MI: Secluding students under fire New laws would bar isolation from schools, limit use of restraints

POSTED: DEC. 10, 2009
BY LORI HIGGINS
FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

http://www.freep.com/article/20091210/NEWS06/912100485/1322/Secluding-students-under-fire

State and federal legislation aims to shine a spotlight on a practice advocates for disabled children say is becoming more of a problem in schools: the use of seclusion and restraint to control students.

Last week, Rep. Deb Kennedy, D-Brownstown Township, introduced a bill in the Michigan Legislature that would bar schools from secluding students -- such as locking them in a room alone because of behavior problems. The bill limits the use of restraint to emergencies.

And on Wednesday, a Muskegon couple spoke at a news conference in Washington, where lawmakers announced similar federal legislation.

The state and federal actions follow a Government Accountability Office report earlier this year in which the investigative agency found hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to seclusion and restraint in the last two decades.

Nicole Danhof-Holden of Muskegon said she discovered her autistic son, Ethan, 4, was being strapped to a high chair routinely when she made a surprise visit to the preschool program last year in the Mona Shores Public Schools. Staff members told her it was a common practice because they didn't have enough staff to monitor her son, who also has speech and language delays. He often wanders and must be watched at all times, she said.

"I am mortified and I'm angry and I'm hurt because I couldn't protect my child, because there's no law and this is legal," said Danhof-Holden.

Mona Shores Superintendent Terry Babbitt said he could not discuss specifics, citing student privacy laws, but said he is "confident that we don't violate any kind of restraint and seclusion policies and guidelines."

The state Board of Education in 2006 adopted guidelines that prohibit the use of both practices except in emergencies, but the policy is voluntary and a report last week by the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service found the problem persists.

The legislation "strengthens what the board policy was intended to do," said group spokesman Tom Masseau.

MI: Fruitport couple in Washington D.C. to push for ban of restraints, seclusion to control students

By Lynn Moore | The Muskegon Chronicle
December 09, 2009, 10:42AM
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2009/12/fruitport_couple_in_washington.html

FRUITPORT -- A Muskegon-area couple are center stage in a dual-front push to ban the use of restraints and seclusion to control children in public schools.

Alan and Nicole Holden of Fruitport are in Washington, D.C., this week talking with lawmakers about restraints they say their 4-year-old son endured in his preschool classroom. They also are pushing for passage of federal and state legislation that would ban restraints and seclusion in public schools.

“We want to stop the abuse of these children,” Nicole Holden said shortly before she appeared in a press conference Wednesday with two U.S. representatives introducing federal legislation to prevent misuse of restraint and seclusion.

U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., contacted the Holdens through Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, which included the couple and their son, Ethan, in a report issued last week about restraint and seclusion in public schools.

That report, which concluded that Michigan policy against restraint and seclusion is not sufficient in preventing its overuse and abuse, helped prod the U.S. legislators as well as Michigan Rep. Deb Kennedy, D-Brownstown, into action, said Rhonda Smith, communications specialist with Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service. Smith’s organization is federally mandated to protect the rights of people with disabilities.

Last week, Kennedy introduced legislation that would ban the use of restraints and seclusion in Michigan’s public schools. Michigan’s corporal punishment law allows restraint and seclusion to be used if a student’s behavior interferes with school functions and the student has refused to comply with requests to stop being disruptive.

A policy adopted by the Michigan Board of Education in 2006 further limits the use of restraint and seclusion and requires collection of data on each incident, but schools are not required to follow the policy. Michigan Protection and Advocacy said that 22 of 57 intermediate school districts collected data in 2008-09, and they reported a total of 3,222 incidents of restraint or seclusion in 2008-9.

“Psychiatric facilities, jails and even prisons are required to follow regulations and reporting requirements regarding seclusion and restraint,” said Elmer L. Cerano, executive director of Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service. “How is it that our schoolchildren - many of whom are still in elementary school - are not being afforded these same protections?”

Nicole Holden said she was shocked when she visited her son Ethan’s preschool classroom for a Christmas party last year and found the then 3-year-old restrained in a high chair. She said she learned that her son, who has autism, had been strapped into a high chair for about three hours a day for several weeks.

She said she also learned that Ethan tipped his chair several times, sustaining bruises that the staff had told her were incurred on the playground.

“He just wanted to participate with all the other kids in the class and he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t be with the other children,” Holden said of her son, who doesn’t speak.

She said she contacted an attorney and learned there was nothing illegal about what the school was doing.

Holden wouldn’t say which school Ethan attended when he was restrained. They have since moved to Fruitport where their son is thriving, she said.

“He absolutely loves it,” she said. “Fruitport schools’ special education program is outstanding.”

ACTION ALERT: Michigan Restraint & Seclusion Press Conference

Forwarded message from a parent advocate:

Michigan residents, it's time to act now! On Wednesday, December 2, 2009, there will be a press conference in the Capital Building Room 426, Lansing, at 11:00 am to support Rep. Kennedy, who plans to introduce a bill to stop seclusion and restraint in public schools. The last legislation that was introduced as the Children's Health Act of 2000 regulates the use of restraint and seclusion in certain hospitals, health care facilities, residential non-medical facilities, and other programs that serve children under Medicaid or Medicare. These regulations do not cover schools, even though schools bill Medicaid for billions of dollars each year.

Michigan's voluntary policy isn't working. Only 22 of 57 Independent School Districts (ISD's) collect data on the use of restraint and seclusion as recommended under the policy and those ISD's reported over 3,200 incidents last year.

Mandatory changes are needed. This is what we need to ask for.

For more information, contact Mark McWilliams, Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service, Inc (MPAS), at (715) 487-1755 or toll free at 1-800-288-5923.

MI: Archdiocese didn't publicize priest's abuse cases, group says

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

October 26, 2009

http://www.freep.com/article/20091026/NEWS06/91026059/1319/Archdiocese-didn-t-publicize-priest-s-abuse-cases--group-says-

The head of a group that fights child abuse by priests said today that Catholic officials in Detroit failed to publicize the abuse cases of a Catholic seminarian from Detroit who had previously abused children, but is now working as a priest in the Philippines.

And it said that a former member of a Detroit-based religious order continued to teach in classrooms despite allegations of abuse.

Barbara Blaine, president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said today that the Archdiocese of Detroit failed to make the public aware of the case of Joseph Skelton Jr., a Detroit native who once studied at a Catholic seminary in Plymouth. He pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy in his seminary room. He resigned from the seminary in 1988.

And this month, a settlement was reached involving allegations that Skelton was involved in the abuse of a 14-year-old boy in Washington, D.C., in 1984, according to attorneys involved in the case.

In a statement today, the Archdiocese of Detroit said that “Joseph Skelton is not a cleric of the Detroit archdiocese nor is he ministering in southeast Michigan. Studying for the priesthood at St. John Provincial Seminary in 1988, he was accused of sexual misconduct and dismissed from the school. In a public court proceeding, he was prosecuted and convicted for his activity. Not unlike any other institution of higher learning, the archdiocesan seminary does not track or hold responsibility for every student who ever attended classes but left before ordination … In summary, Joseph Skelton does not minister here nor would he be welcome or permitted to function as a priest in this archdiocese.”

Skelton now works as a missionary priest of the Diocese of Tagbilaran in the Province of Bohol, Philippines. According to his Web site, he “regularly travels across the Philippines leading Praise & Worship sessions.”

According to a letter provided by Blaine, the Archdiocese of Detroit did send a private letter in 2003 to a Catholic official in the Philippines, telling them about Skelton’s criminal past. But Blaine said such a private letter does nothing to notify parents, churches, and the public about Skelton’s actions.

Blaine also cited the case of Thomas Gardipee, who was once part of a Catholic religious order based in Detroit, the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order. The archdiocese said he never served in metro Detroit.

Gardipee was banned from the order after a series of news reports about abuse in the Milwaukee Journal in 1992. Criminal charges were filed against him, but were dismissed in 1993, according to a statement from the Capuchin Province of St. Joseph. Gardipee later became a teacher in Hawaii.

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com

MI: Victory for Autistic Children in Michigan

NOTE: While ABA may not be appropriate for all children on the spectrum, those parents who opt to use it for their children now may be reimbursed for their expenses...

Blue Cross ordered to pay for proven therapy
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/06/autism_bc.html#ixzz0JCz28m6e&D

By Jon Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 21, 2009

Blue Cross has settled a lawsuit brought by parents of children with autism, reimbursing them for the costs of therapy they had to pay out of their own pockets.

The suit, filed in Detroit, alleged that Blue Cross refused to pay for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy for autistic children on the grounds that it was “experimental.”

Blue Cross policies exclude experimental therapies for a variety of conditions. The plaintiffs in the current suit, Johns v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, argued that characterizing ABA as experimental was arbitrary, capricious, and possibly even illegal.

John Conway and Gerard Mantese, attorneys for the plaintiffs, said in a statement that ABA is "supported by science and is not 'experimental.'" The therapy is used to help autistic children develop the deficient verbal and social skills that are hallmarks of the disease.

ABA is based on the classical conditioning concepts of positive and negative reinforcement — rewarding good behavior and discouraging unhealthy actions. ABA therapy has been recognized and respected for decades, and is implemented under the supervision of psychologists and other medical professionals. Classical conditioning itself stretches back to the early 1900's, when Ivan Pavlov developed his now-famous experiment involving "conditioned reflexes." By pairing the ringing of a bell with the scent of raw meat, Pavlov eventually trained — or conditioned — dogs to drool at the sound of the bell alone.

Indeed, as the plaintiffs pointed out, Blue Cross acknowledged in a 2005 draft policy that ABA is anything but controversial. That draft explicitly noted that ABA is "currently the most thoroughly researched treatment modality for early intervention approaches to autism spectrum disorders and is the standard of care recommended by" a number of professional organizations, including the Association for Science in Autism Treatment.

Additionally, as the draft pointed out, the earlier the treatment is applied, the better the child's prognosis for a normal and productive life.

During a court deposition, Dr. Calmaze Dudley, Blue Cross's medical director, said that he would “probably” employ the therapy if he had a child with autism. These findings call into question why Blue Cross refused to pay for the treatment in the first place. Indeed, the settlement came shortly after the court ordered Blue Cross to produce these documents.

As with many developmental and psychological disorders, autism isn't covered by most medical insurance plans. Depending on the severity of a child's autism — which varies greatly from case to case — intensive speech and developmental therapy can cost nearly $100,000 per year. In Michigan, where the instant suit was filed, the state House has introduced two bills mandating coverage for diagnosis and treatment of autism-spectrum disorders, including Asperger Syndrome and Rett Syndrome. HB 4776 applies specifically to plans issued by Blue Cross; HB 4183 applies to all other insurance companies.

In the settlement, Blue Cross agreed to reimburse the families of more than 100 autistic children who paid for their own behavioral therapy over the past six years. Included in the settlement are families covered by a Blue Cross policy who never actually submitted a claim.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/06/autism_bc.html#ixzz0JCzFDFOp&D

MI: Mom says son, 11, handcuffed to door at Detroit school

NOTE: We do not condone fighting, as was alleged in this incident, but we also don't condone punishment for fighting as handcuffing an 11 year old to a door, either...

Mark Hicks and Jennifer Mrozowski / The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090604/SCHOOLS/906040488/Mom-says-son--11--handcuffed-to-door-at-Detroit-school

Detroit -- A Detroit Public Schools parent is considering legal action against the district after her son allegedly was handcuffed to a door at Sampson-Webber school for several hours Monday.

"It was really unnecessary to be done on a little boy," said Charmaine Hunt, whose 11-year-old son told about her about the incident Monday. "I'm not accepting that."

Hunt said about 11:40 a.m. Monday, her son, Antonio Hobson, a fourth grader at the school, was involved in a fight with another student.

She said he told her he suffered a bloodied nose and was restrained by a school security officer. But when he was deemed unruly, the principal, Regina Randall, ordered him to be handcuffed to a door in another room, Hunt said.

Randall, reached at home today, had no comment.

Hobson tried telling school officials he was hungry because he had not eaten lunch and had to use the restroom, Hunt said, but his requests initially were ignored.

"They fed him cereal and milk later on, like he's in prison or something," Hunt said, adding that her son's nose was struck when someone tried to reopen the door to the room.

The boy was released when school ended at 3:30 p.m., she said. Since learning of the incident, Hunt said she has kept her son at home, and is reluctant to send him back for the rest of the year.

"My son doesn't want to go back there. He's actually scared," Hunt said.

District spokesman Steve Wasko said he had no immediate information on the alleged incident. Hunt said two school officials -- a social worker and curriculum leader -- met with her Tuesday about the incident, saying they planned to file a complaint with the district. A call to the Detroit Public Schools' Department of Public Safety has not been returned.

An acting administrator at the school told a reporter: "There's a department at central office you contact for news," and hung up.

It also was unclear whether the other student involved in the alleged fight was disciplined.

Hunt said she plans to file a complaint, obtain an incident report, seek legal counsel and voice her concerns at a school board meeting today at the district's headquarters.

After hearing of the incident, school board member Marie Thornton said she met with Sampson-Webber staff on Wednesday to learn more.

Randall was absent, she said, and staff told her they were "fearful" of her. Thornton said the school's assistant superintendent, Sharon Appling, told her Monday's incident was being investigated.

Thornton said district officials have received complaints about Randall's conduct in the past, and Randall recently learned she would lose her position as part of emergency financial manager Robert Bobb's restructuring plan for DPS.

Thornton said she was "appalled" by the allegations and has contacted Bobb, acting district superintendent Teresa Gueyser and DPS general counsel about investigating and possible disciplinary action.

"You don't even handcuff a dog to the door," Thornton said. "It's not right."

jmrozowski@detnews.com (313) 222-2269

MI: Staff didn't file abuse allegations

Sunday, February 15, 2009
BY DAVID JESSE
The Ann Arbor News
http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-31/1234683631155840.xml&coll=2

No member of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District's staff reported allegations of child abuse by a teacher's aide to either the local police or the state's Department of Human Services, a district internal investigation found.

"Under the Child Protection Act school personnel have a duty to report all instances of suspected child abuse,'' the report said. "No report was filed by any of the staff who witnessed the conduct referenced in the police investigation.''

A spokeswoman with the Department of Human Services declined to comment on whether her department had any contact from the WISD about the allegations. She also would not comment on whether the WISD broke the law.

Any investigation into that question would come from the county's prosecutor's office, Zoe Lyons, the manager of the state's Child Protective Services program, said in a telephone interview.

WISD Superintendent Bill Miller said no one is investigating the district for any possible violations of the state law.

The law is clear about who has to report suspicions of child abuse and what they have to do, Lyons said.

The law requires all school personnel to report child abuse. People in certain other professions, including health-care workers, are also considered "mandatory reporters'' under the law.

Mandatory reporters have to immediately contact the state when they suspect child abuse. If the allegations concern school personnel, those allegations are turned over to the local police for investigation, Lyons said.

"A lot of times, people report things to both the state and the police,'' Lyons said.

Failing to report child abuse is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 93 days and a fine of $500.

Miller would not directly answer questions about whether WISD employees violated the act.

"District policies about reporting were not followed,'' he said.

MI: Letter lays out abuse claims in case involving Washtenaw Intermediate School District student

Several other parents have said Beasley abused their children. Ann Arbor police have said that many of those allegations cannot be proved because the students' disabilities make communication difficult.

by David Jesse The Ann Arbor News
Tuesday February 03, 2009, 10:16 AM
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2009/02/letter_lays_out_abuse_claims_i.html

Michigan - A Washtenaw Intermediate School District teacher wrote a letter in early December outlining 10 incidents in which she says teacher's aide Michael Beasley pushed a special education student out of his chair, bent his fingers back and slapped, swore at and pinched him, documents obtained by The Ann Arbor News show.

That letter was written after a parent asked the teacher, Amy Carns, about interaction between Beasley and his son.

It's not clear whether the incidents, which allegedly took place last fall, were initially reported to WISD administrators, or whether they were investigated.

WISD spokeswoman Gerri Allen said the district, as part of its ongoing probe into what happened in a special education classroom at Ann Arbor's Scarlett Middle School, is reviewing the letter and whether the allegations were reported and investigated. The WISD runs programs at local schools for students with moderate and severe disabilities.

Two administrators - Diane Zedan and Pat O'Connell - have been placed on paid leave during the investigation.

A separate but related investigation by Ann Arbor police led to two counts each of child abuse and assault against Beasley. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Beasley's attorney, Doug Mullkoff, has not returned phone calls.

The issues bubbled to the surface when Carns, the classroom teacher, made a complaint about an aide pinching a child, on Oct. 30. Zedan investigated but concluded the allegation was not substantiated. Zedan did put the aide on a three-day unpaid disciplinary leave for not following the district's behavior management policy.

"The information from the various classroom staff did not agree. I concluded that the allegation was not substantiated," Zedan, the WISD's director of special education, wrote to the student's parents.

However, an attached report shows that Zedan spoke to only two staff members - the teacher who had witnessed the event and the aide who had been accused. The report includes no mention of interviewing a third staff member who allegedly witnessed the incident.

Zedan does not have a listed phone number and could not be reached for comment. A message left for her with the WISD was not returned.

Carns told Zedan that during lunch on Oct. 30, Beasley, Carns and a teacher's aide named Kelli Hogue were sitting with their students in the cafeteria at Scarlett.

The student put his leg on Beasley's leg several times, and didn't stop when Beasley asked him to, Carns said.

"At that time, Michael refused assistance, and then right away reached his hand under the table and then (the student) screamed, 'Ouch, help' and began crying. I then immediately took him to the classroom and examined the area and there was a pinch mark with a bruise," Carns wrote in an incident report.

Beasley's description was different. He told Zedan the student was kicking him.

"At one point, (the student) slid out of his seat and Michael helped him back into his seat by supporting his back," Zedan's report reads. "Michael stated that he did not pinch (the student). (The student) was then taking trays back to the room. While going through the door, (the student) appeared to get stuck and said, 'Oh, oh, oh.'"

The parents were not satisfied with the WISD's handling of the case and met with Miller to express those concerns, parent Mike Hayes said. Other parents with students in the class also went to police with concerns that led to the charges.

Around the same time, Hayes asked Carns if his child had had any other run-ins with Beasley.

Carns wrote a letter, dated Dec. 4, 2008, citing those 10 other instances. Hogue also signed that letter.

Carns declined comment when contacted by a News reporter.

Allen said that letter was part of the information that led Assistant Superintendent Richard Leyshock to recommend to Miller on Dec. 8 that the investigation be reopened. Beasley was again placed on leave that day.

Several other parents have said Beasley abused their children. Ann Arbor police have said that many of those allegations cannot be proved because the students' disabilities make communication difficult.

David Jesse can be reached at djesse@... or at 734-994-6937. Join the discussion at blog.mlive.com/study_hall.

MI: Washtenaw Intermediate School District aide charged with child abuse

by David Jesse | The Ann Arbor News
Thursday January 22, 2009, 3:59 PM

An aide with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District is facing child abuse and assault charges after he was accused of slapping and shoving two special education students under his care, Ann Arbor Police said.

Parents of the students, ages 12 and 13, went to police after an internal WISD investigation cleared the aide, and he was transferred to another classroom, where he still worked with special education students.

Michael Beasley, 45, was arraigned on two counts each of child abuse and assault and battery in 15th District Court Thursday morning, police said.

He pleaded not guilty and was released on a personal bond, police said.

His attorney, Doug Mullkoss, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Beasley is on paid administrative leave, WISD spokeswoman Gerri Allen said.

In a letter sent home to parents, WISD Superintendent Bill Miller said he "found these allegations to be extremely troubling.

"We are taking appropriate action to internally investigate the circumstances surrounding these allegations, including a review of district investigation and reporting procedures."

That statement didn't mollify parents of the students, who said the WISD should not have allowed the aide to continue working with students after the allegations were raised.

"They should have fired him from the get-go," said parent Mike Hayes. "He did a lot of things he shouldn't have been doing. They just tried to sweep it under the rug."

The Pittsfield Township man is accused of slapping a 13-year-old autistic child with an open hand at Scarlett Middle School Oct. 30.
The child, from Saline, suffered redness and swelling to his face, but did not need medical treatment, reports said.

Detective Sgt. Jeff Connelly said a detective investigating the case discovered another incident in which Beasley allegedly shoved a 12-year-old Ann Arbor girl with special needs to the gym floor at Scarlett in mid-October. The girl suffered bruises to her arm, and her parents received a letter about the incident signed by her teacher, police said.

Several parents of students in that class said the aide slapped, pinched, swore at and was physically abusive to children.

The class at Scarlett has six students, one teacher, two teacher aides and other support staff. It's one of nine classrooms the WISD runs at local schools to help students with moderate and severe disabilities get skill training, access to general education curriculum and opportunities to participate in activities with non-disabled peers.

Allen said Beasley's WISD personnel file had no other complaints in it.

The parents initially approached the WISD in the fall with complaints about Beasley.

"On October 30, 2008, he was immediately placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation," Allen said. "... Following this investigation the employee was placed on disciplinary leave for failure to follow the district student behavior management policy and was given an employee assistance plan. "On November 12, 2008, the employee returned to work but in a different location (High Point School) at his request."

Parents disagreed with that move.

"We just thought that wasn't right," Hayes said. "That's when we started filing police reports. We thought if the school wasn't going to do anything about this, we would."

Parents said they took their concerns to Miller, who on Dec. 8 placed the aide on administrative leave again while the police investigated.

A group of parents also appeared before the school board in closed session last week to ask the board to take action. None has been taken yet.

"It was very scary," Hayes said. "We just thought something wasn't right in the classroom. With children that have a hard time communicating, it makes it just that much harder.

"We shouldn't have had to go through this."

David Jesse can be reached at djesse@annarbornews.com or at 734-994-6937. Join the discussion at blog.mlive.com/study_hall.

MI: Parents can sue over boy's harassment at school

By ED WHITE Associated Press Writer
2:03 PM CST, January 6, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-school-harassment,0,1773177.story

DETROIT - An appeals court gave new life Tuesday to a lawsuit that claims a Michigan school district didn't do enough to prevent the harassment of a student, whose humiliation began in sixth grade and escalated to sexual assault by his freshman year.

Hudson Area Schools, in Lenawee County near the Ohio border, said it punished and even expelled students who committed the offenses.

But an appeals court, in a 2-1 ruling, said the boy's parents can press their allegation that the district was "deliberately indifferent" to years of abuse inflicted by classmates.

The decision means the lawsuit will go to trial in federal court or be settled. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff had ruled in favor of the district and dismissed the case in 2007.

"Hudson's isolated success with individual perpetrators cannot shield Hudson from liability as a matter of law," said Judges Karen Nelson Moore and Helene White of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The other judge on the panel, C. Roger Vinson, said his colleagues went too far.

"A school acts appropriately if it investigates what has already occurred, reasonably tries to end any harassment still ongoing by the offenders, and seeks to prevent the offenders from engaging in such conduct again," Vinson wrote. "That is exactly what happened."

Moore and White come "extremely close to requiring that schools be 'purged' of all offensive behavior and be completely harassment-free," he said.

In 2002, when the boy was in sixth grade, classmates called him "queer" and "pig" on a daily basis and pushed him into lockers. He said he reported it to school officials but was told "kids will be kids, it's middle school."

His parents talked to teachers about the problem and met with the principal.

DP, as the boy is identified in court documents, wanted to quit school in seventh grade. The situation improved in eighth grade when he spent one period a day with a teacher who helped him cope with peers and work on his studies.

But ninth grade was not successful: Hudson High would not allow DP to continue his one-on-one contact with the teacher. He was called names again, and students broke into his gym locker and urinated on his clothes.

That same year, a baseball player cornered him in the locker room and rubbed his genitals on DP's neck and face. Mentally unable to step inside a Hudson school after the assault, DP received an alternative education and graduated last June.

Hudson attorney Timothy Mullins said "every single student" who harassed the boy and could be identified was punished.

"Our position is the school was effectively responding to the harassment," Mullins said. "Where does the liability pass from the person who committed the harassment to the institution?"

Terry Heiss, a lawyer for DP's parents, said the boy has taken college classes but is "struggling."

"I'm very pleased with the result," Heiss said of the appeals court. "Let it go to the jury."

MI: Appeals court sends student harassment case back for trial

Note: The abuses this child suffered at the hands of staff and peers alike is truly nauseating

Posted on: January 8, 2009 9:16 AM, by Ed Brayton
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/01/appeals_court_sends_student_ha.php

A 6th Circuit Court of Appeals panel has ruled in favor of a student who claims that officials at Hudson middle school in Southeast Michigan were deliberately indifferent and failed to take any action to stop systemic harassment from other students - and even from at least one teacher.

The appeals court ruling does not settle the case, it merely remands it back to the district court for a full trial. The district court had granted summary judgment to the school, avoiding a full trial. The student's attorneys appealed, arguing that the district court had erred in concluding that the school was not intentionally ignoring the harassment problem; the appeals court agreed and has ordered the district court to hold a full trial on the matter.

The facts in the case, as stated in the appeals court ruling, are quite disturbing. The student, who is referred to in the ruling only by his initials, DP, was apparently the victim of constant harassment from his classmates beginning in the sixth grade, including frequent taunts of "queer" and "faggot" aimed at him. And in at least one incident cited by the court, a teacher joined in on the abuse:

On one occasion, DP attempted to stop a female classmate, BC, from tormenting another student. In response, BC slapped DP. Though, upon learning about the incident, band teacher Crystal Bough, told DP she "w[ould] take care of it," the Pattersons were never contacted by the school, nor did Ms. Bough report the incident to the principal. The Pattersons learned from DP that he had been assaulted at school. This incident led to further teasing, including teasing from geography teacher John Redding, who asked DP later that same day in front of a full class of students: "[H]ow does it feel to be hit by a girl[?]" The class laughed at DP.

The harassment from his fellow students came in many forms, most of them anti-gay slurs and references to "Mr. Clean," apparently referring to the student's lack of pubic hair. The bullying was not merely verbal, however:

In March 2005, unknown students broke into DP's gym locker, removed his clothes and urinated on them, and threw his tennis shoes in the toilet. The locker was also "covered with shaving cream spelling out sexually oriented words." Later that spring, two students, KM and JL, hung a "Mr. Clean" poster on DP's locker in the main hallway...

At some point after the "Mr. Clean" incident, DP's locker in the main hallway was vandalized by unknown students. These students used permanent markers and wrote words such as "gay," "faggot," and "queer" up and down the locker. Additionally, a picture of a penis being inserted into a rectum was drawn on the locker. The inside of the locker was also defaced with various derogatory phrases, such as "suck your mother's tits" and "you suck dicks."

And it even went so far as actual sexual assault:

The final incident of harassment occurred in late May 2005. After Friday night junior-varsity baseball practice, DP was sexually assaulted by a fellow teammate, LP, in the locker room. LP stripped naked, forced DP into a corner, jumped on DP's shoulders, and rubbed his penis and scrotum on DP's neck and face. While the assault was occurring, another student, NH, blocked the exit so DP could not escape.

While the student was expelled for this and brought up on charges for the assault, the ruling reports that the baseball coach held a team meeting with DP present at which he told the students that they should "not joke around with guys who can't take a man joke."

The victim is so scarred by all of this that he can no longer set foot inside the school without panic attacks. The case will now go back to the district court for a full trial on whether the school "failed to implement and enforce meaningful procedures to ensure compliance with federal law and the policies of [Hudson] and failed to ensure the proper education and training of staff as to harassment issues."

Terry Heiss, an Ada attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the case, told me that the family is grateful for the opportunity to have their day in court: "I believe the 6th circuit court of appeals effectively and carefully reviewed the record and did a good analysis of the interplay between the summary judgment rules and the Supreme Court cases in this area. My clients are pleased with that analysis."

When asked if he was concerned that the case would be heard by the same judge that initially rejected their case, Heiss noted that the trial will be in front of a jury and that he has confidence in the judge's impartiality, saying, "I think Judge Zatkoff will give us a very fair trial. I don't think the fact that his initial decision was reversed will affect his judgment at all."

Glenn Stutzky, an associate professor of social work at MSU, was an expert in this case. He could not speak with me about the specifics of the case but he did tell us that bullying is a very serious
problem in schools with extremely pernicious effects:

The important thing to understand about bullying is that it's a form of abuse. And until we grasp that, we're not going to be able to deal with it effectively. Bullying in schools is the same dynamic that occurs in domestic violence in the home, it's exactly the same set of circumstances and interactions between two people in which violence and abuse are used to dominate and control another individual. The AMA has concluded that bullying impact kids as much as child abuse, drug addiction and early sexual encounters. The impacts include increased absences, physical and medical problems from the stress and anxiety, eating and sleeping problems, academic problems. These are all now well documented in research. But it can affect the entire school because students pushed to extremes by such bullying may take their own life or may take the lives of their tormenters, as happened in the Columbine incident.

Stutzky noted that this ruling comes close on the heels of the failure of a bill in the Michigan legislature, Matt's Safe School Law, that would have required schools to have programs to deal with bullying:

Bullying that is not dealt with comprehensively and systemically will always increase rather than staying at the level it's at. The state legislature had an opportunity to deal with this on a statewide basis and failed. The reality is that a lot of schools do not have any kind of specific policy dealing with bullying. And like with any other type of serious situation, we need good legislation to provide greater safety and a means for dealing with it when it does happen. We need this legislation passed so that the state stands up and recognizes that this is a serious problem and we need to address this.

That bill was named for Matt Epling, a young man from East Lansing who took his own life in 2002 after serious hazing from classmates. As the Lansing State Journal reported on Sunday, the bill had broad bipartisan support but was prevented from getting a vote in the state Senate by Majority Leader Alan Cropsey (R-Dewitt).

MI: Detroit Public Schools Continuing To Play Silly Games

12/08/08

08:38:25 am, Categories: State News, Education
http://blogpublic.lib.msu.edu/index.php/2008/12/08/detroit-public-schools-continuing-to-pla?blog=5

If Detroit Public Schools can't even get the paperwork right for its financial recovery plan, how can it be trusted to properly execute the plan?

The district purported to send documents to the state last week detailing how it will meet its obligations under a state consent agreement and avoid the appointment by the state of an emergency financial manager.

The district's leaders approved and distributed to the public the plan, which was supposed to end the political infighting and stabilize its fiscal affairs.

But when the paperwork arrived in the offices of the state superintendent of schools, someone -- and no one can say who right now -- crossed out the words "deficit elimination plan" and replaced them with the words "revised budget reduction strategy update."

Here's the problem with the word switch: The state had specifically required that the document be referenced as a "deficit elimination plan." The state ordered the board to pass a resolution giving Superintendent Connie Calloway the power to fully implement the deficit elimination plan without further approval and intervention of the board.

Calling it an update makes less clear the district's commitment to meeting its targets and does not convey the recognition that Calloway is in charge of implementing the steps.

State school officials are livid and are said to be considering what action to take. We would suggest tossing the entire document in the trash and moving immediately to appoint a financial manager. The district has proven its incompetence runs so deep its officials can't even follow simple instructions from the state.

Detroit Public Schools is continuing to play silly games even as its own survival and its children's academic well-being are at stake. The district is expected to run out of money by January.

The district distributed the misleading board resolution -- without the crossed-out reference -- publicly and promoted it as proof that a new era in the Detroit school district had begun.

It's worth noting that the state House last week voted to continue Detroit's special funding status as Michigan's largest school district and protected Detroit Public Schools from additional competition from charter schools.

It was one of the most irresponsible votes ever taken by the House and provides evidence that relief for Detroit's misused school children won't come from that Democratic-controlled house of the Legislature. In fact, David Hecker, head of the American Federation of Teachers Michigan that includes among its members the Detroit Federation of Teachers, told the Legislature Thursday that in Detroit, "It's a new day," as the union lobbied to protect its hold on the city's education dollars.

Apparently not. And it won't be until the state accepts its responsibility to fix these schools.

There's no point in sending the paperwork back to Detroit and demanding that it be rewritten. The intent of the Detroit school board is obvious: It will use every dodge it can to avoid reform.

The next move should be to appoint a state financial manager to clean up this mess.

For the full editorial, see "Detroit school bungling demands state response", Detroit News, December 8, 2008.

MI: Clarke Calls for DPS Overhaul

Posted: Monday, 08 December 2008 5:37AM
http://www.wwj.com/Clarke-Calls-for-DPS-Overhaul/3452438

Detroit (WWJ) -- Democratic State Senator Hansen Clarke is calling for an overhaul of the Detroit Public School district.

Clarke told WWJ that he's proposing reforms for the entire district, and special reforms for schools failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Act for five consecutive years.

Among the changes, he's calling for a year-round school year and longer school days to better prepare students for the future. "We've got to get geared up for this new economy," Clarke said.

He wants curriculum reforms too, with the conversion of failing schools into small, student-centered schools based on the model of University Preparatory Academy in Detroit.

Clarke wants to see his plan move forward in the fall of 2009.

Read Sen. Clarke's full proposal, as provided by his office: Click here.

MI: State fails to stop teacher sex abuse

Poor background checks and lack of communication let crimes go unchecked.

By Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News


What The Detroit News found

• Thousands of state teachers never had criminal background checks until recently.
• Communication lapses between prosecutors, courts and the state mean some teachers convicted of sexual misconduct remain certified.
• State officials sometimes learn about convicted educators through the media.
• The criminal background database the state is now relying on covers only Michigan and has gaps.

Students at Warren's McKinley Elementary School didn't think much of the black gym bag their teacher carried -- until federal agents discovered its mesh pocket concealed a video camera.

The kids who had trusted Aaron Brevik, 33, soon learned he secretly filmed boys in locker rooms, showers and the bathroom. One horrified parent identified her son by his boxers. Brevik molested the child while he slept and recorded it.

Brevik, sentenced in March to 5-20 years in prison, is among at least 35 Michigan school employees or those recently employed by schools charged or convicted of sexual misconduct in the last 15 months. The incidents -- largely involving teachers -- have victimized nearly 50 minors and shaken communities such as Warren, Southgate and Pontiac, which have had more than one case each.

"You hope that things like this never happen again to your kids or to anybody else's," said a Warren mother, whose daughter was molested by a different teacher. "It makes you wonder who's out here watching what is going on."

The News is not naming several parents in this article to protect their children's identities.

While the Michigan Department of Education maintains it aggressively goes after abusive teachers, a Detroit News investigation finds that inadequate tracking of teachers, incomplete criminal background checks and poor communication among schools, courts and law enforcement agencies have allowed potentially abusive teachers to slip through the cracks.

Among The News' findings:

• Thirty-nine percent of 641 teachers whose licenses have been reviewed for revocation since 1986 were accused of sexual misconduct -- more than any other crime. Incidents included child molestation, possessing child pornography and sex with students.

• The Department of Education never revoked the certification of some of these teachers, as required by law. It says it never heard of these convictions from local prosecutors.

• Until procedures were changed in December, employees hired before the 1993-94 school year had never been checked for a criminal history. The police database the Department of Education relies on is only as good as the information law enforcement agencies and courts provide. Five school employees recently convicted still show clean histories in the database.

• The state only learns of teachers fired for sexual misconduct if a teacher appeals the firing. Since 1982, the state has allowed nearly a dozen teachers to keep their certification even though the state tenure commission upheld their firings for sexual misconduct. At least one is still teaching.

• State law requires FBI and state criminal background checks on new teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, nurses, social workers, school psychologists and bus drivers. However, special education paraprofessionals, janitors, cafeteria workers, coaches and others in contact with children are not covered.

• Prosecutors and courts are required to report all felony and certain misdemeanor convictions to state education officials so they can rule on decertification. But when charges are reduced in plea bargains, no duty is placed on prosecutors and courts to report convictions not covered by the law.

Such a deal allowed Ann Arbor's Worlee Dennis Jr., 45, to keep his right to teach even after he was convicted in two cases involving sexual misconduct.

In the first case, Dennis, who was teaching at Mitchell Elementary School at the time, was charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a fourth-grade student. Under a deal, he pleaded guilty to assault in 2002.

Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian Mackie said his office didn't alert the state of Dennis' conviction to protect the teacher's right to confidentiality.

In 2004, Dennis, working as a car salesman by then, was arrested again in Wayne County for trying to solicit sex with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl online. He was convicted of one count of using a computer to commit a crime and sentenced to 2 1/2 to 20 years in prison in October.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment on whether it notified the state of his second conviction.

Dennis still holds his certification.

"You think school is a safe place for kids; especially at that particular age they look up to the teachers as a good person," said the father of the Mitchell Elementary victim. "And then to have something like this happen."

Tracking system failures

A state auditor general report released in 2004 concluded the Department of Education needs to do a better job of tracking criminal convictions, documenting current teachers and updating the records of teachers who have been decertified.

The audit found that 222 licensed school workers, mostly teachers, had criminal records; and that the state did not know about 178 of them. Five employees had convictions for robbery, assault and criminal sexual conduct; others had been arrested for shoplifting or alcohol-related offenses.

"I think the auditor general report made us aware that the system that we had been relying on had not been working," said interim state superintendent of education Jeremy Hughes. "Frankly, we had been convinced up to that point that the system had been working, and the audit general report showed ... that still some people were slipping through."

The department says it will address the certification of teachers such as Dennis.

Asked about teachers keeping their certification despite their firing being upheld by the tenure commission, Hughes said that under current law the state can't revoke a tenured teacher's certification unless the teacher has been convicted. He said he would support examining a change in the law. "I am concerned," he said.

As part of its response to the audit, the department announced in December it will now check the criminal histories of all teachers twice a year through the Michigan State Police. The background checks will only cover Michigan, however.

Among other findings in The News' investigation, the Department of Education didn't compile a master list of 950 teachers convicted largely of felonies until last year when the Legislature ordered it to do so. A third of those records were missing details such as where a teacher taught and the dates of crimes. The department employee charged with keeping the files since 1998 says she keeps copious records but can't speak for her predecessor.

Until 1996, school districts weren't required to request or share personnel records with other districts. So a school employee fired for sexual misconduct from one district could conceivably go work in another without his or her history being disclosed, a practice called "passing the trash."


Abuse reports increase

Nationwide, reports of educator abuse are increasing, but it's unclear whether the abuse is more prevalent or whether kids are more willing to come forward. A crackdown on Internet predators, more conversations between parents and kids about abuse and the exposure of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church may be prompting more victims to report the abuse, experts say. A report released last summer by the U.S. Department of Education estimates that one in 10 children will encounter sexual misconduct from a school employee.

"People who are going to sexually abuse kids are going to go where the kids are," said Charol Shakeshaft, author of the report and a professor in the Department of Foundations, Leadership and Policy Studies at Hofstra University in New York.

The report, mandated by Congress, was criticized by the Department of Education as well as teachers' unions for lumping physical and verbal abuse together. Nevertheless, the Department of Education concluded both are of "grave concern."

The report found that males are more often the culprits than females. Nonetheless, a few high-profile cases in Michigan and the nation have highlighted women as abusers. Five of the 35 Michigan educators arrested or convicted of sex crimes are women.

Margaret Trimer-Hartley, director of communications for the Michigan Education Association, a union that represents teachers, says sexual misconduct involves only a fraction of Michigan's more than 100,000 teachers.

The union takes sex crime convictions very seriously and believes schools need to train employees to recognize warning signs of abuse, she said.

"With the magnitude and the number of false accusations that are made out there, we have to protect those that are falsely accused," Trimer-Hartley said. "And a lot of the times people don't understand that we are not out there defending sex offenders. We defend their right to go through the legal process and make sure they are innocent until proof positive."

She points to a case near Lansing, where a Leslie High School special education teacher was charged last year with sexual abuse. Prosecutors dropped the charges after police determined the student who accused him was lying. She was convicted of filing a false police report. The teacher later died of a heart attack.


Disabled students at risk

Some cases of abuse are so egregious they shock even seasoned police officers. Such was the case of Terry Neff, a former special education paraprofessional sentenced this month to 30-60 years in prison for raping one of his students. Neff, who had met the student when he worked in the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District, had a felony drug conviction in Indiana for which he served prison time, according to police.

Since paraprofessionals are not required to undergo background checks, his conviction never surfaced.

"I've been in law enforcement for 10 years now, and this single case bothered me more than any other case because of the trust issue and the fact that she had an 18-month-old's capacity," said Detective Abe DeVol of the Kalkaska County Sheriff's Department. "To look at her and see her abilities -- it really makes you sick."

The girl's father, Yves Champt, who is allowing The News to use his name, said he had trusted no one to care for his daughter until he met Neff at her school. He and his wife left their 19-year-old daughter in his care so they could enjoy a summer afternoon together. Before they left, Champt got a call that will forever haunt him.

"Your daughter has been raped," a Department of Natural Resources officer told him.

Neff, 53, had assaulted his daughter in the woods before DNR officers found them.

"The mission was to sexually molest children, not just any children ... but the ones that are helpless, the ones that cannot speak or defend themselves," said Champt, 49.

Now Champt is lobbying for the state to require nationwide criminal background checks for paraprofessionals.

Shakeshaft's report notes that disabled students are more likely to be sexually abused than students without disabilities.

To curb educator sexual abuse, Shakeshaft says leaders need to track the problem.

"We know the number of reindeer in Alaska," Shakeshaft said. "Why don't we know the number of children who are sexually exploited by trusted adults? ... It is shameful."

Dividing communities

The recent cases of educator sexual abuse have rattled some local communities. Some cases have divided courtrooms.

When Southgate Anderson High School teacher Joseph Brickey was sentenced in February to 17 1/2 to 40 years in prison, at least 34 teachers and students wrote letters to the judge saying Brickey was well-respected and had to be innocent.

In court, his supporters sat to the right, filling all the benches. To the left, the 17-year-old victim bobbed her legs nervously. She and her supporters, a smaller crowd, had waited months for this day in Washtenaw Circuit Court, where Brickey was sentenced for having sex with her in a Red Roof Inn in Ann Arbor five times in 2003.

"You were supposed to lead by example," the former student told Brickey. "But you are nothing but a lying coward."

Brickey, serving time in Lapeer County, is filing an appeal. "I am an honorable man. ... It did not happen," he said in court.

Oftentimes, teacher sex abuse cases never make it to the courtroom. Cases are pleaded down because kids fear testifying or they may never come forward to avoid "tattling."

"Generally, parents don't like to have their kids testify and the whole school knowing about it," said Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith, the former chief of the office's sex crime unit. "And the rest of the teachers rally around whoever is accused. Generally, the teacher is a well-liked teacher, and the charge seems so out of character for whoever is accused. There is no advantage for these kids to come forward. ... As soon as they come forward, their life is turned upside down."

Then there is the individual susceptibility of the students.

Clark Sexton, former principal of Agape Christian Academy in Canton Township, is scheduled to go on trial in July for initiating a sexual relationship with a female student.

The girl says he told her he loved her. And at 15, her first love held a lot of sway.

"You know what, sadly, I fell for it," the girl, now 20, said of the married Sexton's pledge that he wished he could have married her. "And I wish I wouldn't have, because it was all lies."

Sexton maintains he didn't have sexual relations with the student before she was 16 -- the legal age of consent in Michigan. The law was changed recently to make sex with a student of any age a crime.

"He's not denying there was contact after 16," said Sexton's defense attorney, Paul Clark.


Teachers stay certified

The Detroit News found several teachers convicted of crimes against minors who never had their certification revoked. They include Steven Dollaway, 46, who pleaded guilty in Oakland County in 2002 to assault and battery in exchange for six criminal sexual conduct charges involving minors being dropped; Matthew Mankoff, 29, a former Deckerville Community Schools band teacher, who was sentenced in 2003 to 1-5 years in prison for trying to meet an undercover officer, posing as a minor on the Internet, for sex; and William Ayler, 51, a former Detroit Public Schools teacher who pleaded guilty in 1997 to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The Department of Education blames prosecutors for not alerting it of the convictions, as required by law. Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca said his office alerted Detroit Public Schools about Ayler's arrest, but not of the conviction.

"We are a little bit at fault in some fashion," Gorcyca said, "although they were placed on notice of the charges and the fact it was awaiting charges in circuit court."

Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Maria Miller declined to comment on whether the department notified the state of Mankoff's conviction. Mankoff's certification recently expired, said the Department of Education.

"It's been our routine practice to send a letter to notify the school where the person is employed when the case is bound over," Miller said. "And then we notify the state upon conviction. We are going to modify the procedure now that we have discovered this problem to make sure we get a written verification or confirmation that the notification has been received."

In the Dollaway case, the former gym teacher at Commerce Elementary School in the Walled Lake Consolidated School District was charged with six counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of assault and battery amid allegations he touched female students' breasts and buttocks during class and snapped their bra straps, according to Oakland County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Deborah Carley.

The case was difficult to prove, as the touching took place in a gymnastics class, she said.

The charges were downgraded and, as part of the deal, Dollaway swore under oath he would give up his teaching certificate, Carley said.

State officials were never notified of the plea deal. Dollaway still has a teaching certificate, according to state records.

Without the Department of Education knowing of such deals, a teacher could get a duplicate copy of the certificate with ease, department officials said.