Superintendent Arrested for Luring a Minor

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”  Lord Acton

"Доверяй, но проверяй."  Russian Proverb

"Trust but verify."  Ronald Reagan

Parents blindly hand over their children to a broken system. A system that is compulsory, a system created through forced taxation.  Compulsory and forced, has lead to corruption and abuse.  We blindly trust these people as if they are not human and without fault.  Why? 

The following piece appeared on ValleyNewsLive.com.

Cathy

North Dakota Superintendent Arrested for Luring a Minor

(KMOT) Police say they have arrested the Superintendent of Sawyer Public Schools.
The Minot Police Department says it has arrested 50-year-old Charles Soper for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy.

Police say they received information that the boy and Soper had contact through a social media app, and that led to a sexual relationship starting last fall.

Investigators discovered enough evidence to charge Soper with luring minors by computer, solicitation of a minor and human trafficking.

Teacher Instructed Students to Slap Another Child

Parents of a Houston middle school student are fuming after their son's teacher allegedly instructed children in the class to slap his face, reducing the young boy to tears.
Click the link above to read the full story.
Cathy

http://eagnews.org/school-principal-claims-police-killing-young-black-men-during-graduation-speech/

If you want your child educated and not indoctrinated, do not send him to a public school.  The following appears on EAG News.org.  Click the link to read the full story and see the pictures.

Cathy


BELTON, Mo. – A Missouri high school principal recently used his
school’s graduation ceremony as an opportunity to pontificate about race
relations in America, and his comments left parents fuming.



“I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to change the world, I wanted
to make it a better place,” Belton High School principal Fred Skretta
told students last week. “I’m going to be honest with you, in a lot of
ways I fear that we are not there yet. If we were, we wouldn’t have
conflicts between police killing young black men.”


Those comments prompted many parents to get up and walk out on the
graduation ceremony, and they didn’t hold back their frustrations for Fox 4.

“I found it very inappropriate, I am highly offended,” an unidentified
parent told the news station. “You don’t use the platform of a child’s
graduation to push a political agenda or push your personal opinions.
Your job is supposed to inspire, educate, inform and not (indoctrinate)
one way or the other.”


The above appears on EAG News.org.  Click the link to read the full story and see the pictures.

If this principal thought Black Lives matter, he would also discuss black on black crime and black abortions.

Cathy

Another Doozie Superintendent

You just can not make this stuff up.  When you hear stories like this it is not surprising that our SAU has been a revolving door when in comes to Superintendents.  I think someone needs to write a book on how to get rich quick.  Get a Ph.D. in Education, get a job in a school, screw up, get a big pay out, move on to another school district.  The taxpayers are none the wiser, most taxpayers and parents do not pay attention.  I believe there have been 7 superintendents in the past 9 years at our SAU.   The following piece appeared on the Albilene Reporter News website.

Cathy

Burns no longer BGISD superintendent candidate; APD still investigating after his arrest

Update: 

Heath Burns, former superintendent of the Abilene Independent School District, has withdrawn his candidacy for the position of superintendent at a school district in Central Texas, according to the firm that conducted the superintendent search for that school district.

 

It was reported earlier this month that Burns was the sole finalist for a the job at Blooming Grove ISD. He previously resigned from AISD after it was alleged that he interfered in police investigations of reported teacher-student sex cases.

 

"Blooming Grove ISD Board of Trustees and Dr. Heath Burns have reached mutual agreement for him to withdraw as the lone finalist for the BGISD superintendecy," said Russell Marshall,  president of Arrow Educational Services Inc., the firm in charge of the search. "We wish him and his family all the best as he pursues other interests."

 

Update:
Former AISD Superintendent Heath Burns responded via email late Thursday to a request for a comment from the Reporter-News.
He referred questions to his lawyers, and added, "Still, I do not believe I violated law in the Brown situation and I will not address the uniqueness of my medical situation at this time. I remain proud of our work in Abilene and anxious to see what Dr. Ude and her team accomplish next."
Original story: 

Heath Burns, former superintendent of the Abilene Independent School District, was arrested Thursday on a charge of possessing a controlled substance by fraud, according to a document filed in district court.

 

The document alleges that Burns obtained 3,400 hydrocodone pills from two different physicians from January to July 2014. The doctors reportedly told an investigator they were unaware that Burns had received prescription medication from both of them at the same time.

 

Burns turned himself in to the Taylor County Jail on Thursday, where he was arrested and booked. He was held there in lieu of a $5,000 bail, which was posted and he was released later in the day.

 

The investigation was conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety. Abilene Police Chief Stan Standridge issued a statement after Burns’ arrest, saying The Abilene Police Department was aware of the DPS probe.

 

The APD is conducting its own criminal investigation of Burns, which could lead to several misdemeanor and felony charges, the statement said.

 

Earlier this month, police seized Burns’ cellphone and tablet in connection with allegations that he interfered in a teacher-student sex cases late last year and early this year. 

 

 Standridge said Burns failed to properly report knowledge of an alleged sexual relationship between former Abilene High School English teacher Breanne Brown and a 16-year-old male student. Burns, according to police, had knowledge of the alleged relationship on Dec. 30 but didn’t report it until Jan. 5, and during that time another sexual encounter between the teacher and student occurred.

 

Standridge had also accused Burns of impeding the execution of a search warrant investigating the actions of former Holland Medical High School Dean Michael Trook, who is accused of an having an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student.

 

Burns denies both allegations, adding that his tenure over the five years he served as superintendent of AISD featured multiple successes academically and a construction bond approved by voters.

 

He resigned from AISD on Feb. 2.

 

As part of the resignation, the remaining time on Burns’s AISD contract was bought out in a lump sum of $407,500. On Thursday, Burns was the lone finalist for a superintendent position at Blooming Grove ISD. On Monday, the BGISD planned to “consider employment of superintendent of schools,” according to a meeting agenda on its website.

 

A Blooming Grove school official did not return a call Thursday asking if that status had changed. 

 

Superintendent Arrested

Salaries for superintendents are often well over $100,000 and sometimes close to $400,000. Ed.D and Ph.D. degrees are practically given out like candy and hardly worth the paper they are printed on.  Yet this man has to scheme for more money from the taxpayers.  This is why school board members need more access as to how and where special education funds are spent. Notice the nepotism as well.  Shame on them all. 
Cathy

Brick superintendent arrested on misconduct charges

The following story appeared on the Asbury Park Press website.

BRICK – Superintendent of Schools Walter Uszenski schemed with his daughter and a former school official to provide his grandson with full-time daycare and transportation at taxpayer's expense, according to charges filed against them Thursday.

Uszenski, his daughter, Jacqueline Halsey, and Andrew Morgan, who was appointed interim director of special services in 2013 at Uszenski's request, were charged with official misconduct and theft by deception, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said in a news release.

Uszenski, 63, of Brick was arrested shortly after 9 a.m. at the Brick Board of Education's administrative office. Morgan, 67, a Middlesex County resident, surrendered at the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office around noon, accompanied by his attorney. Both were booked into the Ocean County Jail but released later Thursday after they each posted $100,000 bail, set by Superior Court Judge Francis R. Hodgson.

Halsey, 37, of Brick was not arrested but instead served with a summons at her home.
Prosecutors allege that the trio falsely claimed that Halsey's 3-1/2-year-old son was in need of special services. Halsey initiated a request for the the services, and Uszenski and Morgan executed the necessary approvals for them.

As a result, the three illegally used nearly $40,000 in public funds to send Uszenski's grandson to a daycare center on the guise that he needed and was getting special services, prosecutors said.

The scheme, according to prosecutors, began less than year after Uszenski was appointed superintendent in July 2012. Authorities believe Uszenski convinced the Board of Education to bring in Morgan for an audit of the district's special services section, according to the press release.
Prosecutors say Uszenski in 2013 recommended Morgan be hired as interim director of special services, a position in which he oversaw placement of special needs students in in-district and out-of district programs.

"One of (Morgan's) first official acts was to engineer a fraudulent plan for Ms. Halsey's child, who is also Uszenski's grandchild, to receive unnecessary services and transportation at taxpayer's expense,'' the news release from the prosecutor said.

"It's New Jersey. What would you expect?" said Marcella Cascone of Whiting, who walked with her 4-year-old grandson by Veterans Memorial Middle School. Her grandson, Cullen, attends Brick's preschool program.

"It's a disgrace but I think everyone in New Jersey is used to it," she said.

School officials did not respond to multiple phone calls from the Asbury Park Press early Thursday afternoon.

Joseph Benedict, Uszenski's attorney, said he and his client were aware of an investigation, but they were surprised that Uszenski was arrested and taken to the county jail.

"I'm mystified why the prosecutor would seek a complaint (arrest) warrant for someone with my client's pedigree,'' said Benedict, of the New Brunswick law firm Benedict and Altman.

"I strongly doubt there's any credible evidence,'' Benedict said. "I'm ready to fight this one in court.''

When asked about Uszenski's employment status, Benedict said, "I told him to go back to work. He may take tomorrow off and go back on Monday. There's no reason for him not to go back to work.''

Morgan's attorney, William Strazza of the Chatham law firm Strazza and Roughneen, issued the following statement on Thursday:

"Andrew Morgan's entire professional life has been dedicated to helping children with special education needs. His expertise was sought out by Brick to root out waste and to audit the special education budget, and his work was stellar. Yet, today he stands falsely accused of official misconduct. My client has been horribly mistreated today by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, and we look forward to our day in court.''


According to a news release, Morgan was hired to conduct a $17,499 report, about seven pages long. Morgan made more than $83 an hour for the 209 hours he put in to prepare and write the full audit. In it, he criticized the performance of the then-director of special services and suggested offering services to special needs students within the district rather than sending them out-of-district and paying private tuition.

Uszenski used the report, which was critical of the special services director, to recommend Morgan as a replacement, prosecutors say.

After Morgan was hired as interim director of special services on July 2013, he orchestrated a fraudulent plan to get full-time daycare and transportation services for Halsey's son, falsely claiming that the program and services were educationally necessary for the child, prosecutors said their investigation revealed.

The investigation also determined Morgan padded his employment application with false details, prosecutors said. Morgan resigned from Brick schools on Dec. 31, 2013, after earning more than $60,000 from the district since March of that year.

Brick Mayor John Ducey said he had only recently learned about the incident, and didn't know the facts of the case.

"My thought is that anyone who abuses the public trust should be held accountable for their actions," he said. "Schools are strictly for the children. To hear that someone took advantage of that system for personal gain is disappointing."

Uszenski became superintendent of Brick Township Public Schools after serving as superintendent of Spotswood schools for three years. He was appointed to serve through June 30, 2016, with an annual salary of $177,500. In Spotswood, he was paid $142,000 the year before he left the district.

In 2014, he received a total salary of $177,500 from the Brick Township Board of Education, according to public employee records on DataUniverse.

News of Uszenski's arrest came as a shock to Sue Purcell, president of the Osbornville Elementary School Parent Teachers Organization.

"I would have never thought that of him," Purcell said. "I don't know him on a personal level, but I could call him if we needed something at the school, and he responded."

Purcell said last summer Uszenski helped with the children's playground at the Osbornville Elementary School. It had become a dirt lot or, as some called it, "dust pit." Over the summer Uszenski had grass planted and a sprinkler system installed, she said.

"This is just very shocking," said Purcell.

Prosecutor's spokesman Al Della Fave said Thursday that investigators went to the Brick Board of
Education to execute search and arrest warrants.

A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Uszenski declined to comment.

When asked if Walter Uszenski was available, the man said, "He's not here, and there will be no comment," then hung up.

A message left at a number listed for Jacqueline Halsey was not immediately returned. It was not known if she had hired an attorney yet.


Steph Solis: 732-643-4043; ssolis@gannettnj.com. Kathleen Hopkins: 732-643-4202; Khopkins@gannettnj.com. Dan Radel and Amanda Oglesby contributed to this report.

For pictures and more on the story visit the app.com website.

Homeschooling up 61% in Ten Years - Another Teacher Arrested

It is not surprising to hear that homeschooling is up, especially if you follow the stories of teachers arrested. 

This story comes from Georgia where a teacher was allowing students to have sex in a closet.   The following story appears on Wate.com website.  Go to the website for pictures.

However, will my children be properly socialized? The things they will miss out on by not attending public school paid for by our neighbors (sarcasm intended).

Cathy

Georgia teacher arrested after claims he let students have sex in storage closet

By WSB-TV

STONE MOUNTAIN Ga. (WSB-TV) – A DeKalb County middle school teacher and coach has been arrested after a mother claims he allowed students to have sex in his classroom closet.

Quinton Wright was arrested Tuesday afternoon and has been charged with four misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Channel 2’s Tom Regan spoke with the parent Monday, who said she couldn’t believe what was happening.

“I was in a state of disbelief when I read all these messages,” the mother said, asking to remain anonymous.

The mother told Regan she looked at her 14-year-old son’s phone and discovered a shocking exchange of text messages last Thursday between him and Quinton Wright, a math teacher and coach at Champion Theme Middle School in Stone Mountain.

“Basically he’s allowing the students to have sex in a storage room of his classroom,” the mother said.

“He told my son you can have it from 7:30 to like 8:30,” the mother said reading some of the messages. “’Did you tell the girl what’s going to happen? That she cannot tell anybody?’ basically don’t tell anyone I’m allowing you to use my room.”

The mother said the teacher also sent her son a calendar showing teachers’ schedules and a text saying he did not have condoms.

“It’s very sickening and disheartening, because we trust administrators and educators when we drop our kids off at school,” the mother said.

The mother told Regan she pulled her eighth-grader from school Friday and contacted the school’s principal and police. She said she also filed a complaint.

The DeKalb County school system removed the 25-year-old teacher from the classroom.

The student’s mother told Regan she was suspicious of the teacher from earlier behavior.

“He called me when the kids are at their eighth-grade prom and asked if he could come over and take pictures with the boys before the prom, and I said no,” the mother said.

Wright’s bons(sic) was set at $ 16,000.

Students Opting Out of Federalized Smarter Balanced Assessment

The following piece appeared on WCSH6.com.

Cathy

Bill would eliminate new statewide standardized test

AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Students across the state are taking a brand new standardized test this year, and it's drawing complaints from teachers and students.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment is designed to measure students' progress in meeting newly adopted common core standards. Students and teachers have complained that the test takes too much time away from learning and has technical problems.

"Out of our five day week of school, one hour every day to learn how to prepare for the test for about three weeks that could've been way better used doing another core class or doing a class you wanted to have fun in like chorus or band," said Gorham eighth grader Evelyn Kithcen. "Instead we had to do test prep and then once we finally got to the test it was 2 1/2 hours for a week that could've been used to learn something new."

A legislative committee heard testimony Monday on one bill that would do away with the test, and another that would make it clear that students can opt out of testing. The Department of Education is opposed to the opt out bill. The acting commissioner said it violates federal law.

"Nowhere in the law does it mention the state," said Department of Education Acting Commissioner Tom Desjardin. "So this is really a situation between the federal government and the schools to where they send money, and for us to interfere with that and say it's okay to opt out or it's not okay to opt out is not really our place, it's not our law."

The Department of Education is not taking a position on the bill to eliminate the test. Desjardin said when it comes time to select a company to provide statewide English and math testing next year the department will choose the test that is the most cost-effective and takes less time away from learning.

Gender Fluidity Studies?

With many students not reading or performing math at grade level, seems kind of silly to focus on this.  Lets get children performing at grade appropriate level before we verve off course.

The following piece appeared on PJMedia.com.

Cathy

Coming Soon to a Middle School Near You: ‘Gender Fluidity’ Studies
by Rick Moran

One of the nation’s largest public school systems is contemplating introducing the concept of “gender fluidity” into its curriculum. In case you’re not up to speed on the latest in the gender identity nonsense, gender fluidity posits the notion that biology doesn’t matter — that no one is 100% girl or 100% boy.

The radical gender-identity crowd is determined to mainstream transgenderism. In this campaign, science doesn’t matter. Biology is a fraud. Only personal feelings and fulfillment is what counts.
I know that kids are growing up faster these days, but is this really an appropriate subject for middle schoolers?
Fox News:

Fairfax County Public Schools released a report recommending changes to their family life curriculum for grades 7 through 12. The changes, which critics call radical gender ideology, will be formally introduced next week.

“The larger picture is this is really an attack on nature itself – the created order,” said
Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council.

“Human beings are created male and female. But the current transgender ideology goes way beyond that. They’re telling us you can be both genders, you can be no gender, you can be a gender that you make up for yourself. And we’re supposed to affirm all of it.”
The plan calls for teaching seventh graders about transgenderism and tenth graders about the concept that sexuality is a broader spectrum — but it sure smells like unadulterated sex indoctrination.

Get a load of what the kids are going to be learning in middle school:
“Students will be provided definitions for sexual orientation terms heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality; and the gender identity term transgender,” the district’s recommendations state. “Emphasis will be placed on recognizing that everyone is experiencing changes and the role of respectful, inclusive language in promoting an environment free of bias and discrimination.”

Eighth graders will be taught that individual identity “occurs over a lifetime and includes the component of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

“Individual identity will also be described as having four parts – biological gender, gender identity (includes transgender), gender role, and sexual orientation (includes heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual).”

The district will also introduce young teenagers to the “concept that sexuality is a broader spectrum.” By tenth grade, they will be taught that one’s sexuality “develops throughout a lifetime.”

This is not a new movement. It has been on the fringes of the LGBT community for years. But trying to mainstream completely unproven theories about gender identity is political, not educational — and certainly not scientific.

The idea that there is more to gender than biology is not without merit. Under very rare and specific circumstances, people born male have been shown to have female biological characteristics and vice versa. This doesn’t mean these people should all be given free sex change operations under Obamacare. Neither does it mean that any of these gender-conflicted individuals will become gay, or bi, or have any sexual orientation beyond their biological attraction for the opposite sex.

But the scientific basis for transgenderism is still weak — especially as it is defined by the radicals. Like most of human sexuality, gender identity is poorly understood with much to learn. One thing is certain, however: it is a topic that should be approached with a lot more care and concern if it is going to be taught to middle schoolers.

Besides, the county schools recently passed a measure that would allow boys and girls to choose whatever bathroom or locker room they felt like using:

School Board spokesman John Torre told the Washington Times the proposed curriculum changes have nothing to do with last week’s vote to allow boys who identity as girls to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

He would have us believe it was purely coincidental.

To make matters worse, Lafferty contends parents will not be able to opt their children out of the classes because the lessons will be a part of the mandatory health curriculum.

However, Torre told me that parents will indeed be able to opt out of those classes “including the sexual orientation and gender identity lessons.”

“They are not being forthright with the information,” Lafferty said. “They are not telling people the truth. They are bullying parents. They are intimidating and they are threatening.”

So what’s new from this crowd? Bullying is their MO, as is intimidation and threats. Your kids will be forced to tolerate transgenderism as it is being promoted by the LGBT community, even though it has far more to do with politics than “health education.”