Marshall principal accused of Bias incident.

Just saw an article in Village Green about an incident where Marshall principal  mocked a student teacher who is a little person. It seems she has lost the confidence of the staff. There is a special meeting with the school board tomorrow at 7pm about the incident. 


Sorry, but assume you mean principal


Surely "little person" can't be the favored term now.  



breal said:

Surely "little person" can't be the favored term now.  

Or, before mocking a term that may indeed be the term of choice, you could look it up yourself.


http://www.lpaonline.org/about-lpa_

What is LPA?

Little People of America, Inc., is a national nonprofit organization that provides support and information to people of short stature and their families.   

Short stature is generally caused by one of the more than 200 medical conditions known as dwarfism. LPA welcomes all 200+ forms of dwarfism.  

LPA has more than 6000 members across the United States and internationally. We have 13 districts and 70 chapters.  

LPA provides social interaction, parent and peer support, medical support and education, scholarships and grants.  Our members range from newborns to senior citizens, little people and average height.   Dwarfism cuts across all religions, ethnicities, and economic levels. All are welcome!

Where We Began

In 1957, well-known actor Billy Barty made a national public appeal for all little people in America to join him for a gathering in Reno, Nevada. Mr. Barty and 20 other little people joined together and Little People of America was formed!

Sounds like there is a lot of history with this administrator and some of the staff, judging by the VG article. As a stand alone incident, the behavior described is pathetic.


ASSUMING THE ACCUSATION IS TRUE:


What the hell is wrong with people? A 10 year old would know better than to act in such a manner. But an adult and this person’s boss? Decency alone SHOULD militate against such behavior. Responsibility should militate against harming the district.But even a sociopath who cares nothing about either with an ounce of common sense would recognize the potential impact on the sociopath’s career.


So cruel, irresponsible and dumb, then.


For the district, welcome to a lawsuit. The student teacher, if they pursue a position with the district permanently, is going to get it, qualified or not, or there will be a very reasonable lawsuit filed suggesting she was not offered employment because if the adminstrator’s bias.





What’s with the self esteem of someone who belittles a little person? Just strange.


Thanks to the antiquated tenure system, options for the Superintendent are very limited.  



yahooyahoo
said:

Thanks to the antiquated tenure system, options for the Superintendent are very limited.  

I would think an incident like this would be one of the few qualifying rationales to boot a tenured administrator. How would the union even defend this?


Unions will (and actually are required to) fight everything. Which means your either put someone on paid leave while the process plays out (with no assurance of a successful outcome) or you pay the person to go away.


The union already is defending the principal.  Why do you think a union rep joined the principal in a meeting with teachers?

shoshannah said:



yahooyahoo
said:

Thanks to the antiquated tenure system, options for the Superintendent are very limited.  

I would think an incident like this would be one of the few qualifying rationales to boot a tenured administrator. How would the union even defend this?



If I recall correctly, the teachers are members of one union, and administrators of another. Don't know if this has any bearing on the case in question, just mentioning it.




Burner said:

Unions will (and actually are required to) fight everything.
yahooyahoo said:

The union already is defending the principal.  Why do you think a union rep joined the principal in a meeting with teachers?

What in your union experiences lead you both to these conclusions? In my experience, union reps have (a) given members straightforward counsel about the merits of their grievances or defenses and, while agreeing to raise them with management if the member insists, were not required to fight on their behalf, and (b) attended meetings to listen, to monitor and to answer procedural questions, short of setting forth a defense.


A union representative's job is to "represent and defend" the interests of the union members.  

It's part of their fundamental job description.  They are not there just to answer procedural questions.


DaveSchmidt said:



Burner said:

Unions will (and actually are required to) fight everything.
yahooyahoo said:

The union already is defending the principal.  Why do you think a union rep joined the principal in a meeting with teachers?

What in your union experiences lead you both to these conclusions? In my experience, union reps have (a) given members straightforward counsel about the merits of their grievances or defenses and, while agreeing to raise them with management if the member insists, were not required to fight on their behalf, and (b) attended meetings to listen, to monitor and to answer procedural questions, short of setting forth a defense.




yahooyahoo said:

A union representative's job is to "represent and defend" the interests of the union members.  

It's part of their fundamental job description.  They are not there just to answer procedural questions.

At a meeting like that, it’s entirely possible. But again, I’m open to hearing your experiences and first-hand knowledge of what a union rep’s job is.

ETA: Or anyone else’s, especially in education. Unions aren’t all alike.


yahooyahoo said:

A union representative's job is to "represent and defend" the interests of the union members.  

It's part of their fundamental job description.  They are not there just to answer procedural questions.
 
DaveSchmidt said:
 
Burner said:

Unions will (and actually are required to) fight everything.
yahooyahoo said:

The union already is defending the principal.  Why do you think a union rep joined the principal in a meeting with teachers?

What in your union experiences lead you both to these conclusions? In my experience, union reps have (a) given members straightforward counsel about the merits of their grievances or defenses and, while agreeing to raise them with management if the member insists, were not required to fight on their behalf, and (b) attended meetings to listen, to monitor and to answer procedural questions, short of setting forth a defense.

Yes, but at this stage the representative would be gathering the facts.  Listening to the teachers at the meeting with the principal, would be part of that.  After that, the representative could explain to the principal what her rights are (given the factual allegations), what rulings there have been from the Commissioner of Education on similar charges, etc.


My experience with my Union is that the rep will be there to make sure the process is followed properly.  But if I am proven to have done something they won't defend the action.  I'll be punished.  


All with the intention of defending the rights of principal.

nohero said:


Yes, but at this stage the representative would be gathering the facts.  Listening to the teachers at the meeting with the principal, would be part of that.  After that, the representative could explain to the principal what her rights are (given the factual allegations), what rulings there have been from the Commissioner of Education on similar charges, etc.



yahooyahoo said:

All with the intention of defending the rights of principal.
nohero said:
Yes, but at this stage the representative would be gathering the facts.  Listening to the teachers at the meeting with the principal, would be part of that.  After that, the representative could explain to the principal what her rights are (given the factual allegations), what rulings there have been from the Commissioner of Education on similar charges, etc.

Sure, just like everyone else's rights are to be defended.



yahooyahoo said:

All with the intention of defending the rights of principal.

Rights being distinct from merits. Right?



DaveSchmidt said:

But again, I’m open to hearing your experiences and first-hand knowledge of what a union rep’s job is.

ETA: Or anyone else’s, especially in education. Unions aren’t all alike.

On second thought, rather than belabor (!) the union role, I’d be even more interested in hearing what any Marshall parents reading this thread might have to say.


Right.

DaveSchmidt said:



yahooyahoo said:

All with the intention of defending the rights of principal.

Rights being distinct from merits. Right?



Anyone attend the meeting last night?


Yes.  The district is lawyered up, couldn't give real details or a definitive timeline for a decision.  It was pretty emotional and frustrating.  I give Dr. Ficarra credit for being there to show support and acknowledging the community is broken and needs to heal, but I left with no answers and a pit in my stomach.


Did he talk at all about how the district will change things so these situations don't happen in the future?


They have never experienced a situation specifically like this so have hired an outside firm to advise and implement on that.


Former Marshall parent here.  I wasn't a big fan of Mrs. Samuels, but am surprised at the allegations.  Especially since at a meeting involving my special needs child a few years ago, we bickered about my use of the term "Aspy" when describing my own child's diagnosis.  She thought the term was inappropriate...



yahooyahoo said:

Did he talk at all about how the district will change things so these situations don't happen in the future?

How can they?  You do your best to get the best, most qualified people you can find into the right positions but how do you know in advance exactly what will come out of their mouth?  Did she have an easily viewed history of denigrating short people?



Training, updating workplace rules, procedures, etc.

FilmCarp said:



yahooyahoo said:

Did he talk at all about how the district will change things so these situations don't happen in the future?

How can they?  You do your best to get the best, most qualified people you can find into the right positions but how do you know in advance exactly what will come out of their mouth?  Did she have an easily viewed history of denigrating short people?



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