Friday, May 03, 2013
Secret recording, Devil's Messenger cited in new charges against Randy Turner
The secret recording of my interrogation by the Joplin School District's human resources (HR) director and my 2006 horror/mystery novel Devil's Messenger are featured in an amended set of charges that were delivered to my apartment late today by an employee of the H. R. Department.
As I noted in an earlier post, the original complaints were all about my two most recent books, Scars from the Tornado and No Child Left Alive (the latter book a novel I published under my real name William Turner).
They have also changed their tune about Scars from the Tornado and are now saying that I did not receive district permission or get "proper" parental permission for the book.
Among the items in the new complaint:
-"Mr. Turner. encouraged his middle school students to read his books, including No Child Left Alive and Devil's Messenger, in order to discuss them in class."
-"Mr. Turner maintained a copy of Devil's Messenger in his classroom library readily available to and accessible by children. Devil's Messenger was read by at least one student in Mr. Turner's class."
-"Mr. Turner willfully and persistently failed to obey the school laws of the state or the published regulations of the Board of Education by providing and promoting obscene material he authored entitled No Child Left Alive that contains graphic depictions of sexuality rape, infidelity, profanity, domestic violence and school violence to twelve, thirteen, and fourteen year old children through his blog for his middle school communications class. (They are still talking about Room 210 Discussion, which is not a classroom blog and they know full well it is not a classroom blog.) He has further willfully and/or persistently failed to obey the school laws of the state or the published regulations of the Board of Education by providing and promoting obscene material he authored entitled Devil's Messenger that contains graphic depictions of sexuality, rape, infidelity, violence, profanity, alcohol and drug use, and suicidal ideations to twelve, thirteen, and fourteen year old children through his middle school communication arts class."
-"No Child Left Alive, which Mr. Turner made available to middle school students through the Room 210 Discussion classroom blog, contains communications of a sexual nature, including comments about sexual activity, in violation of Board Policy AC. Likewise, Devil's Messenger, which Mr. Turner made available to middle school students, contains communications of a sexual nature, including comments about sexual activity in violation of Board Policy AC."
-"The actions of Mr. Turner in making No Child Left Alive available to middle school students through the Room 210 Discussion classroom blog and in making Devil's Messenger available to middle school students through his classroom demonstrate a failure to maintain professional boundaries by communcating with students about sexual topics in violation of Board Policy GBH."
-"Mr. Turner engaged in conduct that violates Board Policy GBH by making No Child Left Alive available to middle school students through the Room 210 Discussion classroom blog, thereby using electronic communications to communicate with students regarding matters of a sexual nature."
"Mr. Turner violated Board Policy GBCB when he posted on a classroom blog, made available to students, and encouraged them to read for discussion purposes No Child Left Alive, which fails to promote quality instruction, contains sexually explicit and age-inappropriate content, and contains profanity. Likewise, he violated Board Policy GBCB when he made Devil's Messenger available to students through his classroom."
"Mr. Turner violated Board Policy IGBDA when he posted, made available to students, and encouraged them to read for discussion purposes unofficial material in the form of No Child Left Alive on the Room 210 Discussion blog without obtaining prior authorization. Likewise, Mr. Turner violated Board Policy IGBDA when he made Devil's Messenger available to students through his classroom without obtaining prior authorization."
-"Mr. Turner violated Board Policy IIA when he posted, made available to students, and encouraged them to read for discussion purposes No Child Left Alive, which fails to meet the district's high standard for quality instructional materials and fails to advance the goals of the district on the Room 210 Discussion blog. Likewise, he violated Board Policy IIA when he made Devil's Messenger available to students through his classroom."
Scars from the Tornado
The following charges were made about the book Scars from the Tornado.
-"Mr. Turner instructed his eighth grade students to write the stories and comments that were later incorporated into Scars from the Tornado."
"Mr. Turner then compiled his students' work into a book that he has marketed for personal gain."
-The District did not obtain permission from parents to publish their children's education records, and Mr. Turner did not seek or obtain permission from the District to publish his students' classroom works.
-The District was unaware that Mr. Turner was publishing his students' classroom works and, to the District's knowledge, the parents of students in Mr. Turner's class did not give permission for Mr. Turner to publish their children's classroom works in Scars from the Tornado, a personal publication of Mr. Turner's."
"Mr. Turner engaged in a conflict of interest in violation of Board Policy GBCA when he caused his students to create work product that he used to publish and sell without their authorization, without the authorization of their parents, and/or without the authorization of the district."
"Mr. Turner engaged in a conflict of interest in violation of Board Policy GBCA when he attempted to use his position with the District to cause parents and students to purchase Scars from the Tornado on Amazon.com
-"Mr. Turner violated Board Policy IGDB by publishing students' personally identifiable education records without the District obtaining and receiving consent of parents/guardians or eligible students."
-"Mr. Turner violated Board Policy GBC by publishing student records without authorization."
-"Mr. Turner willfully or persistently failed to obey the school laws of the state or the published regulations of the Board of Education by publishing the work of students created for class for personal gain without District and proper parent authorization after he had notice of policies that would prevent him from doing so."
RECORDING OF MY INTERROGATION
The following charges were made about the recording of my four-minute questioning by the human resources director.
"On April 8, 2013, Ms. Tina Smith met with Mr. Turner to discuss his conduct (you can hear how much of a discussion there was in the recording). At the beginning of the meeting, Ms. Smith gave Mr. Turner a copy of Board Policy KKB- Audio and Visual Recording. Ms. Smith explained the District's policy against tape recording such as that one.
"Ms. Smith asked Mr. Turner to turn off his cell phone to ensure he was not recording the meeting. Mr. Turner appeared to comply. However, he secretly continued to record the meeting in a manner that was hidden from Ms. Smith.
"Following the April 8, 2013, meeting, Mr. Turner revealed that he had surreptitiously recorded the meeting by posting the recording of his meeting with Ms. Smith on The Turner Report, which is one of Mr. Turner's blogs.
"Mr. Turner's conduct, as described above, is in violation of Board Policy KKB (Audio and Visual Recording), which states in pertinent part: The district has established limits on the use of recording equipment in order to minimize disruption and protect instructional time essential to improving student achievement. Any recording activity, even activity permitted under the policy, will be prohibited if the activity creates a disruption in the education process."
It goes on to say four more times by not following Ms. Smith's orders.
***
I would wager that considering the high price of lawyers that the Joplin School District is spending thousands, more likely tens of thousands to get rid of me for things that they know are not true. How many other people have been pushed out the past few years who have not been able to have a recording or the platform I have to make my case.
And how much money is the district wasting on other things, including the kinds of things I wrote about in No Child Left Alive?
Feel free to comment.
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24 comments:
It appears to me that the Joplin R8 School Administration has done more to promote your books, No Child Left Alive and The Devil's Messenger, than you could ever have imagined. With all due respect to your writing prowess, Mr. Turner, if the R8 School District had just ignored it all, your Kindle book downloads would most probably have been slight and there would not have been so much tax payer monies spent on all of this.
It is the view of the Joplin School's Administration, that sex doesn't exist. If they are going to push this Abstinence "Sex Education" class (like I had to take), and don't allow a mention of it in any other corner of school, what use is the class?
What is the point of sheltering these eighth graders, if they are going to be thrown into a high school environment where sex does exist, and the teachers won't deny it. What is the major difference between eighth grade, and ninth grade? It's not some major transition of maturity and understanding, so why try to act like it?
I support you, Mr. Turner, regardless of what they say.
To My Fellow Parents,
Does it not seem incredibly obvious now why our children are getting an inadequate education? If their education is being developed with the same ineptness as this fiasco, we can't expect much good to happen. Student records were not published, and the recording of an interview between two adults in a private meeting in no way compromised student achievement. Yanking the teacher out of the room on trumped up charges because of the injured pride of vain administrators might be harmful to their progress, however, so maybe the wrong person has been sent home?
The only way this will all be stopped, from Randy's situation to the poor quality of education our children are receiving, is if we PARENTS demand from the Joplin Schools Board of Education a swift and immediate change of direction. No more waiting to see if the people in charge can correct themselves. No more worrying about the damage to public image if there is apparent conflict. Our reputation as a community has been injured already by this ridiculous mess, and the level of learning our children receive has already been made public with their data reports, so let's get busy and demand something better. Everyone needs to contact the Board constantly until they actually clean up the mess that they and Dr. Huff have allowed to fester and grow for years now. We need to demand new leadership and, preferably, experienced and wise leadership for our children. Don't waste your time calling Central Office, as you will never get through and they obviously don't care what anyone thinks. Demand change from the Board and don't stop until it is done. It is OUR school system. It does not belong to the Board, or upper administration, or the principals or teachers. The schools belong to the COMMUNITY and the community should demand better. Stop sitting there silently and demand a change today. Nothing will improve until you join me and make those calls, write letters to the Board and to the paper, and insist on what you want.
Once again, let's think about which party, Mr. Turner or the Joplin School District, has made inappropriate material available to the students. Any student with a laptop, and next year with an iPad, provided to them AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE, can go home or to any place with a network and obtain all of the sexually explicit material they desire. Not only can they obtain it, they can make their own inappropriate, sexually explicit material which they can then Skype, thanks to that program, to dirty people all over the world. And it doesn't stop there. They can use those laptops to arrange drug deals, which has happened at school and at home, to play games all day and night, and to be on social networking sites all day and night. The kids say constantly that the laptops are a distraction and they'd rather have books, so WHICH PARTY IS ACTUALLY IMPAIRING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT? WHICH PARTY IS PUTTING THE WELFARE OF STUDENTS AT RISK?
I guess my kids do something productive with them once in a while, but overall, I think they learned more before they had the computers. I take them away at home if the kids are not doing homework, which I make them do in the kitchen, because I hear too many bad stories about what kids are doing, and because I don't allow my kids to play very many games or to use social networking at home. It just isn't the best use of their time. I want something better for my kids, but not all parents have the luxury of monitoring their kids at home. Some parents have to work at night and there is no one to watch what their kids do.
This is a sad situation that never needed to happen, from Mr. Turner's charges to the downfall of our schools. I will pray for Mr. Turner, all of our students, and the teachers. They all deserve better than this.
is this the same district that put an alleged child predator in charge of its technology? Their commitment to the welfare of the kids totally underwhelms me.
How much money is being wasted is the question of the day, folks. We'd all like to know that, wouldn't we? How many excess jobs have been made, how many trips have been taken, who went, and why, how much came in through donations and how has it been spent, how does Bright Futures spend its money, etc., etc., etc. How much is spent on substitutes when the teachers are pulled out of classes all the time? Why are they pulled out of classes so often? Doesn't appear to be a wise investment. How much more money will be needed to keep that new high school going? New programs means more staff which means more money. Where is that going to come from? What or who will be cut for that? We want answers. Now. And don't ask us for any more money. The well is dry because of this stupid situation. Get it together, R-8. The whole world is now watching.
Just think, the same inept and deceitful people who made this evil situation come to life are the same people in charge of the cookie jar and all of its millions of donated and tax dollars. Do we trust them to be honest? I sure don't.
the only career paths these people are interested in are their own. please don't ask me to foot the bill.
The problem with Mr. Turner's Scars from the Tornado book about he and his kids spending a year in that warehouse school is that it never should have happened. The media needs to look into the biggest scandal involving Dr. Besendorfer and the Joplin School District. THOSE KIDS SHOULD NOT BE IN THAT WAREHOUSE! The construction company said the old East building could have been ready for classes by August 15, 2011. Even the gym would have been ready, but Dr. B wanted a "21st Century" middle school to go with her "21st Century" elementary school and her "21st Century" high school. It took months for her to convince the insurance company that East needed to be torn down. I would love to see all of the correspondence between administration and the insurance and construction companies. Supposedly, one of the reasons she gave for the need to tear down East was because they couldn't find bricks to match the building. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! Joplin taxpayers are out millions of dollars and even worse some of those poor kids will end up spending two and a half years in a warehouse when they could have recovered more easily from the SCARS FROM THE TORNADO if they had been in comfortable familiar surroundings. WE HAVE TO PUT A STOP TO THIS WOMAN!
It is easy to see why this is happening. In Mr. Turner's book No Child Left Alive the administrators pull teachers out of their classrooms over and over for one meeting or seminar after another. We have teachers in tested areas who have been pulled out of classrooms 15 to 20 days. This happens year after year. A few years back, some of our teachers and administrators went out of state to hear a speaker who apparently impressed Dr. B. Instead of doing what most school districts do and having teachers report back to their fellow teachers what they learned at the seminar, she brought the speaker to Joplin, rented Butcher's Block, pulled out more than 50 teachers to listen to what he said, paid for their meals and though I don't know how much they paid for the speaker, his website said he charged $10,000 a speech. So they paid probably $15,000 not counting the out of state seminar, compromised the kids education by pulling out their classroom teachers, and then never followed the main point the speaker made which was not to base your teaching around standardized tests. They always tell you they are doing this with grants, but many of those grants require matching funds from the school district and all of the grants come from taxpayer dollars.
I don't think Besendorker works alone. All guilty parties need to be held accountable.
It has only been a few weeks since besendorfer flew 23 people from Tulsa to Houston to your the high school that the current high school is being modeled on. It cost 50 bucks each to tour it plus airline, substitute costs, hotel rooms, and food. I don't understand the purpose of the trip if the school is already chosen? Is support falling?Only besendorfer doesn't fly with everyone else. She flies directly from Joplin. So add that to the cost. The money they wasted is immoral considering that it did nothing to "foster student achievement" and it pulled a lot of teachers from their classes. I doubt that helped with student achievement either. There seems to be no stopping these people. They have no shame at all.
The week before the former tech director moved to Vegas she and her replacement took a trip to Florida. We know this because they posted the pictures of the good time they were having at the beach on Facebook. We hope you ladies had a good time at our expense!!
Randy, After this fiasco began, I read No Child Left Alive. Although I do not care for the sex and language, it is no different than what I have read in some of Robert Ludlum's books. While reading it, though, I could not help but see the similarities in the book to what is going on in Joplin. No wonder they are going after you with trumped up charges. It has nothing to do with the kids whatsoever as you have repeatedly said and shown that this book was not part of your classroom discussions. You were hitting too close to home and had to be silenced and taught a lesson--you don't get in the way of certain people's plans or point out their egregious waste of taxpayer dollars.
As for the recording, how can they claim you violated board policy? The policy listed only talks about the education process. You were not at that time in the education process, but being interrogated outside the presence of your attorney. I would have recorded it as well.
Not being a Joplin resident, I do not get to decide the fate of the current board members. I hope, though, that the parents of Joplin will inundate their board members with calls and letters until they put a rest to this nonsense and start looking into the real reasons the school district is sliding.
Good teachers who actually love to teach and love seeing their students develop as learners are becoming harder and harder to come by. I hope Joplin does not throw away one of these teachers.
Sincerely,
Trent Walker
I retired from Joplin Schools a few years ago. I was so sorry to go, but it was time for me to take care of my elderly parents. I thought we had so much to offer then. I am so sad to see all of these posts telling the world about how things have fallen in just a few short years. There was so much going positively when I left. We were accredited with distinction several years in a row. Now being accredited at all is looking doubtful. The teachers I talk to are overwhelmed with changes and initiatives and meetings. They are so upset with every thing they see. I am angry with them. This is the result of poor management and nothing else. There are successful schools all across this nation that have old buildings, old furniture, and limited technology. But their kids learn because those teachers have a passion for what they do and they get to teach instead of being pulled for constant meetings, and the kids are expected to be there and to behave.
How will upper administration ever face these teachers again? What can the school board say after letting everyone down? I can't imagine what they can say, or if they even believe they should.
I wish my former colleagues and their new peers the best of luck, and I hope that Randy Turner is restored to the classroom. I would think if he had done anything that bad that the parents of the student victims would be the ones talking. Instead I read the comments from parents and students saying they want him back. My prayers are with all of you.
The children of Joplin deserve better than what they're being shown by school leadership.They have suffered enough without one of their favorite teachers being humiliated and punished out of revenge. They need teachers in a safe and nurturing learning environment who have everything they need to work with. They need to know they can count on their teachers to be there for them. And what do you do? You try to fire one of the best and the rest are wanting to go where their careers will be less frustrating.
Shame on you, Joplin Schools! Shame on you.
My little girl is in the third grade. She has never had homework. She has not brought a book home from the library in a long time and shows little interest in reading. But she can tell me what a qwerty keyboard is. I don't care if she knows what a keyboard is until middle school, if even then. I want her to have a passion for learning and reading and a solid skill base.
We need change. Please don't let another year start without a return to some common sense regarding education. I will move her to a private school or another district if I have to. She is too important to me to let her be a victim of any more of what I am seeing here. I want her to have what I had.
I don't know Randy Turner personally but I have been beat up on his blog many times over the years. Mostly about how he disagreed with my actions concerning school reform when I was in the Missouri legislature. While we have disagreed on that topic I have always felt he was a dedicated teacher with real world experience that benefited his students. It's clear to me he brought energy and learning into the classroom. That's what we need more of in Missouri schools. I have not read his books but I'm sure if you go to the Joplin middle school library you will be shocked to see what kids can checkout and read. I bet its way worse that anything in his books. He seems to be open and totally willing to get all the info and facts out in the open, which says a lot about the situation. I wish him well.
To all,
I too am a local blogger. I have posted two blogs of late which can be found at ansonburlingame.wordpress.com with titles Public Trust and Professional Loyalty. Both reflect my views on some of the issues associated with this matter and I encourage discussion, along those lines, herein or on the two blogs linked above.
Second, I note the number of "anonymous" comments herein on this particular post. I wonder why all folks cannot just use their real names to debate a very important issue, the "relief for cause" of a teachers, to use an old military term.
Finally, I believe this issue is a NATIONAL issue, not just a dispute, locally, between one teacher and the local school administration. It is a question of how ANY public employee, one being paid at taxpayer expense can and should address issues related to such employment. To me it boils down to one of "civil restraint" and "public trust".
Read my own blogs to more fully understand such a view, for what it is worth.
Anson Burlingame
I just read Mr. Burlingame's pompous piece titled "Professional Loyalty" and my overall impression of it is of a man living in and writing about a world that no longer exists. His belief that you don't criticize your employer while you are working for that body but rather take your grievances through proper channels, and, if they're not addressed, quit and then go public, is completely absurd in a nation of high unemployment. In other words, if your grievances are ignored (as they would be), and you can't afford to resign, bite your tongue until it bleeds and remain silent while taxpayer money is spent recklessly, school curriculum focuses on tested areas only, and teachers are fired without union representation. I decided to make my comment on Mr. Turner's blog rather than Mr. Burlingame's because this is the proper context it.
Names aren't used because it isn't safe. All you have to do is look at Randy's circumstances to see what happens when some people want vengeance. If open communication was available then the whole mess might not have happened.
One supportivwe comment was posted on my own blog and one negative one, accusing me of being "pompous" is on this one. Such is trying to "battle in blogs", when the REAL truth will be revealed, PUBLICLY, with both sides having the chance to "show their names and faces" to make their case(s). I much prefer that path than all the anonymous "stuff" flying around.
"Not safe to speak up" someone says. That is just WRONG, almost "unAmerican" in my mind. ANYONE can "speak up" using good reason, logic, meaningful political debate etc. Only when such "exposure" turns vicious, polemical, attempting to "destroy" the other side, should anyone be fearful of anything.
And the real thing for such people to FEAR is being diminished by their own words, ridiculous and one-sided arguments. I would never sign my name to such "stuff" simply because it is childish, has little or no basis in fact and sounds only like a school yard argument!!!.
AT LEAST the man posting on my blog, signed his first name, for all to see. What are you now going to do, find out where he lives or works and throw tomatoes at him!!!
Come ahead you anonymous "whoevers" My name and address is in the phone book.
Anson Burlingame
AS WELL,
Some have publicly claimed Mr. Turner is a good or great teacher. Well I have never met the man nor sat in his classroom. So how do I know for sure whether he is or is not a good or great teacher?
I sent Randy a private email and asked specific questions, some information related to the performance of his students. I did so politely and agreeing that the answers would remain private.
No reply yet, a private or even public reply.
Tina doesn't investigate AT all. She just does whatever her superiors tell her to. She's like a lap dog. There is no way any grievance will be addressed by her fairly or impartially.
The FTC nursing staff have been caught on tape bullying a student and calling her names in front of a class room of students. The HR department told the student she was not allowed to tape these things and have told her that the harassment and bullying by these staff and students doesn't rise to the level of legal "harassment." The grievances she filed went I investigated and after the teachers told the class that she reported them students in the class have threatened her life, placed knives in her door, egged her car, and busted her windshield.
But according to Tina that's not harassment. The only thing she did was write the student up for violating the school policy on recording. Sounds to me like they just don't want the real truth out there!!!
Students are not safe at Joplin Schools. The grievance policy doesn't work. Students don't want to file because they will be retaliated against or face harassment.
There is no confidentiality. Admin cannot be trusted... So yeah, you have to record every conversation. It's not like you can trust the HR department to protect you. They are only out to protect the administration. The students don't matter. Fairness doesn't matter. These people font know what integrity is!!!
Record record record! Protect yourselves!!!!
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