwinnettmugs.com). I believe it is available for any county. It is public information.
The website emphasizes that these people have NOT been indicted, only arrested, but it would seem that this information could be viewed by someone in DCSS, and they would at least be aware if a DCSS employee has been booked so they can look into the situation and discuss appropriate action.
Taking care of this teacher should have involved three phone calls. Principal to his/her area superintendent. Area Superintendent to Superintendent. Superindentent to HR. Teacher is escorted out of the building and fired for lying on his application for employment.
Money spent: $0
Need for publicity: 0
Leadership and critical thinking: priceless
This would be a great job for the police officers at the county office. We are a little top heavy there.
He's been a teacher at Stephenson Middle for a while and just recently has he been investigated for child molestation and rape. The incident didn't happen till January 2008 and it's not as simple as to fire him cause of accusations, because children lie.
When a teacher is being investigated by police for child molestation and rape, he/she needs to be moved out of the classroom until the investigation is over. it is not proper to fire a teacher only for an investigation, but it is proper to make sure that teacher does not have contact with children until the investigation concludes. It is also common sense for DCS to run background checks and driver background checks every two years. I'm amazed we may have staff with DUI's driving system vehicles, or staff charged with criminal activity, but DCSS only does background checks on teachers every five years. it should be every employee, especially administrators!
Have public schools become slaughter houses for the minds, bodies, and souls of our students?
No, they haven't. There are hundreds of thousands of teachers and school system staff in georgia. Unfortunately there is always going to be a very small number of some very bad people who should never be around children:
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/former-middle-school-swim-308443.html
A school system has to have checks & balances in place so no one falls through the cracks. It is not to much to ask that every teacher, staff and volunteer coach have a background check and driving check done every 12 or 24 months.
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