Chesterfield County Public School Administrators Gone Wild and Caught On Tape!

Kandise Lucas, Ph.D. - 9.22.09 
Columnist EducationNews.org

            Principal Thomas Ferrell, Assistant Principal Shawn Abel, Special Education Director Michael Asip, and Special Education Department Head Deborah Jones; all of Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County; were caught on tape, not only making questionable and contradictory statements related to previous agreements as it relates to implementing an educational plan for an African-American female student with special needs, but blatantly attempting to cover up unethical actions that they had taken that negatively impacted the student.

            Following a series of educational plan meetings last spring where a team consisting of the parent, educators, administrators, psychologists, social workers, and counselors, Abel admitted that he met with Jones over the summer in secret, and overrode the decisions of the IEP team by replacing the student’s case manager.  The actions taken by Abel and Jones, then approved by Ferrell, were proven not only to be retaliatory against the case manager, parent, and student, but it was also noted that the case manager was replaced by a new case manager that could be controlled and manipulated by district officials, unlike the previous case manager, who had supported the student for over three years and acted in the student’s best interests, even if it meant not going along with school administrators.

             The nature of the relationship between the new case manager and the administration was clearly obvious during Tuesday’s meeting, when the new case manager, who is significantly less qualified than the previous case manager, laughed and playfully touched Principal Ferrell during the meeting.

            The decision made, in isolation, and with malice, by Abel and Jones, was made based on what Abel haphazardly described as a “personnel” matter.  At no point could either Ferrell, Abel, Jones, or Asip justify that their was made in the best interest of the student.  In fact, both Abel and Asip were adamant about the fact that the student’s needs were not a consideration, only that “personnel” matters, which is code for adults retaliating against other adults that do not blindly obey incompetent school administrators, were more important that the needs of a child with special needs.

            An audio recording of a most recent IEP meeting confirmed the brazen nature and ease in which Abel, Jones, Ferrell, and even Asip dismissed what was best for a student with special needs in favor of their own selfish agendas motivated by retaliation, implemented by their constant and repetitive abuse of power as they misuse students with special needs without regard for their welfare.  In fact, Asip appeared to become more outraged about the meeting being audio taped than he did regarding the ill treatment that Meadowbrook’s administrators had committed against the student with special needs and her family, which he eventually apologized for.

               The student, who has taken the abrupt case management change very hard emotionally; going as far as thinking that it was her own fault that the change was made, has made repeated requests to have her original case manager returned.  In addition, the traumatic change has so negatively impacted her that she has not been able to return to school.  She shared that Abel advised her that her old case manager had to be replaced with a new case manager because she could “not keep up with the paperwork.”  Not only were Abel’s comments highly inappropriate to discuss with a student but, his comments were not true, as seems to be a pattern for him.  Evidently, in his haste to cover-up the true grounds for his actions, Abel failed to remember one important fact; Lauren Zeiglar, a central office specialist, was the one that was responsible for the “paperwork” that Abel referred to as not being completed on time.   During Tuesday’s meeting, Abel did not deny making the statement, he did, however as is a habit with Chesterfield officials, continue to make another false claim, that he only made it to the administrative team.

            At one point during the meeting, when the parent inquired about a poor Geometry grade that had been arbitrarily given by Abel without documentation or justification, both Abel and Ferrell stated that they were not going to discuss the issue because neither of them “had the time.”  Later during the meeting, after persistence on the part of the parent, Abel was finally forced to admit that the Geometry teacher had destroyed the documentation related to the grade prior to the student completing the class.  This admission was made when Abel had advised the parent that she could review all of the student’s graded work for the class, but failed to produce it after nearly a month.  In spite of not having documented evidence, neither Abel, nor Ferrell would offer to resolve the issue regarding the grade.  In fact, when the parent produced signed documentation from the student’s district-issued homebound teacher indicating that the assignment had been completed, Abel immediately and rudely dismissed the documentation, stating that “it does not matter what she signed.”

            The parent then question Ferrell, as the building administrator, inquiring what policy was in place for teachers regarding student work when the class had not been completed.  There was a question as to how it would be acceptable for a teacher to destroy a student’s tests, specifically a midterm, when the student’s final grade had not been determined.  Ferrell, who had been seated in the corner of the conference table for a majority of the meeting, failing to contribute in any manner, like a child that had been forced to remain in time-out, became extremely defensive and rude when asked about the issue, stating that he did not interact with the teacher, and that the school did not have a policy regarding the management of student work.  He offered nothing more to the meeting, whether it was an apology, explanation, or even a plan of corrective action as to how to resolve the issue.  He did, however, continue to whisper to those around him, and exited the meeting without saying good-bye to the parent.

            While Mr. Asip and Ms. Pope, the school’s Guidance Counselor, offered their apologies for the actions of Jones, Abel, and Ferrell regarding the unethical case manager change, neither Jones, Abel, nor Ferrell; themselves, offered any sign of remorse or consideration for the impact that their decision has and continues to have on the student with special needs.  Asip went as far as to state that not only should the parent have been notified prior to the first day of school, but that the parent should have been notified in writing, in a timely manner regarding the change.  Asip also indicated to the parent that he had overridden the decisions of administrators in the past.  While he made these statements, Asip also shared how “hurt” the feelings of Meadowbrook’s administrators were at the fact that they were exposed, in public, for their incompetence, deceitfulness, retaliation, and lack of integrity which has lead to the abusive and neglectful conditions by which student with special needs has been subjected.  He made sure to note that he could understand how the administrators felt after the parent called for their removal, specifically of Abel and Ferrell, during a recent school board meeting.

            At no point did Mr. Asip comment on or express concern for the “hurt” feelings or obvious negative impact toward the student with special needs, instead, he chose to put the needs of adults over the needs of children. He did express concern over the fact that far too many people outside of the school, were being forced to deal with this case when it was clearly not necessary, in addition to stating that he should not have had to come to Meadowbrook in order to deal with an issue that the building administrators had failed to deal with appropriately. 

            Following the conclusion of the meeting, Asip walked the parent and her advocate to the school’ s parking lot, where he offered to take the case to mediation with the Virginia Department of Education based on the retaliatory, unethical, and malicious acts of Meadowbrook’s administration.  He had previously appeared completely shocked when the parent advocate communicated that the meeting had been audio recorded, and that what was put in writing by the administration did not reflect what was discussed during the meeting.  It should be noted that the parent is extremely hesitant to participate in mediation with any Chesterfield School official based on the enormous lack of integrity and ethical issues that plague the district.

            Understandably Asip, became panicked.  It can be assumed that the realization of the issue hit him, just as many abused parents, students, and educators within Chesterfield County Public Schools, that there is often an enormous “truth” disconnect between what administrators say, write, and do.  In this case, the parent can prove it without a shadow of a doubt.  That would make any unethical individual panicked.  Unfortunately, we were unable to call upon Congressman Joe Wilson to yell, “You lie!” every time that a Chesterfield administrator does so, so we will stick to audio recordings to prove our cases.

            Yes, Chesterfield County Public School administrators have gone wild, and have been doing so for a while as it relates to the mistreatment of students with disabilities and their families.  Yes, we have the audio recording to prove it in this case.  Unfortunately, every parent and student with special needs that has been abused, lied to, lied on, bullied, intimidated, and retaliated against by the district does not. 

            Because there is a systematic and detrimental lack of integrity and trust that is condoned as “the norm” in the district by everyone from the superintendent, to the school board members, to the central office and building administrators; every parent is encouraged to record every word that is uttered out of the mouths of these individuals, whether they are aware of it or not. 

            After all, the administrators and officials of Chesterfield have made it clear that they are not on our side in this war for the futures of our children. In fact, for many in the district, such as Ferrell, Abel, and Jones; it appears as though our children are the rungs in a ladder that can be readily stomped on if it means carrying out their own personal agendas and avoiding accountability at all costs.

            The case has been referred to The Coalition For Justice For Civil Rights, Metropolitan Chapter for investigation regarding civil rights violations by the district against the parent and student.  Others are encouraged to file formal complaints with the organization by emailing them at COJMetro@gmail.com.  While an invitation to meet with the district regarding numerous complaints has been extended by the coalition, no one from the district has either acknowledged or responded to the invitation.

            While this parent, and several others are exploring all of their options, including filing civil suits against the administrators and district officials, on a professional and personal level; we are all waiting for the day when Chesterfield County’s administrators will “go wild” for students with special needs instead of “going wild” against them. 

            Our question to Dr. Newsome, and Mr. Trammell, Mr. Wyman, Ms. Pettitt, Mr. Rajah, and Ms. Carpenter of the school board is, when will that day come?  Or will you  continue to create a climate where administrators feel free to “go wild” without accountability at the expense of the district’s most vulnerable children and families.  If so, then Chesterfield County Public Schools is more heartless than anyone could have ever imagined.