Dr. OB,

I am a teacher who has been in Huntsville City Schools for several years.  I have worked under three principals, two of whom were openly abusive. 

JEANNIE GREER AND NEPOTISM

At Grissom High School, I worked part of my tenure under Jeannie Greer, who openly brags about her lifelong friendship with Christine Finley.  When she came to the school, she also proudly told those of us already there that she had brought teachers from her former school (a tactic frowned on by most districts and often not allowed), as well as telling us that she hired the children of friends. This set up her list of favorites on day one.  She spent the next several years targeting teachers she didn't hire and working to drive us out of the building.  She was helped in this by her APs, most notably Ms. Belanger (who left Columbia after less than a semester as principal) and Tim Wyant (recently "resigned" from Elkmont City Schools). 

I was partially targeted because I am aware of the egregious irregularities in the Practice ACT given in 2018 at Grissom.  I had been unexpectedly ill and unable to administer the test, so I was (very belatedly) reassigned to organization, and was told by the state auditor of the test to stay and witness as she listed everything that was done wrong. This was under previous administration, and Greer was told only that there had been a number of issues and not what they were.  Because I felt this was unfair, I told her of the problems with the test so she would know what to avoid.  THough she seemed appreciative at the time, it was clear at the end of that school year that she wanted me gone.

I was removed from a program I built literally from the ground up (I wrote the district pacing guide and was the only one in the school to attend requisite training).  The program was given to a teacher with less experience who didn't attend the required training.  I was reassigned to the one grade I asked not to teach.  When I requested to teach ANY SUBJECT in either social studies or English EXCEPT the class I was teaching, I was again assigned to the same class.  Meanwhile, she went through three social studies teachers in my preferred area in one year.  That was apparently preferable to having a 15 year veteran ith a masters degree in that position.

GREER AND TEACHER ILLNESS

I recorded meetings with Greer where I was told that an ongoing illness showed that I wasn't dedicated to the children.  One day I had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance and was told it was "inconvenient" by Belanger because it meant "doing so much paperwork."  No one from the school followed up to see if I was well.  I was expected to be at work the next day.  I was sent to the hospital because the school nurse said I could have a heart attack at any moment.

In the same meeting, I was told that my absences - for which I could present doctor's evidence, but she had never asked for any - indicated a lack of dedication to the students.  She said it was why my students, which were purposefully the ones most behind, in large classes, without any special education assistance despite having double digits of special needs students, weren't passing at an acceptable level.  Because I was sick.  She admitted in the meeting that she knew I was truly sick, but doubled down that this meant I didn't care enough about the students. 

Greer then took two weeks off.  I don't begrudge her this, because she was fighting breast cancer.  But it was clear that the expectations for her were much different than those for me.

Coaches of various sports missed many more days than I did.  I went to school with a heart monitor on, taking my blood pressure five times a day.  But I was the one who didn't care about the students.

I was directly accused of being "defiant" for defending myself and wanting an HEA representative in a meeting where I had been told my "absences" would be discussed.  I was not allowed a representative.  Since she didn't do an official write up (based on her total lack of evidence that I was abusing the sick policy; I was not even out of sick days), I wasn't guaranteed a representative.

GREER, WYANT, AND EFFICACY

I was also responsible for more "homebound" students than the other English teachers in my grade level.  There was no real expectation that these students attend classes.  There were students who had done no work in any of their classes, but as I had the largest number of them under one teacher, I had the "most failures."  The previous year, under COVID, we had been ordered not to give 0's.  Students passed because they did one assignment in an entire nine weeks and it was taken as their only grade.  They would get a 100 for the quarter.  The students learned that they didn't have to do work to pass, and this is still affecting them in the 2022-2023 school year. (I have been told repeatedly by students that they "can't fail so it doesn't matter.")

I recorded a meeting with Greer and Wyant in which I was told an assignment I gave was a "waste of time."  I presented peer-reviewed articles on why the assignment was efficacious.  Wyant told me he "didn't care" because "high schoolers don't color."  The assignment was to read a college level text with a great deal of imagery.  The text was written in the 1800s and so used a number of words that have fallen out of common use.  The students had to read the text, identify the imagery, define unfamiliar terms, and draw an image of the opening scene with a minimum of 10 details directly from the text. This was "coloring."  Then I presented evidence that art is a well-researched resource for handling difficult text, Greer told me I was being "defiant." 

GREER AND SPECIAL EDUCATION

In my years under Greer, we were always short a special education teacher, and my core English class was the one that had to go without special education assistance.  I went two years with large classes filled with students in need of one on one attention and no aide or special education teacher in the room.  At one point, I refused to sign IEPs that stated students would receive extra help in the regular education classroom because this was never provided.  When I was finally assigned a special education teacher, he was a coach who was often away. 

Scheduling for the special education students SHOULD always be done FIRST.  Then those classes should be capped in the computer at a lower number (25 instead of 30, for example).  Then, the program should place the regular education students randomly.  Instead, the administration and counselors filled all the classes, then piled the special education students on top.  As a result, "inclusion" classes were the largest in the grade level instead of the smallest, and some teachers were left completely on our own. 

APOLLO AND STUDENT GRADES

Another serious issue is the APOLLO alternate school program.  We never receive grades when we are supposed to, even though the students are on our official rolls and we have to fill out their report cards.  Students would be gone for two nine weeks and return with single-digit grades from an online class system called Edgenuity.  We were then held responsible for these failing grades, as if we could bring a student who took home a 9 or 13% for half the year back to grade level in April and May.  I asked repeatedly for grades and explanations of grades for APOLLO students and was always ignored.

This has continued at my current middle school, though when the students returned they did have passing grades.  However, for semester classes, they were given the wrong grades and we can't actually enter them to legally show students have mastered a subject.  Yet emails to administration continue to be ignored. 

It will probably be easy to identify me, as I now teach at Chapman Middle School, which means I could tell you a great deal about the abuse staff suffer from both Dr. Collins and certain students.   Teachers who ask for help are put under multi-page "improvement plans" which are ultimately meaningless because admin doesn't follow up on their end of the plans.  I'm interested to see what will happen at the end of the year when I can prove that I did my part of the "plan" but they didn't do thers.  Classrooms are not cleaned, and I was literally taken to task in front of an AP and ordered to explain why I had too many "scuff marks" on my floor, which were somehow all my fault.  At the moment I'm emotionally wiped, so I'll stop for now.  I can provide more specific dates and details for my experiences at Grissom if you are interested.

HCS has taken something I love and made it a nightmare.  I am still here because single teachers can't afford to leave.  We have no one to help us if we get blacklisted or can't find a job elsewhere, so we just live with the abuse.

Sincerely,

Disheartened in HCS

Thank You!!

Good evening OB,

This is XXXXXXXXX. I took your classroom management course at UAH in 2021 and graduated with my MAT in spring of 2022 :) I am now working teacher at Grissom. My first year has been one of the best years of my life, if not the very best. I am extremely blessed by strong and passionate coworkers who are beyond supportive. My students fill my heart and I am deeply humbled by the trust they place in me. I am overworked but would not trade this job for anything. I’ll be teaching until all my hair is white and then for awhile after that :)

I wanted to say thank you again for supporting me and helping me write a letter when I had a bad experience with a professor at UAH. You are definitely a hero to me for taking the time to support me when I needed it. I am now helping my own students stand up for themselves and for others, especially against authority figures who are using their power unfairly. Your class taught me that a successful classroom is made through positive relationships and professionalism from the adult in the room. This year has been smooth for myself and my students, where other teachers have had a rocky year because those two things are not their priorities. Thank you for preparing me for this job.

I also wanted to say thank you so very much for what you are doing with your RCR site and mission. The culture of silence is very real and it’s been heartbreaking to hear my fellow teachers say over and over again: “Well there’s nothing we can do about it anyway”, whenever central office makes a decision that goes against learning and the health of the students and teachers. Things have been so out of the hands of the teachers for so long that a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness has really set in. I know that Grissom has many excellent department heads and admin but they often end up in the same boat as the teachers. Standing up to central office, being heard by the leadership is an impossible feat too much of the time.

I know you’re in contact with teachers at Grissom and have probably heard plenty of things already! :) The biggest issues I have noticed include severe understaffing of all roles (teachers, custodians, security, lunchroom workers—which leads to high turnover), extreme overcrowding of students (average class size is 37 but many teachers have more than that), insufficient facilities to house students (unusable lunchroom, classes being held in literal broom closets), ineffective discipline, and preferential treatment of students. You can imagine the negative learning and working environment this creates on a daily basis. Almost all of this could be corrected with more investment into the schools by the board, but renting a beach suite is higher priority. The board’s priorities are so misplaced, it’s so well known by teachers and families alike, but we all feel powerless to change the system.

I know that at the very minimum, your mission has already made so many hopeless employees feel heard and seen. We are stronger when we come together. I’m sorry you have had to paint the target on your back. I can’t imagine how exhausted you are, hearing all of the heartbreaking, infuriating stories about mistreatment of students, parents, and staff. Please remember to rest and take care of yourself throughout this journey. I’m sorry I haven’t contacted you sooner; as soon as I get home, I fall asleep from how tired I am.

If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know! I have to stay anonymous because I don’t want my kiddos to lose their teacher. Thank you again for calling out wrongdoing and always leading your students by example. You empower others to do the right thing and the ripple effect is large.

to doctor.ob.1970

Firstly , I love what you are doing. Idk if this falls within your realm but I’ll lay it out below. 

I’m a teacher with the district. The teachers who this affects are too scared to contact you, but I am doing it using this anonymous account. If you want to talk, let me know and I will talk with you but I won’t share any names.

About a month ago our school received a student that has hyper-aggression disorders. This aggression ranges from physical to sexual. He is in a self-contained class with 5 other students. The teacher to whom I’m referring is this child’s only General ED teacher.

This student does not live in a HCS school zone and was transferred to the school via a SUPERINTENDENTS TRANSFER. I’m concerned because due to his hyper sexual activity he often exposes himself in his classroom. The most concerning part is at his previous school he was allowed twenty minutes to masturbate in a bathroom but two adult males had to be with him. This was mandated and written into his IEP. He has also punched the self-contained teacher and no consequences were assigned, nor was a report filed. They are talking about extending his day and allowing him into a physical Ed class with 60 other general Ed students. He is in 8th grade and stands 6’2 and 250 pounds. The self-contained teacher is 120 and 5’7 and 60 years old.

The teachers are concerned for their safety and the safety of the other students. The teachers concerns about his sexual behavior are not being heard or addressed.

I’m at a loss on what to do here. and I don’t want to lose my job. But the self-contained teacher also feels no support. This student has broken and thrown chairs and tables causing the other students to be evacuated. I know this email is all over the place but allowing a student to masturbate at school while supervised by adults don’t sit well with me. He’s in a classroom with non-verbal students who can’t advocate for themselves. Something needs to be done. 

Please help.

-------------------------------------

Rocket City Reckoning

Dr. OB

A good friend of mine sent me an eye opening text today with information about Rocket City Reckoning. My name is Clay Styles and I was hired by HCS at the beginning of the 2022-23

school year at Apollo Academy (Alternative School). I worked there for nearly 2 months, was placed on administrative leave, then I was terminated. I was not given any explanation as to why I was terminated, nor was I given the opportunity to ask. I have several grievances about the handling of the entire situation that I would love to discuss with whoever will listen. Thank you,

Clay Styles

Clay,

Let's talk tomorrow. If you have any documentation, tell me and I'll create a google drive folder to which only you and I have access. Put the docs in there and when we talk, I'll record it on my iPad and then I can use the outline above and you can fill in the dates.

Your story is not unique. I'll explain all of this on my website www.rocketcityreckoning.com (and this isn't an advertisement, rather I will literally share what they do to people they fuck over).

You are the first person to whom I've spoken that worked at Apollo. I would love to hear as much as you can remember about it, because I bet when we talk you'll jog your memory and remember other bullshit they did.

I'll send you a text in a minute and we can figure out a time to talk.

Thank you for trusting me to help. I am going to publicly humiliate the "Talent Management" department at HCS (they maintain the 'blacklist').

Talk soon,

Jas

xxxxxxxx

10:44 AM (9 hours ago)

to me

Hi,

Currently employed by HSV city. Saw your email. I’m interested in the Google drive.

Thanks,

Jason O'Brien <doctor.ob.1970@gmail.com>

2:21 PM (5 hours ago)

xxxxxxx

Thank you for responding...do you have time to chat today? My cell is 256.694.5129.

When we talk, tell me the issues you're seeing. I'll make a google drive folder and you can start collecting documentation. If you have a narrative you want to put in there, that would be awesome.

Things to remember:

Use measurable and observable behaviors.

Remember to put in as many details as possible (e.g. "I was told by my administration" isn't specific. I need "On 3/5/23 Mr. Smith said to me "Don't write up any kids in Bloom or we will get sued."

Alabama is a one person recording state, which means it's legal for anyone to record anyone as long as one person in the room knows about the recording (even if that person is the one doing the recording). The only thing you can't do is set up a recorder in a room in which you aren't present.

I'm sorry that you're going through whatever it is you're dealing with. I'm here to listen and help. If it has something to do with unreported crimes against children or really bad SPED violations, please tell me as soon as possible.

This is the link to the google drive that you and I have access to:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1M6ZxlohUjgQkTCu7XbQnszSlmWCos50R?

Talk soon,

Jas

--------------------

As a former teacher for Huntsville City Schools, I feel as though I was terminated unfairly. I began working for the district in December of 2019. The principal over me did not come to our school until January of 2020. We had 2 and a half months of normal class until we were sent home because of covid 19. I had no formal observations during those 2 and a half months and was barely contacted or given directions on how to handle things during covid.

The next school year I had several observations that were all absolutely fine. No write ups or anything that would show a need for me to change. I completed my normal duties and completed extra tasks as assigned to us while other teachers did not do all required documentation. I completed all required professional development requirements as well.

My third year (2nd full year) we had to move to a new location. Our classrooms were too small for the amount of students, we did not have enough teachers, and we had zero internet connection for the first few weeks of school despite our students being required to do work online. By the 2nd nine weeks of the school year, I was presented with an improvement plan that I was made to sign because my students were frequently falling asleep in class and would not listen to me. The only interactions our principal had with students was if they got a negative report that HE thought was serious, didn’t matter what behavior learning guide says. When he came into my classroom for observations, most students did not even know who he was. The administrative assistant had more pull with getting students to behave than the principal did. I was also presented with one of my observations stating I was on the phone when he came in to observe. ALL observations that year were drop in unannounced visits. I was on the phone with our administrative assistant to tell her I was not feeling well. I tested positive for covid the next day. That principal made snap judgments about everything and only came into my classroom if he thought my students were out of control. The classroom next door was REGULARLY louder than mine and I heard the teacher say something to the effect of “I will be the teacher on the news for taking y’all out, I do not even care”. And yet, the teachers who do care, get fired for bad observations. Other teachers did not complete required paperwork. Other teachers had behavior issues as well, but I was targeted. I feel like I was targeted because I was the only female teacher.

Also to add, my third year had me exceptionally uncomfortable going to work. In April I had a student get majorly upset because of a negative report I wrote on her. She was going to be expelled and was pulled from my class by security. A few minutes later, she came back to my class and was threatening to fight me. Where was security that she was allowed to enter my classroom and provide threats? When I told the principal the cause of the uproar (she was threatening me) he made it sound as though I was not taking her anger and threats seriously and was blaming me instead of questioning why security did not have her.

I took on extra roles and did all required documentation for my job—oftentimes making changes at the last minute—all to be fired due to negative reports on my observations. I did not earn tenure and lost my only source of income after working for 2.5 years that were counted as 3. SO many students were wrongfully passed on to the next grade in pity due to covid, but no exceptions were made for teachers. We bent over backwards to get the job done only to be told “thanks but no thanks” in the end.

XXXXXXX

8:24 AM (1 hour ago)

to me

We did not have an elective teachers whatsoever at Apollo. My first year there,  we had 3 collaborative teachers and several aids to help with students with special needs. After covid kicked off, one collaborative teacher retired to protect his health and another left for a different school. They were not replaced.  We DID have teachers from Neaves setup classrooms and help the Apollo students during 2020-2021 school year when they weren't doing live classes for Neaves students, but the SPAN location did not even have enough room for the 5 Apollo teachers. I would be open to an interview if it might help the current/future staff and students 

----------------------------------

to Doctor.ob.1970

Ludwig,

I love what you’re doing to help expose the mistreatment of students and faculty in HCS.

That said I’m a teacher at McNair (don’t want to be named or referred to as I don’t want to lose my job).  This email is not my real name either. 

Yesterday I was speaking to a couple teachers about the Dr. Collins incident, with one of those teachers having been there when it happened said it was bad but since most teachers there at the time and teaching there now are on Emergency certificates or some other provisional teaching license, and not tenured, nobody dares say anything for fear of retribution.  The teacher who was there last year said Dr Collins would say things like “you’re better off shooting yourself in the head than coming here and not doing any work.” This along with many other similar comments, including calling kids the n-word, etc.  Apparently kids were terrified of her since she would regularly snap at them.

That retribution already happened with the incident you shared with the PE Aide, Ms. Hanes.  She is a lovely young woman who cared about the children and was about to become a full time teacher.  She got fired because the clique of favorite teachers kept bullying her to the point where she just snapped back and said something on a sport team chat app with the track team.  She used a cuss word in saying for the principal to just wait a damn minute or something to that nature. This should not have been a fireable  offense, especially as we are already short one full time teacher (she left at Christmas for a better paying job).  The job that’s been open is now filled by a long term sub who lets the kids do whatever they want - often running the halls or other nonsense.  Along with that the kids learn nothing (it is a STEM elective also).

The clique of teachers referred to on the post from Regular Citizen is 100% true.  They bully other teachers still—talking about them poorly to students for one is absurd, and uncalled for; just to try to start something.  This goes way beyond “office politics.”  I’ve worked in many companies and industries and I’ve never seen this level of cattiness and absurdity.

The administration often hides or erases Bloom reports, especially if they’re against black kids, or certain black kids (sports players, LGBTQ kids as the principal is also gay).  Some of these kids have 40+ Bloom referrals including drug incidents, multiple fights, sexual inappropriate touching and repeatedly cussing teachers out.  Nothing gets done. I’ve had to resubmit reports multiple times or have been asked to resubmit a report with a lesser charge so they can protect a kid.  They will also put them in ISS for days at a time versus an actual suspension or removal to Apollo.  However when there was a black girl who brought in a bottle of alcohol and poured it into a water bottle and told her friends it was coconut water; they removed her along with 4 white girls and one other black girl.  They however protected the one black girl because she has an IEP.  All the girls were complicit and the one white girl was the one who stopped it (even though she admitted taking a sip and spitting it out they sent her to Apollo; and now her and her sister just left the school system altogether and sit at home all day “homeschooling” themselves). 

Another incident involved a Hispanic kid who brought those snapper/poppers into school. Nothing that is lit.  He threw a few on the ground in the classroom and after a one week suspension they expelled him from HCS.  This kid was a good kid.  Had this been a black kid I don’t think they would’ve punished him the same.

Please let me know if you’d like to speak on this further.  Please don’t share my actual words verbatim as people may be able to tell who it is based on my writing.

Thank you kindly.

5

Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com>

Thu, Mar 30, 8:14 PM (12 days ago)

to James, me

Yes we know about this. Those screenshots in the rape culture page are about him. It sounds like he has lost his scholarship to Alabama and is framing it as him “reevaluating his options.” 

They pulled strings and apparently used lawyers from University of Alabama to keep him playing. He played a game with a covered up ankle monitor. The fallout from that is ongoing and may have cost the principal there her job. She is going to announce her retirement soon. 

-Kyle

On Thu, Mar 30, 2023 at 8:05 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Are you aware that RJ Johnson from grissom is back in school after taping a freshmen?

Why is he still allowed to be in school and still alone or near girls? i know kids who said his poster is still hanging up too!

Is this what you’re talking about with the rape culture. 

So he loses his scholarship but he can be around young students still?  He is 18. I can’t believe this.

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023, James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Ludwig,

The students who had drugs on them last week are all still here and faced no consequences. Only one student who was actively caught lighting a blunt was suspended for a few days.  

The other kids are known drug users who roam the halls half the day and nearly every teacher knows they’re high and kids all know they have drugs on them.

When we condone DRUG USE and possession as not a big deal, how do you think kids will act in every other way?

Our kids are illiterate.  Even the best students can barely read/write well.  Out of 425 students in the school (give or take), 20 each term make honor roll. 4-5 make all A’s.  This, in a school where you pass for showing up in most classes, because as you said we are highly encouraged to pass kids along as “we don’t want to deal with them again next year” or similar things.  I’m trying to take a tougher stand this quarter - but that means I have more than half my students failing 8 days into the term as most won’t do any work; or if they get an assignment like Flocabulary and are asked to write sentences for the vocab cards, they type one letter and hit next just to try to show they did it to “complete the work.”  The level of apathy and cheating is to an entirely new level.  Things will need to change at the admin level on down in order for us to get kids to do something. At this point we are babysitting.

On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

I’ll continue checking Bloom; but for at least one of them, he already got caught with drugs earlier in the year—slap on the wrist and back at school.  I’m not sure why drugs are a lighter offense than alcohol is; but again those girls who drank were all sent to Apollo for 6 months.  The punishments are not fitting the crimes and it seems it’s based on race/ethnicity.

I reported a boy a little over a week ago to the AP that students told me he was smoking weed in the bathroom and asked them for perfume to cover it up; all he said was “we’ll get him, he’ll slip up.”  The kid likely had more drugs on him that day; but “he’ll slip up?”

Allowing students to continue to do drugs in school without punishment leads to more kids doing bad things including drugs, alcohol and fighting.  

How hard is it to come in Denzel Washington style from that 80’s movie he starred as the principal who took over a failing school and brought it back up and made it prosperous and safe?  I know it’s a movie, but being strict with punishments does work.  It doesn’t help these kids at all condoning bad behavior. 

I’ll keep you posted.  Again please keep my messages private as people would be able to recognize my writing style/tone.

On Sunday, March 26, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

Huntsville does have a teachers' union, HEA. They are just toothless and do not consider themselves to even be a union. In the past the head of HEA even got hired as the compliance director for the district because of how cozy their relationship is. That level of damage to the school I did not witness. We just had chipped paint. The companies they got to build these schools are awful and all these new buildings are already falling apart. 

This upcoming week can you try to go look in Bloom at those kids that got caught with drugs and/or vape and see if they even got written up for it? That would be interesting to see if they did and how they worded it. 

Thanks

On Sat, Mar 25, 2023 at 10:06 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

I’m not sure how I would get the evidence…?

However I’ve been told to rewrite Blooms before.  With deleted Blooms, they just vanish after I’ve submitted them when the AP reviews them..

One other thing I wanted to ask you is how come Huntsville doesn’t have a teachers union? 

I feel like we would have better working conditions if that were the case — like actual breaks, not having too many mandatory faculty meetings after school, among other things related to our contract.

This past week we had a long faculty meeting ending near 5:00 which was us watching a recorded webinar about ACAP testing rules and proctoring…why couldn’t they have shown this to us the Friday before Spring Break when we had the e-learning day?  

There are teachers who drive very far to come to work also; so extending their workday by two hours (unpaid) is not fair either.

Hopefully our Principal and AP will make big changes going into next year — especially as we are supposed to be taking in 6th graders somehow also!

Not sure if you remember how awful the building’s condition is; but the roof has leaked so badly that many rooms upstairs came into the rooms so much that many ceiling tiles are waterlogged and brown (I assume the water is out now), but why not change the tiles that are curved down and warped from the water damage? 

Why is a school built 6-7 years ago have a bad roof?  Why did they install gates to seemingly close off our campus only to leave the gates open all day?

Why are fire drills a free for all?  Kids going into the faculty parking lot and sitting on our cars is ridiculous.

Why can’t teachers get free lunches? It sure seems like admin and admin staff like Ms. Williams get whatever they want for lunch. I never have seen them pay; yet they ask us to pay $4 I think for a plate?  Especially as 25% or more of the kids take the plate and throw the entire thing in the trash. Another 25% of them get a full plate because they have to in order to get milk or chips; and they throw it all out except the chips.  Why force them to get everything if they won’t eat it? It really pisses me off.

I could go on and on.  

On Friday, March 24, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

We’d love to see that evidence. 

On Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 2:45 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Yet when something serious happens then we won’t have documentation of it happening before! 

Also evidence of our AP deleting ours.

On Friday, March 24, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh yeah the reducing Blooms thing is a huge issue across the district. They try to make policies that reduce Bloom write ups. 

On Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 2:05 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Correct. They use Apollo for some kids but not for the kids who NEED IT.  It is an ALTERNATIVE school; meant to handle children who cannot learn in a traditional school environment.

Instead it is used as a way to get rid of white/Hispanic kids mainly from all black schools from what I can tell as they quickly remove these kids with ONE singular incident versus others.  Only in the most extreme cases do they remove others.  I didn’t want to believe that to be true at first but I’ve seen it happen all year long now; and one kid got expelled for throwing poppers in a classroom; no other incidents.  Not lighting something just those snapper things you throw at the ground—that’s worse than DRUGS?!  Multiple times for some kids too!?

Also the post you made about the title one teacher talking on your website yesterday and how they were told to reduce the blooms is true.  We were scolded in the beginning of this year by our assistant principal that we needed to handle issues at the classroom level and stop writing everything up. Seiously?!

On Friday, March 24, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

That's what we are thinking. Save face for the district mostly. They will try to get one of the deputy superintendents to take over so that nothing changes. 

Those 15 or so kids every year always ruin it for everyone. This is the problem with how the district handles discipline. 

On Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 1:52 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh wow, I wonder if it has anything to do with the stuff going on?  Letting her retire to save face? 

I mentioned the drug incident to the coach and apparently he said multiple kids get reported for drug use with edibles, vaping and pot and continue to get away with it. They just run the halls all day every day.

Honestly if those 15 kids were gone (boys), things would be much better, as they rile everyone up as they walk around high all day. 

On Friday, March 24, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

We had a small group but had a lot of parent support. That situation at McNair is bad but sadly not surprising. We will definitely talk about that. The superintendent just announced her retirement by the way. 

Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com>

8:45 AM (1 hour ago)

to James, me

We won’t share this information in any article. And however, how would you feel about us sending an anonymous tip to the state department or someone about this? I understand if you don’t want to because of possible repercussions, but this obviously shows that there are irregularities at McNair for testing and they are trying to cover it up.

On Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 8:42 AM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

They removed me from testing because I wrote irregularity reports for students who caused major disturbances to the test.  I guess it’s better to just allow this to go on and I should shut my mouth. This is how they silence us.  (Please don’t include this story in any article as they’ll easily be able to identify me). 

On Tuesday, April 11, 2023, James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

ACAP testing started at McNair yesterday for the 8th grade and it was a mess.  The 8th grade students are extremely unruly and uncooperative — as they know there are little to no consequences for their actions - including drug use, so they have continued escalating their misbehaviors.  Students think it’s funny when they “run teachers off” as their collide with one another to do this whenever someone new comes in (long term sub or replacement teacher) as they’d rather sit there all day playing on phones and screwing off than learning (many have said).  

Testing was very disorganized - test tickets were not even printed until after 9:00 when we were supposed to start by 9:00!  This led to us taking until about 1:00 to finish two 50 minute sessions! 

Students were majorly disruptive; including doing such things as taking out a big bag of chips and eating it, then passing it around the room before one of the tests.  Many refused to test or purposefully clicked through til the end within 2-3 minutes so they could go to sleep.  

(Please don’t use these specific examples if you speak about this in any of your posts as my admin will know it is me writing to you as I had to Bloom these incidents and write “irregularity reports” for each instance).

Needless to say, having a planning period early in the day screws me over as I again get no break all day long; as we went back to our scheduled classes for half of period 5 then 6 and 7.  The test administering is also very exhausting; as ensuring a classroom full of unruly 8th graders is very taxing. It would have been nice to at least have had a “duty free lunch” or something offered by the admin for those of us doing testing—such as providing us lunch or snacks, or a break to get coffee or a drink.  None of this happened though although they did say they would have this for us last week.  Guess they forgot.  

On Friday, April 7, 2023, James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

That is definitely what causes the snowball effect.  As you have said, HCS should be one of the top districts nationwide if we focused on the right things as we have great opportunities for engineers and other space/military/defense contractors here in town and surrounding areas.  The problem is I don’t think we are adequately preparing students in our own district for many of these jobs across the district.  

Keep up the great work—hopefully things can change for the better as I have teenagers in our schools.

On Thursday, April 6, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

That's the pattern is that teachers finally break and quit and it puts more work on the ones left and makes more people break and then quit. Honestly with all this stuff in HCS I am ready to quit too. 5 years in HCS has felt like it has aged me 15 years. 

If I don't respond to emails, please know that I am reading them and documenting stuff. Keep sending them as new things happen or you remember other things. 

On Thu, Apr 6, 2023 at 1:46 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

They FINALLY expelled a kid today who was caught rolling a blunt of weed in the gym and then lighting it to smoke.  This is how brazen he and others have gotten as unless it is on camera and caught red-handed they had been getting off the hook.

We may be losing another teacher now too who lost it today due to the constant disrespect/lack of support.  She left mid day and several students said she quit.  Leaving mid day further burdens those of us who come to work every day; as we have to split the classes up into our rooms or cover during our planning.  We should get paid for this—and I can’t imagine it’s legal to work all day without breaks.

On Wednesday, April 5, 2023, James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you kindly. Just finished the rest of the unitary posts.  Great stuff.  All true.  First half of the year they told us to make a separate schoology group for students who were failing and assign recovery work there.  It was pointless and nobody did it as those same kids wouldn’t do different work we posted there when they never did the simplest of work we give currently.  

The numbers on grade level are probably closer to 5%, with 75% or more two or more grade levels below (based on I-ready math/reading scores for the entire school).  If you want exact numbers I can get them; but this is closer to our true number.  

Trying to teach a class of 30 students when 7-8 have IEPs and when 20 or more of them SHOULD have an IEP, makes things very difficult.  I have students who can’t copy a word from one page to another in core classes.  These students should be in SPED class all day learning life skills or learning how to read//write.

The ESOL student issue is also something of concern.  We have an EL person who the kids go to for help with their schoolwork and to help integrate in the school; but she doesn’t speak Spanish?!  How is that possible when all but one of the EL students primary language is Spanish and that other student was already very proficient in English. 

Most teachers (due to inexperience) don’t know how to teach the Spanish students who cannot speak any English.  Understable, but they should have a teacher fluent in English and Spanish helping these students learn English for one; but also working with them on all subjects until they reach a certain level of proficiency.  

Like IEPs the IELPs cannot be failed due to language issues so most are just passed along because they often don’t cause behavioral issues.  

 Okay I’m done for today!  I hope more can be done for the EL kids. 

On Wednesday, April 5, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

Sure I’ll take that part about the apple sauce out 

On Wed, Apr 5, 2023 at 5:44 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Do you mind removing the one part of the new post about mcnair where you used a quote from me about the throwing apple sauce off the wall?  That was a recent bloom and I too don’t want my admin to know I wrote to you.  

On Wednesday, April 5, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you. Which SPED teacher left? 

Is Ms. Sanderson still there? 

On Wed, Apr 5, 2023 at 2:10 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

I saw you wanted to know how many teachers are licensed, on emergency certifications or how many teaching positions are not staffed.  

At McNair, we only have a few teachers who have licensure:  

We have 6 on emergency certificates.

There are 12 with regular licenses including the Librarian (although she is retiring).

Admin/counselor are licensed.

Three classes are filled with subs every day or we have to cover if we can’t find a sub to fill the spot.

We are missing a SPED teacher (left a month ago), missing the Computer science teacher for over a month (he left) and missing the Robotics/Greenpower teacher - and have been since Christmas. 

We are also losing a PE teacher by year end and others are looking to leave too.

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes that is what we have heard as well. We don’t know what function she is serving there. She maybe sitting in an office doing paperwork. We are trying to find out but not much information goes in or out of there. We know she was sent there under special assignment for the district. We’re going to keep an eye on it to make sure that they’re not gonna try to hide her away for the rest of the school year and then put her back in charge of a school next year.

On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 12:02 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

I hear that Dr Collins is now at Apollo. 

On Monday, April 3, 2023, Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com> wrote:

Sadly all of this sounds very familiar to my time there as well. Little as changed even with a change of admin. Thank you for all this information. 

On Mon, Apr 3, 2023 at 8:38 PM James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

I also saw your comment about pressure for not writing ODRs; we were told we cannot write them; that we have to check “administrator review” or whatever that middle box is.  

Nearly every incident I imagined would be taken seriously is brushed off with a comment of “spoke to student and student said they would change behavior,” or “teachers should use classroom skills to handle class disturbances” or something to that nature which is implying we cannot control our class and shouldn’t be writing the kids up for cussing us out, throwing fruit or apple sauces off the wall, making animal sounds during class, stomping on juice boxes — the juice and apple sauce got on me on two occasions—not even a day in ILC for those issues.

There is a point where we give up writing blooms as they go unpunished every time. It is primarily an issue with the boys more so than the girls; and they get away with sexual touching of females every single day. 

On Monday, April 3, 2023, James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Kyle,

As you know McNair well from having worked there for years; not much has changed.  The turnover rate is very high, and teachers just vanish at times!  In the last few weeks alone we lost the computer science teacher (someone said he got sick but it’s been a long time now); we lost a SPED teacher who had been at McNair for a few years (Principal told me today he isn’t sure if she’s returning)—she’s been out weeks now also; and we haven’t filled the STEM class for robotics/greenpower since Christmas (long term sub ever since)—who is just babysitting kids. 

Along with those teachers, the choir teacher retired abruptly before Spring break after giving up on teaching due to behavioral issues.  There is a new math teacher who is very young (22), as a second year teacher and she has been absent a great deal since Christmas (personal issues), but she can’t manage her classroom as she isn’t much older than many of these students and she gets no support from admin for the disrespect and constant misbehavior.

Those teachers along with the PE Aide who was fired for little cause.  They’re also running Coach Carter out of the school as he put in his resignation for the end of the year (I’m trying to change his mind; but we will see).  

I cannot imagine any other school has this level of turnover?!

ILC is a joke as nobody does any work in there even though they hired our former long term sub Coach Friend to manage the ILC room to ensure students have work and complete work, nothing gets done and students often up and walk out of that room and wander the halls all day.

Also why there is a 25-30 minute gap in time where there are no security personnel in the halls during lunch is beyond me. Students run wild during this time—you’d think that someone would man the halls during this time—often when fights, drug smoking and loitering the halls is the worst.

If nothing is done to curb these issues more teachers will leave.  I know of two more already looking for jobs outside the district or teaching altogether because of becoming demoralized due to lack of support, student apathy and the like.  It is definitely disheartening at times. 

When students know that Blooming them means nothing; what tools do we really have left?

On Thursday, March 30, 2023, James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

Figured as much. I couldn’t believe hearing this.  The things these admins are doing is crazy.

---------- Forwarded message ---------

From: James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com>

Date: Mon, May 1, 2023 at 4:42 PM

Subject: McNair teacher with info

To: Rocket City Reckoning <rocketcityreckoning@gmail.com>

Had a faculty meeting today where we were told to lessen the number of Blooms and to not take as many days off.   He kept on talking about the days off thing focusing on new or younger teachers the most.  

I recorded as much as I could; where did you say you wanted those recordings to go?

On Saturday, April 15, 2023, James Crawford <jcrawford8844@gmail.com> wrote:

I don’t know all the rules on irregularities and what has to be reported, etc.  

But from what I understand the reports I filled out were sent through as the person in charge of the testing followed back up with me and asked for witness statements as well.  

Admin then doubled the number of adults per room in the testing rooms, bringing in some subs to cover for the classes of teachers who needed to test.

I would just leave this one alone. I’ll see how it goes this coming week for 7th graders.  Our admin did put in place some strong measures to eliminate phones and electronics from everyone in testing area upstairs by “wanding” everyone with a metal detector before they went into the testing area including teachers.  

On another note, I took an informal poll of teachers to see who is coming back next year—besides all the teachers we already lost; it looks like at least 3 more are not returning next year which will cause some major holes to fill going into next school year.  

Hopefully the administration will listen to teachers to correct misbehaviors from the start of next school year and begin punishing students according to the BLG accurately so that there is a chance at students receiving an education.  Even the teachers with the best classroom management skills still have to deal with students’ random outbursts sand nonsense during class that you’d never see at non title-I schools in our district.  I know as I’ve substituted at other schools and also have kids in the district at other schools. 

Anyhow; thank you for responding.  I did want to see how the rest of testing went this week; seemingly there were not anymore issues after day one as they implemented the two adults per room policy.

-------

Jemison and IT

Inbox

to me

Hello,

I am going to tell you a story,  I could tell you many and I want too, I just have to figure a way to do it without getting in trouble.

I know a lot about IT in the district, but I will not identify myself. Here are some things to consider:

For now look into the JHS IlC person named Jared Legg. He  moved to IT and then was let go. Reason: the principal at JHS had him changing grades. He wrote a statement but nothing ever came of it. I have been trying to see if I could get it. But as of yet nothing. 

Let me ask you a question. Why has HCS had so many CFOs?

 5 years ago HCS fired 42 IT techs,  and only kept the HCS techs that were actually HCS employees. Why? Because the finance department didn't increment the raises as they were supposed to for the teachers. Who by the way teachers absolutely need raises. But they gave it in one sum and then they couldn't take it back so their solution in a one-to-one district was not to cut the pay of anybody who worked downtown or not create more departments for people downtown or for principals who can't be principals and move them downtown like they just did with Collins. It was to fire 42 people so that the schools didn't have tech in the schools for middle and elementary. The librarians would have to become the techs. Only high Schools got experienced techs. Grissom and Huntsville went down to one tech per school! 

You can't be a one-to-one school district and not have techs  in every school.It didn't work so two years ago they went back to ignite which is where they get their techs now. They went back to ignite and they hired tech so these tech now rotate each tech does two schools unless of course you're a Huntsville City School tech then most of you are in the high school. Let me give you an example Columbia high School system tech  had enough for the bullshit. So she retired because she had the time Columbia high School now gets a ignite tech twice a week. Think about that twice a week for a high school.

Last year one of the techs was moved to Lee high School for one month as a punishment for complaining  the images that they were putting on the computers for high school weren't correct. During that time an email went out from Rhonda childress who is in charge of I think her title is the end user coordinator or something like that and it said that starting October 11th everyone you know to report 40 hours a week.This was to better facilitate helping people in the buildings. Teachers weren't sure if this was for HCS employees or just Incite people. They were told it was just Ignite. Techs have been asking for years to be 40 hours a week and to work longer than 9 months, techs can't do that. Ignite people are making more than HCS employees even with less experience. It's not fair.

I know you need teachers at Farley I was at Farley for a few years and I know some amazing teachers there who are struggling with whether or not to contact you. But let me tell you something Farley was an amazing school until Dawn Ashley became the principal. There's a question there I know but I can't answer that for you until I can get my friends to talk to you. 

So, I took the first step to talk to you and trust you because they're not going to talk to you unless they can trust you. Thank you for listening. 

XXXXXX

This is a lot. I had a complaint from a librarian who said, "Why are librarians having to do the IT jobs?" This explains it.

CFOs? The Architect (my best source downtown) has me clued in and if you ever get to the point that you trust me enough to give me an interview, I'll get the information.

I am going to propose something. I am going to send an email to brigid.benincasa@usdoj.gov

I will CC you on it. She is a DOJ lawyer who I trust with every fiber of my being. The District can’t come at me because I am reporting accurate information and they know I’m reporting to the DoJ.

What we are doing is working.

The stuff you have is incredibly damning to the District. I haven't heard anything about Dawn Ashley, but it sounds like I need to start a file on her. I have several schools that I don't have teachers at, and hers is one of them. Please encourage the teachers there to reach out to me. If they want to create an anonymous email and send it, that's fine. Have them create an anonymous email and say "This is what I know is going on at _________." I will send it to the DoJ without names so they know.

So here's a possible solution.

I am going to send your email above to my contacts at the DOJ. I am going to tell Brigid Benincasa to look for your email. She will not be able to write anything back except "Thank you for providing this information" but it will be seen by everyone on the case.

If either of you want a direct line to Brigid, email her at Brigid.benincasa@usdoj.gov

If you are okay with saving a copy of the email you send to her, keep it in a file somewhere and if you are ever comfortable sharing it with me, send it to me so I can put it with the other 692 files I have on HCS.

The benefit of contacting her is that as soon as you do, you become a confidential informant for this investigation. If the DOJ uses your information, there is no fucking way that either of you will be retaliated against (see: Finley's 'retirement'). I would love to see all the information you send them, but the most important thing is that we get the information up there. 

My goal is for the DoJ to come down and take over the District. I want some people to lose their jobs and I want Leverette and James to get arrested for not reporting the assault in direct violation of the Mandatory reporting laws for educators.

Any time either of you want to talk, this is my number:

256.694.5129

Thank you so much for your help, we couldn't do this without you.

OB

-------------------------

XXXXXXX

Stated at Providence Middle school, no longer there.

Funneled kids to Williams and the kids went to Chapman. 2010-2011

Chapman 2011-2021…tapped out before Collins came in. Left because Cummings was there.

I was scared to go there b/c of its reputation. Chapman and McNair were the schools no one wants to work at. Glen Bryant was principal. He said to her “we are starting w/ a blank slate.” Providence principal made Julie’s life a “living hell”…Leverette was horrible.

Backdating things is common…I threw out all the stuff I had because it was traumatic.

Discipline was horrible. We had a lot of new principals. After Bryant left. He said that he was documenting everything to get us fired.

Paula Thompson (FIND HER) was a good principal. Someone wrote a letter and sent it to Central Office. Security didn’t do anything. SROs and nurse having an affair. After the letter, they shuffled everybody. The nurse left and they moved people around.

Julie Boissel (awesome in the letter so she stayed) currently at Huntsville Jr. She is a good administrator but her hands were tied. It trickles down…threatening teachers for write-ups.

They would try to talk you out of doing a discipline referral. The way it was explained, once it’s put in then it was up to the principal. Then they had to deal with it. So they would come reverse it. Even if it’s a fight. They would say “They were just playing”…A friend was told that she would not be tenured if she had too many BLOOMs (Lester—at Madison Cty).

Serious write up she didn’t do. Vaping in the bathroom, or smoking pot in the bathroom. When you write them up they don’t do anything and it looks bad on you.

Administrators changed the text. I had an administrator went in and changed what I had written. The BLG is very specific. But punishment is very subjective. Certain terminology will result in severe punishment. Changing wording from “fight” to “Horseplay.”

Security wouldn’t break up fights. They would let them fight. One security guard said he had a bad back. One security guard never left the office. One was a tiny woman who never left the office. You couldn’t get security to answer the phone half the time. I had to send students to go get security because they wouldn’t answer

They would post write ups at faculty meetings (Dent, Principal)…Barnes, number of write ups. Listed by names. Good job, Steve, for not having a lot of BLOOMS. They would also project test data to publicly shame or embarrass or influence the teacher to change the data.

Not the name, but there was only one seventh grade teacher. BLOOM would be up there and they would make you feel bad.

Everything is about manipulating data.

Grade Inflation

We were always encouraged to pass everyone. Kids who didn’t do any work were given passing grades. Teachers were blamed if kids failed. They would blame teachers.

EVERYONE HAD TO PASS…

I was never allowed to assign a failing grade. They would be failing until report card time, then they would pull you in and say pass them.

ATTENDANCE

Chapman is bad at attendance.

Kids were zoned for McNair and went to Chapman with fake documentation. People knew but they wouldn’t do anything about it. Many of these were behavior issues.

The times I tried to report it, they said “don’t worry about it.”

About to be expelled, so they moved them to Chapman. All behavior started over.

The new teachers wouldn’t be able to see previous BLOOM.

I didn’t put in for transfer because I didn’t think I would get it.

I avoided Tasheria. She doesn’t do anything. I avoided her at all costs.

I got a job as a Curriculum Specialist, I turned it down b/c LEverrette was principal.

Leverette wrote my friend up a bunch of times…for bullshit. Or she would (Lindsey) say that she asked Lindsey to do something to get paper on her. When Leverette didn’t do something, she would blame Lynsie Lamitie for dropping the ball.

At Chapman, Cummings was writing everyone up for bullshit.

Two poisonings at Chapman…

Teacher got a TBI…for breaking up a fight. District wouldn’t pay her medical bills. Julie Boissel.

I left education because I was tired of feeling ineffective, useless, bullied, blamed, gaslit.

ONE MORE THING

The eighth grade wing at Chapman had a courtyard with barbed wire on top. Gate was locked with a padlock. Only gate. We shared our concerns with administration. From the eighth grade hall that was the fastest way out. Kids noticed and they were concerned. It was the most depressing

Two things: David Grimes (bookkeeper). He got removed for allegedly doing something inappropriate with a student. He disappeared. The first year Cummings was there (2018-2019) giving money to teachers for clubs that the school didn’t have…So no club, but the teachers were paid anyway. Nepotism.

We had two kids had sex in a classroom during class. The teacher was an idiot. We were getting the bottom of the barrel.

---------------------------

Lee High School: Principal Tony Woods

Mar 14, 2023, 5:34 PM (1 day ago)

to me

This happened in October of 2022. I didn’t share at first because I was afraid of retribution, but I need this to be heard.

I got called into his office for an “unofficial” meeting. I believe it was unofficial because this meeting had nothing to do with any specific thing I am or am not doing in my classroom but instead focused on why I “don’t look like I want to be here.”

I want to preface by saying this:

For the entire school year so far (and last year, but this year has been worse), most teachers at my school (Lee HS) have been struggling with issues relating to inadequate EL supports and resources, feeling overwhelmed and stressed with the increasing amount of responsibilities, and also adapting to challenge of student behavior this year (I will send a separate email about these issues). Most teachers in my building (I know because I have spoken with most of them) are feeling the same as I am: overwhelmed, burnt out, and ignored by district and admin altogether (except my assistant principals - they are well-meaning and help as much as they can). I’ve begun feeling more depressed lately, but I still show up every day for my students because I care deeply about their education and them as individual people who need love and support from caring educators.

On a Sunday, I received an email from my principal (Tony Woods) asking me to meet with him during my planning period. I actually had to contact the administrative assistant to have her set up a meeting reminder, though I am unsure why I was the one who had to do this, as this meeting was not by my request. There was no context or explanation as to why my principal wanted to meet.

Wednesday, I met with him during my planning period. The meeting began with Mr. Woods informing me that I am “not the same Ms. xxxxx that they hired. I agreed with him and began explaining why I felt that way. I explained that I am incredibly stressed and don’t feel that I’m given all the tools to do my job effectively. I won’t go into every single detail, but I was interrupted several times and when I asked to be allowed to finish speaking, he said I was “getting an attitude.” When I said a curse word out of frustration when describing my struggles in my classroom (while visibly crying), he said I was “disrespectful.” He also mentioned several times that there were “other candidates” available for my job. Abruptly, he told me the meeting was just done and asked me to leave his office. No concrete examples of things I’m doing or not doing in my classroom were given. The meeting had absolutely nothing to do with the requirements of my job as stated in my contract. Instead, it was about how I just seem like I don’t want to be there. Every evaluation from my assistant principals has included specific feedback on areas I can improve in, but they have also consistently told me I am doing my job well. My head principal had not been in my classroom to observe at all prior to this unofficial meeting. Only several weeks later did he observe me for less than ten minutes, and I never received any feedback about that observation.

Last month, Mr. Woods commented to me that I seemed to be “doing better,” which I interpreted to mean my attitude and cheerful demeanor were back to levels he was comfortable with. Unfortunately though, the problems I was going through earlier in the year have only persisted and grown worse. I did make a conscious effort after that meeting with him to smile more and pretend that things are not as bad as they are, but I have been struggling with depression and anxiety made worse by a chaotic and unsupportive school environment.

I’ll be sending another email with more soon.. there is just so much.

-----------------------

The DoJ should also investigate why Hovet Dixon is allowed to use the HPD as a private law enforcement tool, to have parents arrested when they come to school with valid complaints about the safety of their children. Mr. Dixon had a trespass warrant sworn against a parent by a friend in the HPD who wasn’t on the campus when the alleged incident happened. Mr. Dixon did not follow Board policy and notify them, nor did he notify anyone else at the school. Charges have still not been dropped.

SPED Violations

The Huntsville City School District is so far out of compliance on SPED, that if you go into any Title I school, you will almost certainly find multiple violations:

Examples:

⦁ Montview: girl with 45 IQ dumped off at Dr. Scott’s direction. Girl had a black eye when parents picked her up, and neither her full time aide, nor the teacher could tell how she got it. She is non-verbal. The solution was to put her in a regular classroom at Montview, with the same SPED aide that didn’t know how she got a black eye. Also, according to a witness at that school, the girl had gotten out of the school and the parents weren’t notified because Dr. Scott, “Didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

⦁ Highlands: Self-contained, long term sub. All of the students have different needs and the long-term sub doesn’t have the training. One hour of speech per week (pull out) is all they are getting.

⦁ Rolling Hills: They did not have a dedicated SPED teacher in the building AT ALL last year, except for the last month when they hired a new teacher. I think they did that just to get those end of the year IEP’s written. Those students went most of the year without getting their services. I heard that they were being pulled for their services, but I don’t know if that is true or by whom they were supposedly pulled.

⦁ Morris Elementary: Students not allowed out of their self-contained classrooms, despite it being in their IEPs that they were allowed to go to Specials.

⦁ Providence Elementary: Principal tells teacher “Don’t suggest to the parent that the child should be tested, if we have too many SPED students, we’ll get sued.”

⦁ “We can’t give you services until your child is failing all their classes.” MK folder.

______________________________________

I just read all this and really hope you aren’t a scammer trying to “catch” us complaining. There is so little time to teach. As you said, we do not get PE breaks. I once went three weeks without a PE break due to data meetings, PST meetings, IEP meetings, conferences, etc. I now get up super early just to work on school work. I spend most Saturdays either at school or working from home to catch up.

Lots of teachers are trying to juggle family life too. Many are single moms trying to provide on a teacher’s salary. Some can’t take an additional job because an increase in finances is a reduction in financial aide (I experienced that with our PD bonuses last year). How many teachers have their own children on AllKids/reduced lunch? How many teachers refuse to send their own children to a Huntsville City School?

This all started with Wardinsky and it hasn’t been repaired. Just look at the difference in the salaries and manpower in the Central Office since his destruction of our system. We need less “support” from downtown and the ability to simply teach. We used to be a powerhouse! When the laptops/Wardinsky came, it went to pot. Elementary children do not need laptops. It is a distraction and a constant battle. If students are working independently on an assignment, we can’t take the tiny moment and grade a stack of papers because we have to be on GoGuardian monitoring if the student is on the correct webpage. The district monitors which programs we use and we have received an email complaining that we don’t use GoGuardian enough. Where was training? The previous monitoring system was replaced with GoGuardian…we are expected to watch training videos or read manuals on our own time to learn these new programs. Downtown is constantly monitoring what we do. When we had to use the program “Freckle” we would get emails stating how many minutes our students were on Freckle…gee…don’t you have a better use of your time?

Then there are the cellphone requirements! We have to have Microsoft Teams on our phones for emergencies. Those emergencies consist of personal messages about fund raisers for teacher’s own children, pictures, and random thoughts that we are responsible for sifting through and knowing important information. “I didn’t know” is often followed up with “It was on teams!” Now we are supposed to put another emergency app on our phone called Raptor. We aren’t allowed to use the school Wi-Fi for our phones, so this costs us data out of our own pockets. Not everyone can afford unlimited data. The first two months of school I went over on data so I rebelled about the Raptor App and was told I could use my laptop. I don’t want to carry my laptop around all day just in case of an emergency. What about field trips? I won’t have Wi-Fi on a field trip.

I love my students and I love teaching. It is the only career I want, but I am tired. I am worn out. I want a job that I can do only at work. My own children suffer. My son actually said to me after his football game, “You weren’t even watching! You were grading papers!” I told him I was and that I saw him play middle linebacker, but he corrected me…it was outside linebacker…LOL.

Why don’t I join HEA or AEA? I don’t want another bill. I don’t want to be told who to vote for. We need an advocate that wants to save us from drowning. If this is truly you…I am thankful. If this is phishing and I lose my job…I’ll figure it out.

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External] employment information

11:34 AM (45 minutes ago)

to doctor.ob.1970@gmail.com

Hello.  I was employed as a licensed sign language interpreter with HCS and it was definitley a tumultous experience which ended with my termination for shady reasons.

1. Chaffee Elementary Jan-May 2016.  I was in a 1st grade classroom with Keri Green as the teacher.  There were 3 hard of hearing students with an aide and 1 deaf student.  We were told repeatedly we were not to speak, which is necessary for hard of hearing students.  Also, after each standardized testing (I was there for February, and May) she would sit all the students on the carpet and display all students scores on the Promethian board.  She would berate the students for not showing enough growth.  even students who were ahead of grade level.  I brought these to the attention of the Deaf Education teacher, Jordan Klepin, who did nothing.  I then brought it to the psychomatrist who hired me, my immediate supervisor, Dr.Deana Holloway, again, nothing was done.

2.  2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years I was at Huntsville High School.

       Why is the Dean of Students, Mark Fleetwood, who is an administrator, permitted to "double dip" as head football coach, which is against AHSAA and AL Dept of Ed regulations?  When he was hired, he told me he did not have his EDS, but was hired primarily as head coach.  He was recruited and hired by Principal Arron King, without board approval (for which he got a slap on the hand), his starting salary was over $90K with a perk of a brand new pick-up truck for being the head football coach.  I am not sure what his salary is now but he received all of the supplements and bonuses for the secondary position.

    My first year was uneventful and fine.

    Second year, in the main building, I worked with Renee Redfield, a collaborative teacher.  I observed her repeatedly, in place of teaching, actually giving students answers for homework.  She would project these on the board, and when I told her I wanted to re-teach it to my students (which is what I was hired to do, re-teach and tutor), I was told there wasnt time and "copying is a skill they need to learn".

    I also had conversations with Mrs Redfield regarding some students who were failing and she would commment, I will just give them a passing grade.  She had been disciplined for this before, but insisted it is part of her job.

    Mrs. Redfield would pull her caseload from various classes for testing in her room, and I had observed her giving answers to the students.  I reported this to my supervisor again with no actions taken.

    Mrs. Redfield, on one occasion, was giving a geometry test, and again giving the answers, because I was friends with the geometry teacher, Taylor Mendenhall, I excused myself from the room, went and told Miss Mendenhall. She caught Mrs. Redfield with the answers projected on the board.  Again, nothing was done.

3. Dr. Holloway had reqeusted I come to Central Office to discuss student needs and help her write a grant.  I do not remember the date but I believe it was fall of 2016.  We discussed all of the students at Chaffee and Huntsville High School that I was personally familiar with, all of the equipment they needed.  The state grant was attached to specific student needs.  The audiologist, Dr. Katherine Bouma, was also included in this grant for all other students in HCS.  In Spring, when I questioned Dr. Holloway about the grant, she was excited we won it but when asked later about when our students would receive new equipment, I was told "the funds were used elsewhere".  Total fraud. 

4. . As a parent of my third child at Huntsville High School, my son definitley had a different experience with Arron King and Kerri Filippo at the helm. 

    My son was in AP Literature and the teacher, Beth Clark, was/is the assistant cheer coach.  My son came home repeatedly complaining they were not learning anything, "the teacher was busy with cheer stuff".  After her was accused of plagerism with the use of Turn-it-In website, I met with both Mrs. Filippo and Mrs. Clark.  At the end of the report, it explains where all the sources came from and % from each one.  Mrs. Clark, in error, did not even bother to read his paper, which DID have quotes and sources, they were just not very well cited, or formated incorrectly.  She admitted she never read it, just looked at the report.  Neither Mrs. Filippo nor Ms. Clark would allow him to fix his incorrect citations, they gave him a zero for the assignment and formal write up in Bloom. 

    A few weeks later, with my son still complaining of no teaching, I pulled the AL course of study, as well as the pacing guide for the AP Literature class, and requested a meeting with my son, Mrs. Clark and Mr. Fleetwood was assigned as admin.  It was confirmed in this meeting that NONE of the items had yet been taught that should have been.  Fleetwood said he would speak to her privately and "straighten it out".

    Again, a few weeks later, I requested a meeting with administration regarding this same class and Mrs. Filippo was assigned.  I was told all about her degrees (I had yet to finish mine adn was still at UAB), and berrated about how she was qualifed to determine what is being taught is approriate, I was also informed how "Mr. Fleetwood apprised her of the previous meeting where I screamed and yelled at him and Mrs. Clark".  Needless to say, since I was employed there, I denied the accusations and left the meeting knowing nothing would be done.  Mrs. Filippo and Mrs. Clark are person friends.

In May, I was told I was terminated due to Principal King personally requesting me to not return and I was a "trouble maker".

You should reach out to Miss Mendenhall and Sandra Coughenour, they have been the brunt of Arron King, and Mark Fleetwood's male chauvinist, and unacceptable antics, for YEARS.  They filed multiple complaints over the years.  Also Dr. Graciella Bryant was removed from the head XC/track position for Arron King's favorite, Blake Borden.  Blake pitted the boys against the girls, I brought this to Mr. Fleetwood's attention with the attached messages which had been sent to the boys XC private messaging group, one from a parent, and one from Borden himself.  I was told there's nothing they can do.  There is A LOT of nepotism and threatening activity that happend to Coach Bryant, including threats to her children, which forced her to resign. 

You should also reach out to Dr. Deana Holloway, who is now in private practice, she filed ethical reports  with AEA and was verbally assaulted by Peggy Long on numerous occasions.  Dr. Katherine Bouma is also in private practice and has many facts of illegal and unethical activity.

Former HCS AEA rep, Adam Keller might also be able to fill you in on hundreds of employee complaints, including his own personal experiences.

I hope this is helpfu, and please keep my contact and personal inforamtion confidential.  Attached you will find the messages noted previously.

-------------------------------

xxxxxxx Narrative

Phone interview 4.15.23 (OB and xxxxxx)

Harrassed by Helen Scott for two years (Scott’s position) director early learning department (pre-K)

Pre-k mostly typically developing.

Hereford moved…

Moved because (20 pages of documentation)

When She came to Sonny Hereford in front of all three classes of children all of the aides

She chewed me out (Helen Scott) she wouldn’t let me speak. I could not speak. She hushed me every time I started to respond. The next week she told me how disappointed she was with me for my reaction to a parent. She said “I got you your job”…chewed me out. Documented in a 20 page document. Michael Hambrick (supported her 100%)..he’s retired.

Helen Scott chewed me out and then expected me to be happy…I called my principal and said I have to go home. He was supportive.

Meet me in your room. We were in there and he walked in with Finley and Scott. They looked at the video and saw what I was saying was true.

xxxxx went into her classroom and printed out 19 pages, and said, “This is the harassment I have dealt with for a year.” They said, “nobody should be bullied or harassed. If it happens again, contact me (Tim Scott).

Anthony Davidson (worked with Helen Scott)…in the meeting I was chewed out at. Did nothing to support me. Finley, tim, hambrick, charla…meeting. Skimmed through it. Listened and filed with Shirley Wellington. Pulled her key privilege (H. Scott) and then Charla thought it was good and she felt safe

Called for a pre-K meeting…Charla said, “I don’t have to go to a meeting with her.” Scott said, “she’s your superior, you have to go to the meeting.” Wellington is your reporter.

The next thing I know, Anthony Davidson is now her principal. She had no protection. One of the people who had been harassing Charla is now her boss. Spent the next year (2021-2021) under his leadership. I was in constant fear. He allowed Helen Scott to come into the building

It was microagressions…

Example: When they decided the preK department had to meet with teachers and new aides (zoom) to discuss things, like roles and expectation…we had a zoom meeting: Aide, Helen Scott, Dothard, Charla

In a zoom and Helen Scott says to the aide: I want you to know that if you have any concerns or any questions, you can contact us or Ms. Greene or someone in my office. Two years prior to the incident that caused her to turn on me. Favoritism

SCHISM

xxxx got a job at Hereford. Since I have been working at HCS, I’ve been taken advantage of, lied to, and abused. This is my 15th year. This has been the most horrific experience of my life.

Niece was a pre-k teacher forced her to move to another school. She was pissed. The pre-K teacher next door treated me horribly, mean girl stuff. They would buy shirts that matched that didn’t have a shirt. They would have parties for their team, and not tell us. They didn’t tell me. This went on…I said, “Y’all tell me about that so my kids don’t feel left out.” They never would. They had a Christmas party with matching shirts. Aide said, “Why didn’t you come to the xmas party? Why don’t you have a shirt?” I said, “I didn’t know about a Christmas party, and we exchanged gifts.” Ms. Greene said, “You didn’t want to participate.” Greene is the other teacher who pissed her best friend got transferred…

Greene and I get along together…two years in which it got better. We got over…Greene was the one that was the catalyst. Drove a wedge between Charla and the others. “I felt so isolated.”

Until December…the day we got out for xmas holiday. After I found out about the gift exchange and the party…Charla was pissed that Greene told everyone that Charla didn’t want to participate. So Charla said something to them: Friday before xmas, during lunch. Went to Ms. Greene and said, “We need to talk.”

I have to tell you, I need to tell you how hurt I am about all the exclusion. Matching shirt, I wasn’t asked. “Well you weren’t here.” (Greene) Gaslighting, again…

“I’m here, you can always get in touch with me. And then to not be invited to the Xmas party. And they you told them I didn’t want to participate. I need you to know that it really hurt me.”

When it was over, I felt better because I got it out. Greene’s aide came in. She said, “I have a bone to pick with you. You’re never here after school.” Call the Gonzalez, Miss G.

Incredible aide. She’s really good. She instigated a lot of abuse with me via ms. Greene…they excluded me to get power. Total mean girl.

Hambrick held a meeting with us. “Do you think you have the relationship with Ms. Smith that you think you can say ‘I have a bone to pick with you’ in your current position?” She said, “No, I don’t.”

I was afraid of her fighting me, she is 30 years younger than me. Hambrick said, “you don’t have the authority to talk to her about this.” We had a meeting about this after break. Hambrick: I expect this to be a family and for us to treat us with respect.”

That made it worse…

I wanted to know what I had done that had offended her. She said I said, “that she shouldn’t have to spend her own money on the kids.” This is what pissed off Gonzalez. G thought that I meant that she didn’t have money.

Broke my ankle, and I had to stand on the scooter and they wouldn’t let me sit. Jesus, fucking mean girls.

Scott is pissed that she didn’t talk to her. She felt betrayed.

Humiliation after humiliation, abuse, and abuse and abuse. I was scheduled to go to Orlando. I was told that I could not go. No reason given. Specialist said, “you’ll have to talk to ms. Scott”

Part II

I was applying to jobs at the state. Suicidal ideations. Terrified every day for my job. Now my tormentor. I put in for a transfer.

Tasheria worked hard for her. “I’ll tell you when to apply.” All summer I got no calls. By the last day of school, Hereford teachers were all leaving. I didn’t even get a call.

Lee kept putting her off. Transfer window closed and I was not allowed to transfer. Told Lee that I’m sick of this and it’s making me want to leave.

Thursday before school, “Is it true that when principals they are required to interview all five.” Lee confirmed that they had to interview.

xxxxxx said, “I know you didn’t give my name to the principal.

Faculty meeting, be careful what you say because you have to follow FERPA. It’s what they’re saying to teachers. Michelle said she would help. Don’t quit, I’ll help.

MW said “Principals can ask for you.” The night before school starts, I resigned.

5:45 a.m. MW says “Go back online, we have openings.” I quit and felt free for the first time.

Michelle Watkins told me please don’t quit.

Ridgecrest…O’Bradovich (she’s respectful). She’s tried her best to support teachers. O’Bradovich “Would you please go back online and reapply? I can’t say anything else.” At 2:00 I had zoom interview with O’B and I got a job.

I’m being treated just as badly…By Amanda Dotson, second grade teacher on your team. She won’t look at you, she barely talks to me. She is good friends with Ms. G. Other teachers have said, “What’s up with you two?”

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Columbia Experience

to me

I worked at CHS for three years. The first red flag was the interview in October that felt more like me being begged to accept the job and how it was good even as a temporary thing, etc. I wanted back into education and despite everything I heard, I accepted the job. Let me start by saying most of the co-workers I had there were wonderful. They are a big reason I stayed. During my time there, we had multiple principals. My second year Mr Porter gave me an improvement plan with no warning on the last day of school citing classroom management issues despite me never being in trouble or having been given warnings. They had never spoken to me or helped me in any way. I later was told by another teacher they use these plans to fire people, but I was clueless at the time and believed them when they told me how it was to help support me. The next year, we had a new principal. I was never observed. Nothing in the plan was followed. Again, I was never in trouble. The principal quit due to the hostile work environment along with the new AP by Christmas. The third principal was awful. He never was seen around school, never observed me, etc. He gave me my pink slip the last day of school and was cruel to me about it despite not knowing me or observing me. I can assume this was due to my getting tenure if they kept me for this year. He also referred to students as thugs during a staff meeting. This was my first public school experience but I was never given any support. All of my students were way below grade level despite being in HS but I was forced to teach texts way above their grade level. 80% easily of my students refused to do work. Even if I went over the answers and wrote them on the board, most kids would not write them down. They never had enough sped teachers and the ones they had were given insane caseloads and were never able to support us in the classroom, so SPED kids were not getting whay they needed and we were verbally made to pass them pretty much no matter what. Truancy was also a nightmare. These kids would miss so much school and never do anything they missed. When grades were due, we were verbally told to pass the kids. Grade inflation there is SO BAD. The good kids who do their work are basically A and B students whereas at a better school, they would likely be D students.  We were told that if kids didn't pass, it would make us look bad, etc. This was especially true with the students with IEPs. They were expected to pass even if they made zero effort. The honors classes were honors only in name. They had practically no one sign up for them so they just threw kids in there due to high class numbers, so id have maybe a few who were even at grade level and the rest were severely below grade level. 

Kids did drugs in the hallway and bathroons. The hallways smelled like marijuana and/or cigarettes almost every day. We had multiple SROs but they always stood downstairs by the trophy case despite knowing the bathrooms often had major issues. My classroom was upstairs and we had kids wandering the halls all the time up there, fighting, and doing drugs. Still, no SROs did anything to prevent this. They were never upstairs monitoring hallways and doing bathroom checks. When fights happened, they would usually be over by the time SROs finally came from downstairs. Usually a student or teacher would have to break it up, putting themselves in danger. I had a student put marijuana in a piece of paper and light it in my room. I called security. By the time they came, the student had already ran to the bathroom and flushed it. The scent was obvious and we all saw him do it, but I was told they could not do anything because he did not have anything on him. I was a great teacher who workef my butt off. I almosy never missed school and was a caring, dedicated employee. I was fired because I cared. I was fired because I asked the tough questions. I was fired because of "classroom management issues" aka Blooming kids who deserved it for disrupting my class. My classes were huge, easily 30+ kids and I was lucky if 6 of them behaved and listened. My job became far more about putting out fires than actually teaching. I felt like a prison guard, but I stayed because I loved my students and it seemed like all the good ones left. Leaving ended up being a blessing in disguise as my mental health was terrible while working there. It is hard to describe everything I went through and saw there, but I appreciate and respect what you are doing snd pray it brings change. The kids there who want to learn are robbed of an education by the state forcing us to keep kids in a classroom who refuse to respect authority and do nothing but disrupt classes every day. It is not fair or right. I have 27 years left in this job, and I hope more than anything that this field improves soon. Teachers deserve better and so do the students. Most people would not BELIEVE what they would see in those classrooms. I often wished I wore a body cam so people would see the way we were treated and the behavior we had to deal with on a daily basis. It is disgusting that if a teacher complained or asked for assistance, they were blamed for the issue instead. There is a history teacher at CHS now that misses work multiple times a week, never teaches, and I have heard has been drunk at work but he has remained on staff all year despite that. There is so much to say, but I will leave it at that. 

Good luck with wht you are doing. God bless you. I have left the district but still am nervous sending this as you never know who you may see again in this field... I was told by a trusted individual that you could be trusted to keep this anonymous. Thank you.