Hi teachers. I’m doing this for you. Please get ready to stand with your colleagues, because I want off this rollercoaster. Please see that I have done my very best to protect you from these LoE people who have caused you trauma. All of your voices will be heard, and it will be therapeutic for a lot of us. Stand together. Demand change. Here are some emails I have sent to help.
True story: My two allies hated my emails. I wrote every word on purpose and saved every one hoping that one day I could post them publicly. Remember when Tim Scott said, “I’ll die on this hill, I’m a data guy?” I said, “Then I’m going to bludgeon you to death with your own weapon, data.” I said this with a syrupy smile on my face and with no malice in my voice.
If I had time and peace, I could write a 700 page report on this stuff. No one would read it. But if I use recordings of real voices, THEN maybe people will listen. That’s coming next. Real voices from the teachers and parents. Read my emails and see that I have been trying my hardest to help.
________________________________________________
Update
Jason O'Brien <doctor.ob.1970@gmail.com>
8:08 PM (15 minutes ago)
to Carlos.Mathews, andrea.alvarez, Holly, Michelle, ryan.renaud@hsv-k12.org
I'm not sure what you think is happening, but I feel like it's important for all of you to know.
1. See the attachment. In case any of you want to vilify me, I asked Finley to bring me in (see the attachment).
2. We have some serious problems. I offered to talk to all of you. You listened to Chris Pape. I said I was advocating for teachers and students and you shut me down.
3. I REALLY wanted McNair, because I knew how bad the kids had it there and I figured if I was there and got to help faculty, EVERY child in that school would have felt seen by at least one adult.
4. I now have people all over the District watching everything. Retired employees who got shafted, a source I call "the Historian" who retired under W but who had decades of knowledge of the inner workings of the District.
5. Lanier Ford is using public funds like an ATM, to funnel millions of dollars into the coffers of mainly three people. Glen Clayton, Byron Hendricks, and Jason Taylor. Remember him? Wardynski disciple, left under a cloud of ethics complaints.
6. Ryan, Andrea, and Michelle, I need three votes. Lanier Ford is gone. In-house legal. Next superintendent MUST come from outside.
7. Stop staying in vacation properties that aren't single occupancy. It's a violation of Board Policy. I will make a BIG deal out of this.
8. Because I can't trust any of you to clean up the system, I am going to do it for you. Facebook membership has doubled today, and as soon as Megan Plotka gets the story of the unreported rape out (Andrea, I have confirmed, from the victim that neither DHR nor HPD was told).
9. What is going to happen over the next few weeks is a logical consequence of your actions. You were elected to the Board to serve children and parents. Instead, you are serving the Committee of 100.
10. Andrea and Holly, I knew before you two did that your visit to finance was going to be cancelled. There was no Christmas party at the time they scheduled your visit. They didn't want you poking around asking questions unsupervised. Have you two rescheduled that visit? Please do, and ask this question: When Appleton took over the afterschool program, there was approximately $1.1 million in cash reserves for the programs. Glen Clayton and Appleton came in and within five years, the balance in that account was $40,000. Where did the money go? The law firm who wrote the contract for the District did not include snacks or nurses or SPED personnel for students with special needs. The only reason I knew about this is because I wrote an article on it (it's attached). Lanier Ford represented BOTH Glen Clayton and HCS, and in that dispute, the solution was to shift more than $1,000,000 in taxpayer money to Glen Clayton's coffers. Ask someone to tell you which companies the District deals with are either owned by Jason Taylor, Byron Hendrick, or Glen Taylor. Then notice that they all have the same law firm. Then look at the amount of money that the District spends on legal fees. Then look at what Birmingham pays ($180K). Then look at Lanier Ford's $1.4 million PPP loan that was forgiven. Lanier Ford helped A LOT of people get PPP loans...also, ask Christie what Achievement Plus is...it's very suspicious.
11. I'm going to ask you all to respectfully stay out of what happens next, because it isn't going to be pretty. I have enough on every one of them to get some fired and a couple arrested.
Sutton
Dixon
Leverette
James
Worshim
Graham
Woods
Tomorrow, I'm going to tell the public what Mr. Dixon has been up to since Michelle Reed has left. I only mention her name because I have voice recordings from FACULTY meetings of Mr. Dixon saying she was "telling lies on me down at the District." These recordings were a month after she left. I know he called a friend in HPD to swear out the trespass, I know that the officer was never on site on the day the warrant was sworn, I know the Board didn't know, and I am going to make sure everyone knows.
Then I'm going to ask him to explain why Michelle's BLOOM wouldn't work despite 12 unreturned emails. Then I'm going to ask you all to ask the IT person who fixed her account in less than an hour to explain what he did to fix it. Then I'm going to get Dr. Thomas to admit that Ms. Booker's children were repeatedly attacked and Mr. Dixon would not address the behavior. Multiple personnel at the school will testify that none of them knew there was a trespass warrant against Ms. Booker.
Or, you can drop the trespass charges against Ms. Booker.
I actually prefer that you don't have them dropped, because Ms. Booker's childrens' civil rights are being violated, and we are going to make a big deal out of this. The children in Michelle's old room STILL have a sub who isn't teaching them. They are not receiving a FAPE.
Michelle, I know you have spoken with Ms. Booker, now is the time to stand up and do what's right.
Please check www.rocketcityreckoning.com this weekend, I'm going to start showing you what Chris Pape's leadership has created.
OB
_______________________________________
I sent this one too: And for the record, Hovet Dixon’s rebuttal to all this was either “Jason O’Brien is racist for using white women to get him fired” or when he intimated in a social media post that Michelle and I were having an inappropriate relationship. Total ad hominem attacks. Meanwhile he’s driving on a suspended license for driving 80 in a 55 at 3:55 a.m. while texting, doesn’t pay the fine and has a warrant. He drove to school on a suspended license and got arrested. And he filed a false trespass warrant on a parent who was trying to defend her child from being attacked? None of that is normal, friends.
Here’s the email:
Case study and advice
Jason O'Brien <jlo0005@uah.edu>
Wed, Dec 7, 2022, 3:08 PM
to Carlos.Mathews, andrea.alvarez, Holly, Michelle, Ryan
Board members:
The attachment is the story of Michelle Reed. She graduated from UAH a few years ago and has taught at Highlands ever since. She's a good teacher who cares about her kids and who knows the importance of building relationships.
She didn't know I was on the DAC when she reached out to me, but I promised to help her. Basically, she had a little girl in her class (I have a valid educational interest in this, so I know the 10 year old's name, but I will refer to her as T).
Michelle called me and said that she that T had horrible trauma (apparently she was raped when she was 8 and is in an unstable home environment) that caused her to make really bad choices in class. She said that her principal, Mr. Dixon, was ignoring her requests and that she was worried about her safety and the safety of the other students in the class. Michelle said that she was so frustrated that she was going to have her mom call Chris Pape, because her mom knows him or some other connection). I could tell that Michelle was in bad shape. I knew that if it wasn't addressed, she was going to quit. I sent an email to Chris and he responded (it's in the attachment).
The following week, Michelle and I were in contact almost daily. Remember, this is the school that I went to and at which Dr. Thomas tried to tell me something but was stopped by Mr. Dixon.
Last night at the board meeting, Carlos said "If there is a student who is a threat, we will have that student removed" and then Carlos looked at Mr. Pape and said, "I know you don't like to hear that, but..." I actually almost stood up and interrupted because I had the attached document in my hand.
T brought a knife to school and it fell out of her bag. Another student saw it. Michelle didn't. The student reported it to Michelle and T confirmed that she had brought a knife to school. Nothing was done. Michelle couldn't even get the security guard to check T's bag each morning. Michelle was teaching in a constant state of fear for her students and herself. Michelle was watching the board meeting last night because she knew I was there and at the same time I wanted to tell Carlos that discipline was not being addressed, she typed:
"I want to sit down with Finley and the board. Whoever will listen. I don't want to yell I don't want to fight, but I need them to know that we as teachers watch these board meetings and want to call bullshit bc everything they are saying is not happening. Whether they know it or not. Principals like mine are hiding things so he doesn't look bad. I really would like to sit down with them."
Michelle typed up her letter of resignation and I talked her out of it. No matter what T did, Mr. Dixon was not willing to address the behavior. T's behavior was making it impossible for Michelle to teach the other kids. Her behavior (see the student writings about T in the attachment) was traumatizing the other kids and they were being exposed to talk about sex, rape, being "poly" (having multiple sex partners), and drugging candy in the class. At one point, when she didn't get her way, T walked around the class with a pencil and a sharpener glaring at Michelle. T wouldn't put down the pencil so Michelle made the kids get up until a security guard could come get the sharpened pencil away from her.
I told you all in the previous email that I know of at least six ways that administrators are gaming discipline numbers. This is Michelle's experience and I'm not making any accusations, but I will leave it up to you to file this away as POTENTIALLY one of the six methods.
Michelle's Bloom didn't work from the first day of school. She didn't tell me this until the 12th week of school. Here's a summary of field notes on our conversation:
OB: Why can't you get into Bloom?
M: When I go to log in, it says "Incorrect username/password"
OB: Wait, what? Your login is your login. Have you changed your password?
M: No. I've sent 12 emails to Mr. Dixon (she kept every one of them) and my AP (Dr. Thomas). None of them were ever answered.
OB: How did you get it working?
M: I sent an email (she has a copy) to the IT department downtown. I was fixed within an hour.
OB: It sounds like someone changed your password. Can administrators at your school change your password to lock you out of a program?
M: I have no idea, but I found out something else. Two other teachers were locked out of Bloom too.
OB: Tell me about the others
M: One was having really bad classroom management issues. She's a first year teacher. But they got her help and straightened out her management and then her Bloom worked.
OB: Let me guess, the other teacher was having management issues also?
M: Yes, but again, Mr. Dixon got her assistance and then it started working again.
OB: Michelle, have you considered that it was done by your principal to stop you from reporting T's behavior?
M: Yeah, but I didn't want to accuse him of something without proof
What Mr. Dixon did not know was that Michelle was documenting EVERYTHING. Unanswered emails, threats by T. She had students write about what they had witnessed T do in the classroom (see the attachment). She also recorded a meeting with Mr. Dixon, and she shared it with me.
One of the parents of a student in her class (Ms. Alicia Campbell) contacted Michelle because of the things that her son told her about T's threats. She was going to talk to Mr. Dixon so I said that I would act as her 'educational advocate.' On November 16th, I met her in the parking lot and we walked in the building to discuss what was going on. Mr. Dixon was out of town for a conference. When I came in, Dr. Thomas called Mr. Dixon immediately and said, "I don't feel comfortable having this meeting without the principal present." I agreed and she handed the phone to me. I spoke briefly with Mr. Dixon and agreed to meet with him the next day to discuss.
When the parent left, Dr. Thomas closed Mr. Dixon's door and said "I want to tell you some things, if that's okay." I said, "are you sure you want to do this here? We can meet off campus so no one knows we are talking."
She said something that I will never forget. She said, "Dr. O'Brien, Dr. Scott has stolen our peace. You know what happens when you put rats in a cage and randomly shock them? They start eating each other. That's what it's like now. We used to have peace and now it's constant chaos and everyone stabs everyone else in the back. The kids are crammed in here and it's not a good situation."
I was getting nervous because I know I'm being watched. Right on cue, her phone rang and it was Mr. Dixon. I said, "I gotta go." I opened the door and the office person was standing just outside it. The person said, "you were in there a long time." I lied and said, 'We have a friend in common." So someone in the office was watching and called Mr. Dixon to let him know we were talking.
I used Michelle to get another teacher's contact information from Highlands. The teacher spoke very candidly. She said one thing to me that I want all of you to read. She said, "Hovet walks around here saying 'I'm building a brand here, none of y'all is going to mess that up." I've never heard a principal talk about 'branding'...it's troubling. I did some investigating and Mr. Dixon was formerly a principal at Rolling Hills, was demoted to classroom teacher, got a lawyer and then was given Highlands. I don't know the circumstances of the Rolling Hills demotion, but I do know that Mr. Dixon is currently making $123,700, which is about 14K more than average for his degree and years of experience. Not making any accusations, just wanted to throw that out there.
So I went back to my office and rushed to type the email that is attached. I used the threat of the DoJ and cc'ed Chris Pape, because I was afraid that Michelle would be retaliated against. In the email, I wrote that I suggested that if T was not removed or an instructional aide was not placed in the room to monitor her, that Michelle should resign. I didn't think it would come to that. It did. Michelle resigned last week. When Michelle told her children she was leaving, Mr. Dixon found out and asked, "What are you trying to do, get the parents to sign a petition against me?" She never mentioned a petition and told the children that her leaving had nothing to do with anyone in the class. The kids know the truth, because they have suffered the same trauma as Michelle.
I have a 52 minute recording of Mr. Dixon minimizing the seriousness of T's behavior, and at times gaslighting Michelle for 'not doing enough work on her relationship with T." I didn't listen to all of it, because I was getting frustrated, but I did transcribe enough of it so that I know Mr. Dixon was pissed at me and Michelle. Mr. Dixon told Michelle, "My friend is working to get Dr. O'Brien off the DAC." I'm assuming she is referring to the fact that Chris Gregory and Hovet are friends. For the record, Mr. Gregory is not happy with some of the things I have done, but he has never interfered with my work, and we have an excellent working relationship. He and I have big plans if we can convince the District to listen.
The students in Michelle's class are all upset that she's leaving. One boy said to her, "who is going to keep us safe?" It breaks my heart. They began to make comments to T blaming her for Michelle leaving and so T became the victim. yesterday, Michelle sent me a recording of Dr. Thomas (which I'm happy to share once I get it off my phone). I will also share the 52 minute recording of Dixon's meeting with Michelle. I think it will be good for all of you to hear how he handled it.
I scanned the docs (into the attachment in this email) and have made a hard copy for Ms. Campbell to have. I encouraged her to talk to other parents with kids in Michelle's class, because if they all approach Mr. Dixon, he will have to do something.
Ultimately, nothing I did mattered. T is still in the class, security is still not consistently checking her bag for weapons, and she has had no consequences for her behavior. Most importantly, Michelle is leaving the field of education. She has a job which will pay her more money and she won't feel unsafe at work.
I'm asking all of you honestly: Do you agree with how I handled the situation? Ideally, in the future, the situation would have been handled so Michelle didn't resign. If something like this happens in the future, how should I handle it? Does the District not have the resources to provide an aide? Or is it that the District feels like it would be in violation of the Consent Decree for removing a black child from the regular education classroom?
If you want to give me feedback, hit 'reply to all' so we can all engage in a conversation about what I should do moving forward.
Also, if you want either of the voice recordings, I can put them on a flash drive and give them to one of you to share.
I have grading to catch up on and then I'm going home to not think about the DAC for a few hours. I'll check email in the morning (It's date night and I paced around my house for four hours last night writing emails to y'all...my wife threatened me that I need to 'get it all out' before she gets home).
Thank you, friends, for listening. I will await your responses.
OB
P.S. I would appreciate it if you don't confront Dr. Thomas about her comments regarding Dr. Scott...She was talking to me from the heart, and in theory, she's an informant for a DAC investigation, but she's a human who is in a tough situation. As for Mr. Dixon, feel free to share that I now have three teachers (in addition to Michelle) who are reporting to me from Highlands. If, at any point, a teacher reports that they are locked out of Bloom, I will immediately report it to the Board member responsible for Highlands (I think it's Carlos).
--
Jason L. O'Brien, Ph.D. (he/him)
Good teachers make their students feel seen.
-Jason O'Brien
————————————————————————————————————
At the end of the year, I knew who the real villains were, but I didn’t know how to get the principals to stop traumatizing teachers and students. So I had to poke the bear, only this time, really hard. I knew this was going to cause some backlash, but again, I’m telling the truth and these people are hiding the truth.
This is the email that scared the shit out of all of them. It also resulted in a meeting in which the principals were told that if they gave me information that they would be “taken out of the building in handcuffs.” Here’s the funny thing. In there, I said “Seven principals are talking to me”…I did it to sound official. I only had two principals that I had relationships that I had to record to get information out of them. Tight lipped are the administrators in HCS. I’m guessing the villains were all trying to figure out who was snitching.
(that was the point…i told you this is my game and that i push buttons)
That proves my point, huh? Why would you put someone in handcuffs for providing truthful information to me? Asymmetrical warfare. You can’t stop the flow of truthful information. The more the District cracks down, the more it makes people want to leave. When they leave, they can be 100% honest.
Here’s the email:
It's time
Jason O'Brien <doctor.ob.1970@gmail.com>
Thu, Apr 20, 2:33 PM
to Stewart.thorson, Tenisha.cummings, Laura.worshim, Lakeeisha.agun, Denine.matthews, Lisa.obradovich, Sherita.joiner, Dawn.ashley, Amber.thompson, Karen.melillo, Lisa.jones, April.clark, Frazier.barnes, Lakeeta.perkins, Jennifer.douthit, Evelyn.coffey, Paula.thompson, Hovet.dixon, Cherly.askew, Marcia.sutton, Sanchella.graham, Bradley.scott, Crystal.alexander, Cliff.porter, Donna.williams, Belissa.howard, carlita.collins@hsv-k12.org, Demetris.leverette, tony.woods, Jeanne.greer, Caroline.obert, Heather.white, Jamarious.harris, Maynard.james, Natalie.smith, Bo.coln, Linda.burruss, Whitney.steele, Taunya.smith, Heather.bardwell, Fisher.hedgeman, bcc:, bcc: Violet, bcc: Brigid, bcc: bcc: shaheena.simons
HCS Administrators,
I can't keep carrying all the trauma some of you are causing on parents and teachers. I have all of it in my mind and we have reached the point where I'm going to start naming names and I'm going to start daring you all to retaliate so I can dump everything publicly. When I do that, ALL of you are going to have to answer questions about your decision
Just so we are all on the same page, and this is a closed loop, let me tell you exactly where we're at currently.
Chris Pape and Lanier Ford have run the District since 1977. J.R. Brooks bragged up until a couple years ago that, "nothing gets on the Board agenda without my approval" (personal communication, The Architect, 11.23.22, call log).
Finley was chosen by the Committee of 100. Pam Hill basically called the board out on violating the state's open meetings law, but no one cared. After becoming superintendent her first priority was to compensate her two assistants, Tim Scott and Cathy McNeal. Scott got 14K and McNeal got 11K. According to Finley, it was because of all their 'hard work.'
Pape's main job is to protect the "Huntsville Brand." The number one priority is always "No bad press." His other main job is to ensure that the companies that the District buys their software from (BLOOM, LeanFrog, Renaissance Learning) are ALL owned by the same three people: Jason Taylor, Byron Hendricks, and Glenn Clayton. Glenn Clayton once called me "comrade" because I told him I didn't believe in privatizing education.
When Appleton (his company) was awarded the After school contract, there was never a bid. It was simply signed off on by Jason Taylor (who is now in business with Glenn Clayton).
When Appleton took the after school program, the district had a $1.1 dollar surplus in the after school account. Lanier Ford represents Glenn Clayton and wrote the contract between Appleton and HCS. When Clayton said, "The contract didn't specify that I had to pay for snacks or SPED aides" Lanier Ford (who represents both) said, "Just have the district cover it out of the general funds." Four years later that money was gone and the account number was changed. That represented a transfer of $1.1 million public dollars to a Lanier Ford client.
Lanier Ford attorneys represent the vendors AND the District. When contracts are supposed to be awarded to the lowest bidder, if it's not the 'preferred' vendor, Pape will come up with a legal justification such as, "They're not a member of the Chamber of Commerce."
Why are SPED services so bad? Because there is no incentive to pay for them, because they are expensive. You all have SPUR SPED aides who make 11.00/hr and who have very little invested in the job. There is high turnover and many of these aides get hurt by students.
Remember that only 7% of the district's black children are on level in math? Do you see the feedback loop here? The students from the title I schools graduate with poor skills and get stuck in the worst job with no benefits and no chance of advancement and no retirement or medical? Why would you work there?
All so Glenn Clayton can make millions off their labor.
Why haven't you honest principals gotten together and pushed back?
Solution 1: Demand the District create HCS jobs, with benefits, for SPED aides. Turnover would be lower and there would be a chance for advancement. More importantly, you would have a professional staff who had a vested interest in staying with the District. I don't need to tell you all how important it is to have consistency in a SPED classroom.
Every time the District gets sued for SPED, they acquiesce. But, each case generates between $15-37$ in legal fees. The result of this is that you principals who give a shit (some of you obviously don't) are left with children's needs being neglected. What is the price tag for the lost services? What is the effect going to be on the child's long-term development?
Speaking of standing up for what's right, why did none of you stand up for the teachers when Tim Scott brought out Project BOOST? If any of you didn't see right through that, then you are unfit to be principals.
I want all of you to consider this my last chance for you. Andrea Alvarez won't listen. The rest of the board is owned by the Committee. When I start publishing the financials, there are going to be a lot of people who have a lot to lose monetarily. This is all about a law firm destroying education and reproducing structural inequality. And some of you on this list are the ones doing it.
I'm going to start naming names of administrators right now. I may even throw in some teacher names. If I use a teacher's name and they are at your school and you say a fucking word to him or her, they will tell me and I will drop everything I have on you publicly, with or without the informant's consent. Then I will get a group of people to come stand outside your school every day until the end of the school year. When I went to Chapman, the students started chanting "Fire Collins Now!" as they entered the building. THEY started the chant.
Speaking of you, Doc. You are the most damaged person I have ever known. The amount of trauma you inflicted on those teachers and students sickens me every time I think of you. We have more than 400 pieces of documentation on you that we are sharing with the AEA lawyer so they can take up a class-action lawsuit.
Also, any of you want to use the N word at students, feel free. Since they didn't fire Collins for it, Kyle will testify that the District did nothing so none of you can be punished.
OR, you can all contact the superintendent and tell her that Dr. Collins should be immediately fired to set a precedent that this type of racist language "monkey" "Retards" "field N's" will not be tolerated. Did you all know that the mother of the boy who was struck by the water bottle went to the police to press charges? Then she stopped talking to us.
Guess who paid for her silence? Lanier Ford.
Two paths forward:
1. You start talking to me. We have private conversations which I will report to the DoJ. You will provide every SPED violation you can find, that's the quickest way to get the DoJ to take action. When they come, they will force the District to be closely monitored. It's going to cost a lot of money, but we'll save a bunch after I get Lanier Ford removed as legal counsel. I understand that many of you have been afraid to talk in the past (I have two principals and two assistant principals helping me), but now you have the opportunity to do what's right. Contact me at this address from your personal account and I'll give you a Google Drive folder.
2. I will slowly gather information on all of you who are corrupt. I will release it as I get new information. Your faculty will see it and others will see it who have served under your leadership. I will eventually have enough that it will be overwhelming. After I get one or two more principals, do you think people WON'T listen to me?
Let's go through a quick riff of stuff your colleagues have been up to. I have some attachments for you to see. At the bottom of this there's a google drive link with some of the evidence I have collected.
Hovet Dixon (see attachment) wouldn't address a girl's behavior and it caused a teacher to leave. He ignored 12 requests to get her BLOOM working. He did that to other teachers too. Then he got in trouble. Then he bullied a parent. Then he didn't protect her child. Then she complained. Then he had her arrested on a trespass warrant that no one knew about. Then he threatened me. I have been pushing your buttons Hovet, and you have done everything that I have wanted you to do.
Hovet is a case study for all of you who are cruel to your teachers to study. They will talk, I will record it, and you will hear it publicly. Teachers' voices are very powerful and when people hear them, it's going to cause outcry.
Speaking of recordings, out of the blue, Becca Howard (former student) and current teacher at Jones Valley under Crystal Alexander reported to me that Crystal had her destroy evidence of a crime against a child. Listen to the recording in the google drive titled "Crystal Alexander Child abuse coverup."
That happened out of the blue. The only thing I had heard on Crystal to that point was that she challenged Tim Scott and stood up for the teachers. I was very disappointed to hear Becca's comments. Suton called her down to the District today and I haven't heard back from her. Crystal, if anything happens to her, I'm dropping the entire 24 minutes online (I gave Crystal a copy of the recording today).
I have placed Laura Worshim on a PDP for bullying and covering up incidents at her school. My teachers have reported that she's being much kinder. I mean this Laura, thank you. The teachers appreciate it.
Laura has avoided a reckoning, because she has chosen to become more kind.
Hampton Cove Middle School:
Natalie, why the hell you sent E to Apollo is way beyond me. Everyone, Natalie sent a straight A student to Apollo for 90 days because a boy in her class 'dosed' her with THC. Never had a BLOOM. She spent five hours one day listening to headphones because Schoology wouldn't communicate with Edgenuity. Apparently, they aren't used to having students who want to do work at Apollo. Did I mention that she's failing her honors classes? I'm not sure what message you were trying to send, but my assumption is that it looks good to have white students at Apollo to bump the numbers. Anytime you want to talk about her case, her mom has waived FERPA. I'm sure we'll see each other at some point.
Heather, why did you run into the bathroom yesterday to call Chris Pape if the District has nothing to hide? The story I'm getting from three parents is that you're not enforcing discipline for M2M kids and that they are terrorizing the other children. Do you all know there's a federal law that can be used if the teachers and administrators deem the child a threat to the other students? You all should look that up.
Leverette and Maynard James,
You didn't report N.B's rape for four days. You let her sit in ILC with her rapist after she told you (Maynard). Her mom didn't believe her. She is now doing virtual academy and her mom keeps her locked up so she 'doesn't mess with no boys.' Had you done your job, Maynard, she would not be on home confinement.
Solution 2: All of you principals that aren't horrible people, email the Superintendent and tell her to fire both James and Leverette immediately for not reporting the victim to DHR, nor taking her to the guidance counselor, nor contacting the SRO in an appropriate manner.
Linda Burruss, I'm just finding out about an incident in which you slapped a child (two teachers witnessed it). Neither reported it for fear of retribution. I have one recording, when I have the second, I'm going to release it.
Your Reckoning is coming, I promise.
Douthit,
Parents know about the gas leak, multiple kids fainted and vomited. Parents are starting to talk about the leukemia also. There are three students and one teacher at GSES with the same form of leukemia. Parent alerted me to it because her child was being treated and they ran into another mom. If I tell Chris Pape, he won't do anything except hide it. In the future, don't hide what happened, be honest and stand up for parents.
Graham,
Retire quickly, please. I have a lot but you're not a priority.
Do you want me to go through the list?
Lee Simmons and Tasheria...you all know that they block employment. I need a few of you to tell me all you know about it. In the near future, we are going to get a class action lawsuit with at least 30 people, and every one of you will be deposed to answer under oath, what the process was when you tried to get candidates for interviews. You all know exactly what's happening. Tell me anonymously and I'll tell the DoJ and we'll get them to stop. Then you'll have qualified candidates for jobs.
Solution 3: Dismantle Talent Management. Fire Micah Fisher, who can't find his ass with both hands and a map. Get an HR director who can actually do the job.
I am tired of doing this. If some of you help me, it will go faster. We want nothing less than Lanier Ford gone and a new superintendent who will 'clean house' of all the bullies.
Some of you run your schools like fiefdoms. No consequences for you. Nepotism, stealing money, targeting, PIPs, points deducted for 'bulletin boards' on observations, using the n word, hitting kids (Collins and Burruss), taking four day weekends, leaving campus without an administrator, ignoring parents' requests, hiding video by claiming that it's due to "FERPA rights"...
I know seven different ways you people are manipulating BLOOM. Some of you (Rolling Hills--Agun) don't allow teachers to enter ODRs, stating that 'it must be done by an administrator,' Collins would simply delete them. My favorite ODR she deleted was when Beth McKay wrote a child up for calling her "MILF" and saying that he wanted to fuck her and then grabbing her breasts. Beth wrote him up and Collins had King delete it. Then Collins accused Beth of cursing at a child and wrote her up. Beth recorded the entire class, she didn't curse. It was retaliation for the ODR when a child sexaully assaulted her. She told Chris Pape that she stopped writing kids up when they touched her after that. She told Chris Pape this in my presence, on October 19, 2022.
They were literally going to let Collins just finish her contract out. Listen to the recording in this folder. It's from a woman who is at Chapman right now fighting cancer. This is what Collins did to her. Carlita, you are a horrible person, please get counseling.
I am trying to protect children and teachers. If you are not on my side, then you are opposed to my goals. I tried to go to Finley, she ignored me. Finley tells the Board that my evidence is "not credible" and Andrea calls us "Vigilantes."
I will get every single corrupt person out of the District, and I won't stop until I know it's a safe place for me to send my teachers and it's a place in which I KNOW that the children are being protected by the adults.
As of right now, you have to choose a side. I have ideas on how to rebuild, but they are all centered on asking teachers for solutions rather than imposing them from above. My cell number is 256.694.5129. If any of you want to talk, I'm here. If any of you want to send an email, I'm here.
Some of you are beyond redemption. To you people, either clean it up or face your own Reckoning.
The teachers will be heard.
Jason
As I was typing this email, a teacher from Chapman called me. Her name is Heather Rowan. Her recording is in the folder. I am sending it to the Board and the Board attorney next. If any of you have any compassion, reach out to the District and tell them to help Heather out by returning her stipend and allowing her to get in the sick leave pool. This is the type of person Carlita Collins is. I don't know who hurt her, but she needs therapy bad.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Here is your first assignment, principals:
There is a teacher at Jemison named Mr. Erickson. A teacher reported to Leverette that he was hurting children. The teacher's story is below. He's still there because Leverette said, "We can't have another substitute teaching a core class." If Mr. Erickson is still teaching at Jemison on Monday, I'm going to make him my first priority to demonstrate what happens when you allow adults to hurt children. It will not be pretty for Jemison or the District.
This was the report to Leverette that has not been addressed. The clock is ticking, all you other principals have an obligation to forward this email to Chris Pape and tell him that you do not want a teacher in a classroom who is hurting children, because the precedent is set that you can't remove them. This affects ALL of your schools, just like Collins' use of the N word. Either have rules and follow them, or don't have rules. Pick one.
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2023 1:34 PM
To: Robbins, Tamara <Tamara.Robbins@hsv-k12.org>
Subject: Z Block - Erickson
February 28th, 2023
Time: Duration of Z Block (I arrived around 11:45pm-12:15pm)
I was headed to Mr. Erickson's class to give one of our new EL's a workbook and dictionary as today was first day of school. On my way to Mr. Erickson's class I see Brayan and Eric walking with our security officer and I asked them in Spanish, Adonde vas? (Where are you going?) They told me ISS, and they said they didn't do anything. I then arrive to Mr. Erickson's class and when I walked in they all had a sigh of relief that I was there and several asked if they could come with me. I give Ashley (Our new EL student) the dictionary and workbook. Everyone had their computer out and was working on IReady. Damaris called me and asked if I would help her, Erickson then gets up and starts walking around but picking with the students. Tomas was minding his own business and he started saying things to him, and getting him aggravated. He came up to the student that I was working with, and a boy named Pedro was sitting next to her, he took his paper and ripped it up in front of him as he accused him of cheating. He then threw it away in the trash, and then called him a cheater to his face in Spanish. Tomas starts talking and complaining about Mr. Erickson's mistreatment. He takes Tomas's phone from him. Then proceeds to pull up a chair and sits down, puts his left leg on the back of Tomas's chair and pushes him so his stomach/chest is touching the desk. I asked Mr. Erickson what is going on? He said that Tomas won't sit still (Tomas has an IEP, and his special ed). I asked him is there something we can do? I looked over and there were a quadrant of 4 desk. I asked can Tomas sit over there if he 'sits still'. He said yes, for today we can try that. Tomas was upset, but I told him to just respect the rules. He packs up his stuff then goes over there. I then walk back to Ashley to make sure she is good, then the class starts saying, "Mira, el va a llamar security! (Look, he's going to call security!)" I turned around and said, who?" Mr. Erickson called security for Liliana. A child that was just sitting there quietly doing her work. Liliana had not said a word. He called security and told them that Liliana cussed at him. Liliana is a L1 and she did not say a word. It was around 12pm, and I started to say goodbye as I was sick to witness this but they all begged that I stay in the room. I decided to stay and be with them until the bell rung. He was walking around, and honestly trying to edge them on to say something. He was taking pleasure in picking on them.
As I walked out of the class with Hugo and Pedro, I asked them is it always like this? They told me it is usually worse. He will throw phones, say mean things to them and insult them, and call security on them for doing nothing.
Side Note:
All of my students in his class are currently failing. All of the students that play on the soccer team are failing. He is the head girls soccer coach and assist with the boys soccer team. They all have a range of 30-40 as of today via powerschool 2/28/23. They used to have a 20, but I called him via the school phone (2 weeks ago) and asked why are all of them failing and if there's anything I can do to help. He said he was doing it as a punishment for this 'misbehavior'. I check their work, and they do the work in the class but they all have a failing grade.
Jason O'Brien <doctor.ob.1970@gmail.com>
Wed, Apr 19, 12:42 PM (23 hours ago)
XXXXXXX
Read this and go listen to the recording.
I love you, kiddo. You're doing the right thing. And you are uniquely situated to help me fight this fight. We are going to change the District.
OB
1 of 524
Child abuse at Jones Valley
Jason O'Brien <doctor.ob.1970@gmail.com>
12:35 PM (0 minutes ago)
to cmp, christie.finley, Holly, Michelle, andrea.alvarez, Brigid, Kelly
Chris, (and my friends at the DoJ...please make sure to forward this to Judge Haikala):
Two nights ago, Ms. XXXXXX gave me an interview which lasted 24 minutes. She was concerned that her principal, Ms. Crystal Alexander, was not following mandatory reporting guidelines. Specifically, Ms. Alexander made XXXXXX delete pictures she took of a third grader’s whip marks, some of them days old, despite knowing that the last two times DHR was called for this child, it took days for them to investigate. This is not protecting children.
The result of this was that the teacher who reported it was sent home on paid leave the rest of the year and lost her job. Thanks, everyone. Their official reason? She violated FERPA by telling me the child’s FIRST NAME once. The District and the teacher knew that I was reporting the interviews to the DoJ.
When they sent the teacher home, I was sure that the DoJ was going to intervene. That was the moment that I lost all hope in anyone else coming to help us. I have felt ABANDONED.
________________________________
Last one. I was trying to figure out how to get everyone’s attention this year, and I was pretty riled up when I sent this, but I stand by every word that was in the email. This email is what caused an immediate trespass warrant against me. I am very proud of that trespass. It is proof that the people who oppose me are all afraid to stand and face me because they know their actions are indefensible (there’s a lot of that going on in my life right now).
This was my last email to the board until recent hostilities have resumed. Sent in August, when I was a happily married, tenured professor working on year 16 at his job. Funny how life goes, huh?
Enjoy. How is my tone? Aggressive and unprofessional?
Update
Thu, Aug 3, 3:07 PM
to Carlos.Mathews, ryan.renaud, Holly, andrea.alvarez, Michelle, Clarence, cmp, zbr, mrt, Laura.worshim, Demetris.leverette, john.thornton, Maynard.james, Crystal.alexander, Hovet.dixon, bcc: Robert, bcc: Kyle, bcc: Violet, bcc: Pam, bcc: GE, bcc: Mendy, bcc: saralynn0412
Chris, Board, Clarence, and a special welcome to our newest members, Zach and McKala,
I have always offered you the chance to do what's right, and to date, you have never taken the opportunity. Why? You know why.
I want to state several things very clearly in the hopes that it might change your behavior and open your mind to the possibility that Chris and Lanier Ford care only about the legal fees they generate and the largesse they can spread to their associates in the community. What J.R. and Lanier Ford dabbled in over the decades, became full on blatant corruption, right out in the open.
SUPES Academy
Exorbitant salaries
No bid contracts
Showering preferred contractors with generous contracts which allowed them to make money on supplies also
Using Jason Taylor, Byron Hendricks, and my personal favorite, Glenn "Comrade" Clayton as the 'triumvirate' for privatization of services
Every land deal HCS has engaged in has benefited individuals who are well-connected and most have the same law firm.
In the schools, Lanier Ford carefully controls and compartmentalizes information via Lee Simmons, Tasheria, and whoever the "Compliance Officer" is. Remember when Collins hit M? Williams called Finley, who called Pape, who called Wellington. No one ever reached out to Williams again, to my knowledge. SRO knew, security guard knew (he was on the video), Wellington knew...who made the call? Christopher Pape
S was fired by SPUR last week. She is hurt. She is at peace with it, but asked me not to mention the N or Maynard James PUBLICLY.(in connection with her), nor can I mention Mr. Erickson, who was allowed to continue teaching after he abused students. S submitted a bunch of documents to the DoJ via me regarding how Leverette targeted her and asked her to do unethical things. That's on all of you.
xxxxx, was sent home last year. I haven't spoken with her, because I'm afraid she's going to tell me she's not employed anymore. I was sure that the DoJ would intervene if you punished her for reporting child abuse, but they abandoned us. I have had a tab open for her every day since you sent her home Clarence and Chris. You're both going to pay for that in the form of public humiliation.
Collins was the ONE good thing I could say we accomplished with our efforts. She was the worst and she did the most damage. You all took that away from the teachers and me. I'm going to do the one thing you are all afraid of...release all of it publicly. There's a lot. In doing so, it's going to be increasingly difficult to justify employing her.
Every single prediction I have made has come true. Here's one: Carlita Collins will not be employed by HCS in December. The decision to bring her back is purely financial. We're going to make it more expensive to keep her employed than to terminate her. I hope you don't believe me. I also can't wait to post this email on RCR when you fire her.
Time to put your money where your mouth is:
Mendy LeVaugh resigned from Providence last year because Laura Worshim put her on a SIP because she wanted to get rid of her. Mendy is kind and sweet and was driven from HCS because of the toxic work environment created by Worshim.
She reached out to me in November when I sent the BOOST email that pissed all of you off so much. I've got seven or eight single spaced pages of events. No one else at Providence would talk to me because Worshim has them terrified. She tells new teachers, "If you say something negative about HCS and you're not tenured, you can lose your job."
She was texting me at 9:30 at night telling me she was working on Project BOOST spreadsheets, when she knew full well they were bullshit. She came over when they balanced the numbers and gave teachers two days to change schools, without notice.
Some of the teachers bullied and excluded her. There are pages to read, I'm sure you'll all give them the attention they deserve. Mendy befriended a first year teacher (I can't remember her name, it's Lacey or Macey) and Worshim bullied her so bad that she started getting stomach ulcers and her husband wanted her to quit teaching. One of the fourth grade teachers (don't know her name) reported child abuse to Worshim and she didn't report it because "she didn't want to make a big deal about it." Ammunition was found (two .9 mm clips, one with two bullets, one empty, and shells loose in a backpack) . When the teachers saw the bullets one said "Let's lock the school down to search for a gun. What if one of his friends brought the gun?" Worshim downplayed it until she had to send a phone message which has no record.
Worshim made fun of Mendy's weight in front of two people. Told Mendy not to mark "Yes" on the BOOST sheet "if the student was AA and not making progress." That comment right there invalidates all the data that came out of Providence under Worshim. Carlos, do you understand what I'm saying? Do you see why I was so pissed about BOOST? Worshim BOOST and data meetings to bully teachers.
As soon as I get the FERPA stuff removed, I'm going to send an email with the link to a folder with all the information in there. Mendy will gladly speak with Andrea or Michelle. In my opinion, the rest of you are useless and will follow Lanier Ford and Chris Pape to your political deaths...and I'm here for it.
When I share the information on Worshim, I'm going to do it with the Board privately to save embarrassment, and to see if you will really take action against Worshim (I'm thinking 2 weeks without pay) or ANY sanction that is public, we will consider not releasing the information. If you make some change in your behavior with principals, then the bad ones will start to leave when they realize they're not bulletproof. Unfortunately, to change behavior, you have to admit that there's a problem. Chris can't allow that publicly, so you're going to suffer the consequences of your acquiesence.
Lanier Ford and Chris have to be gone...
Sanction Worshim, please.
After Worshim, we're going to tell B.H.'s story from Jones Valley, and in doing so show that the white principals in the most privileged schools don't protect black children either (I'm looking at you Crystal. xxxxx on your tab also, just so we're clear. The board will read about you targeting her).
I'm gathering information on Leverette and will release it when I have enough. She is as bulletproof as Collins and has baggage which is almost as bad. I have talked to a bunch of people who have known Clarence for years, so now I know how he thinks.
If you use the formula of $250/hr Pape: $225/hr Zach; McKala $210/hr that's approximately 1,465 hours for $1 million in fees. I am absolutely doing this to prove a point and there's nothing you can or will do about it.
To the Board, there is only one way to stop this: Contact me and tell me I have your vote to remove LF and we won't mention your name.
I've CCed Leverette and Worshim on this because I don't like to talk about people witthout their knowledge. Please hear me on this: Leverette, James, and Thornton have to be gone because of how they treated Heather. Leverette has to be gone because of her many misdeeds. I'm going to humiliate Laura Worshim publicly, so it won't matter if you fire her, she'll be broken. I will go from administrator to administrator uncovering all the corrupt acts. I'm going to excoriate Lee and Tasheria. We are going to find all the lies in the DAC documents.
In doing so, I'm going to heal some of the trauma that your actions have caused the teachers, the kids, and me for having to experience all this. I am fundamentally a teacher, so consider what happens in the next few months a lesson for those of you who need it.
I am at peace, and everything I'm going to share is a good faith effort to do what I know is right for children and teachers and ultimately, for our community.
We are fighting for what's right. You all are fighting for money and power.
I am so sorry for how much pain I'm going to cause many of you, but it, as they say, self-inflicted.
In kindness,
Jason
P.S. Hovet, please be kind to your teachers. I have stuff I haven't released about you and I'm at the point where I feel like I'm bullying you rather than teaching you a lesson. Please, Hovet.
————————————————————-
Teachers, I have tried my best to stick up for you. This is the only way I know how. We’re almost done, stay with me a bit longer. I’m tired, but I have enough energy left to finish this. I promise. Right now, you’re my family and I’m talking to y’all.
I said it.