Alone in his bunker- the C. J. Huff story

It is  not a problem most of us will ever have to face.

Alone in his bunker at 32nd and Duquesne, C. J. Huff had a serious decision to make- Should he put "hero of the Joplin Tornado" at the top of his resume or should he put it somewhere slightly lower on the first page and show that he has remained a modest man in spite of all of the acclaim that has come his way since May 22, 2011?

People had been telling him for the past two years that he needed to cash in while he was still a hot commodity and they were not just talking about the frequent speeches he has made all across the country.

Other jobs were out there, other school districts, business possibilities, maybe even becoming a full-time motivational speaker. He had enjoyed the interaction with those who attended his presentations and the news clippings, all of which mentioned either that he had been brought to tears or he was at the brink of tears as he related the events of May 22 and the days afterward.

But C. J. Huff stayed in Joplin where he was loved. He had to be loved; his Bright Futures partners told him so.

Little by little, the hero facade that was erected around C. J. Huff after the tornado began fading away as he said things that reminded people of the days before May 22 when he was a mortal just like the rest of us.

-When more than 200 teachers left the district in two years, he said it was because their spouses had found jobs in other communities. That made sense. When the husbands get jobs, the little women have to follow.

-When he spent thousands of dollars of taxpayer money on a thank you tour at a time when district funds were dwindling. The people who helped Joplin would have appreciated phone calls and sincere thank-you letters just as much.

-When he, with the unanimous stamp of approval of the R-8 Board of Education, submitted a five-year strategic plan that called for the district reserves to fall to as low as eight percent, but to miraculously climb back up to 25 percent, even though no efforts were being made to curb spending.

-When he made a call to an employer and suggested it would not be a good idea that if an employee decided to run for Board of Education.

-When he made references to being a conservative and about conservatives having pitchforks and torches.

It has been one thing after another and it has not helped that during the past few months, he has had federal and state officials on his back about nagging paltry little things like proper use of Title I funds and questionable practices that led to higher graduation rates.

How could anyone question the graduation rates? Would the Joplin R-8 School District have spent $3,000 for a party for local businessman to announce an 85 percent graduation rate if it were not so?

C. J. Huff may have missed the best time to leave, but signs that he should be looking have been all around him for the past few months.

Though he was never really that close with Angie Besendorfer, she had been able to take care of the day-to-day management of the school district while Huff busied himself with the herculean tasks of increasing the graduation rates and continuing to build a Bright Futures empire.

When she resigned, all of a sudden Huff found himself surrounded by people whose chief loyalty was to Besendorfer and not to him. Even worse, many of the people were not qualified for the positions they held. Some lacked the proper degrees; most had little, if any experience, and many of the people who were there had not been hired because of any management ability or any outstanding knowledge of education, but because they were willing to do, without question, anything Besendorfer asked them to do. Huff needed a bulldog to do the kinds of things that Besendorfer had done and fortunately, he had one in human resources director Tina Smith. She was not really qualified to be a chief operating officer, but that approach had worked for Besendorfer, and this would enable him to continue to concentrate on graduation rates, Bright Futures and spreading the gospel of the Joplin Tornado across the nation.

Still, despite having someone else to handle the day-to-day operation of the school district, C. J. Huff has been a worried man. There are people running for the board of education who want to change the way he does things, maybe even force him out.
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How can you force out the hero of the Joplin Tornado?

The sunset of C. J. Huff's time with the Joplin R-8 School District seems to be at hand. He sits alone in his bunker, surrounded by people who have never been loyal to him, guiding hundreds of people who have been in fear of Angie Besendorfer, Mike Johnson, or Tina Smith.

The idea that he was a man of the people, who just happened to be surrounded by autocratic administrators who have ruled by keeping the district's employees in fear of losing their jobs, is no longer held. Even those who have been long-time supporters of Huff know that it is he, no one else, who is ultimately responsible for the waves of teachers and staff members who have left the district.

Huff can look out his door and see Bright Futures, but there are no bright futures on his horizon.

Tina Smith: This is how we're going to raise employee morale at Joplin R-8

Newly-minted Chief Operating Officer Tina Smith just told the Joplin R-8 Board of Education about a new program designed to improve morale among district staff.

At a time when it appears that the district may lose more than 100 teachers for the third year in a row, Mrs. Smith introduced the "Eagle of the Week" program.

One employee will be spotlighted each Monday on the district website, she said. "We knew we needed to do a better job of recognizing our staff on a regular basis."

The Eagle of the Week winner will receive dinner for four at a local restaurant and have his or her photo taken.

That should keep any more teachers from resigning.

Joplin R-8 official to teachers: Stay out of school board race

The Joplin R-8 School District Chief Operations Officer Tina Smith, now situated firmly as Superintendent C. J. Huff's right hand man and enforcer, sent an e-mail to teachers last week giving instructions on how they should conduct themselves as far as the Board of Education race is concerned.

Though there have been school board races in the past, no such reminders were issued during the past decade when I worked as a teacher in the district:

We would like to take this opportunity to remind employees that District resources, including, but not limited to, copiers, fax machines, phones and the Joplin Schools' email system are not to be used to urge a vote for or against any candidate, group of candidates or ballot issue. You should not include any information in your publications or materials sent to parents urging people to support or oppose candidates or ballot issues.

Additionally, in regard to School Board Elections, State law prohibits teachers from participating in the management of a campaign for the election or defeat of a member of the Board of Education that employs such teacher.

We encourage our staff members to review the Missouri Revised Statutes and the Board of Education Policies listed at the top of this page.

The following constitute summary guidelines related to campaigns. "Work hours" generally means any time an employee is engaged in the performance of his or her duties as an employee of the district, whether during or outside of regular school hours.

While state law only prohibits teachers from holding management roles in school board campaigns, teachers who talked to the Turner Report said they took Ms. Smith's message as a not-so-subtle warning not to get involved at all or to say anything about the election to anyone.

Interestingly enough, state law does not prohibit superintendents or other administrators from participating in or even managing board of education campaigns.

Huff promotes Besendorfer's attack dog to top administrative post

The woman who has played a key role in the departure of hundreds of teachers from the Joplin R-8 School District in the past two years is moving up the administrative ladder.

With Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer leaving the district, instead of searching for someone who might be qualified to take over the duties, it appears that Superintendent C. J. Huff has instead promoted Besendorfer's attack dog, human resources director Tina Smith to the newly created post of chief operations officer.

The move comes at approximately the same time that the Turner Report published information from Division of Employment Security documents that indicate that Huff and Ms. Smith buried allegations of insurance fraud and violations of other laws against Mike Johnson, the former district director of buildings, grounds, and transportation and current head of building projects.

The documents also included an allegation that Ms. Smith hired a district employee to paint her house.

Ms. Smith has also worked hand-in-hand with Besendorfer to remove principals and teachers who either dared to oppose Besendorfer or who stood in the way of someone Besendorfer wanted promoted to certain positions, often making sure that they are escorted out of the building, sometimes by police officers, not only to humiliate them, but also to send a message to other employees.

The one thing Ms. Smith is not is a chief operations officer.

But then again, perhaps I am being a bit too harsh. Promoting someone who is not qualified has been a hallmark of the Huff Administration, always backed by 7-0 votes from the Board of Education.

Consider this segment from a post I wrote November 25.

Anyone who thought the Joplin R-8 School District saved money when two of its four superintendent positions were eliminated has not been looking into the growing number of $50,000 plus employees who work out of the Administration Building at 32nd and Duquesne.

During Jim Simpson's last year as superintendent, he had three assistants, Besendorfer, Doerr, and Domer. Paul Barr was CFO, a position he still holds, Angela Neria was in charge of technology, a position now held by Klista Rader, and Janet Earl ran special education.

Since that time, the following positions have been created:

-Director of Community Development- held by Kim Vann, who also serves as head of Bright Futures. Ms. Vann's background is not in education. She previously worked with the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.

-Human Relations- Tina Smith, with no education background, handles the job that was previously done by Steve Doerr, a veteran educator.

-Director of Curriculum and Instruction- Sarah Stevens was brought up from Besendorfer's personal training ground of junior administrators, the teaching coaches, this year to take this position.

-Director of Elementary Education- Jennifer Doshier was rewarded for her part in the elimination of nearly every teacher during her final year as McKinley Elementary principal by being moved into the central office.

-Director of High School Instruction- Jason Cravens handles this position.

-Assistant Director of Special Services- Mark Barlass had to be hired for this position since his immediate superior, Director of Special Services Lisa Orem, is not certified in special education. In fact, she is not even certified as an administrator any more. DESE records indicate Orem's principal certificate expired more than two years ago, on Sept. 1, 2011, and she is only certified as an elementary teacher.

Director of Buildings- Michael Johnson handles this position.

Teaching/Learning Coaches and 21st Century Learning Coaches- In addition to having principals and assistant principals at each school, Besendorfer has added teaching/learning coaches, ostensibly to help teachers, but with the understanding that they are to serve as the eyes and ears of upper administration (Besendorfer) at each school. The coaches have weekly all-day sessions in which they report to upper administration about what is going on in their buildings. After the addition of laptops for all high school students in the fall of 2011, the district added four 21st Century coaches, and then requested money for seven more in its 2012 federal Race to the Top application. Despite the U. S. Department of Education's rejection of the request, the seven coaches were hired.

Career Pathways Directors- Many of us can remember a time when principals ran a school, and if the school was big enough, there might be an assistant principal or two. Joplin has a principal, three assistants, and six Career Pathways directors. The district, under the Besendorfer plan of moving every high school student into one of five Career Pathways, has one director in charge of each pathway, and then a director in charge of the directors. Again, all of this was included in the Race to the Top application, which was rejected by the federal government. And again, despite the large amount of money, the cost was absorbed by the local budget. Of the six Career Pathways directors, only two are educators. Like so many of the other positions that have been added, they have been given to either people who have no educational background or who are woefully underqualified for the positions they hold.

In this kind of atmosphere, it would be a surprise if Tina Smith didn't rise to the top.

Angie Besendorfer may be headed for Western Governors University, but her legacy will live on.

Copies of C. J. Huff and the Assassination of a Teacher's Character available for 99 cents beginning Monday

On May 23, 2013, during a 10-hour hearing at the Joplin R-8 School District Administration Building at 32nd and Duquesne, five members of the C. J. Huff Administration, including Huff, not only sought to strip me of my teaching job at East Middle School, but also conspired to make sure I would never teach anywhere again and to send a message that this is what will happen to anyone in the school district who crosses them.

The e-book, C. J. Huff and the Assassination of a Teacher's Character, is a copy of the transcript of that hearing. (It has my name on the cover only because Amazon Kindle requires it.)

For one week, beginning Monday, the e-book will be available for 99 cents.

For those who want clear evidence not only of the lengths that the Huff Administration is willing to go to in order to get what it wants, or who want clear evidence why is time for the two incumbents who are running for re-election to the R-8 Board of Education, this book provides clear evidence.

Last week, I posted a copy of the letter I wrote to a board member detailing the problems that were taking place at East Middle School and in the Joplin School District. Despite possessing this information (or perhaps partially because of it) I was still voted out 7-0. Board President Jeff Flowers, despite knowing that the insinuations HR Director Tina Smith, Huff, and other Administration witnesses were making about me were not true, simply ignores my attorney's objections, time after time, while not one of the other board members said a word, even though it was clear that the witnesses were making insinuations about me that were not even hinted at in the charges. (One thing the book will not show is that the charges that were offered against me at the hearing were almost completely different from the ones that were originally made against me because I had successfully refuted those charges in Turner Report posts.)

The main thing that those who attended the hearing or who have read the transcript realized is that Administration's allegation that I had asked students to download and discuss my novel, No Child Left Alive, for a classroom assignment was dropped in favor of me "dangling" the book in front of students by offering it as a free download (despite the fact that they not only were never able to find any students who said they were assigned to download and read the book; they could not even find any students who had read the book or even heard of it.

The reason this transcript is so important is that it is the only instance I know of where the lengths the Huff Administration is willing to go to has been captured in sworn testimony. More stories about the people Huff and his administrators have bullied and the continuing intimidation of teachers and staff are starting to come forward.

This transcript shows just how complicit the Joplin R-8 Board of Education has been in the reign of terror C. J. Huff and his administrative team  has inflicted on our schools for the past six years.

Documents: Huff, Tina Smith bury allegations of lawbreaking, insurance fraud against Mike Johnson

Documents filed with the Missouri Division of Employment Security paint a portrait of an R-8 Administration that purposely chose to ignore allegations of lawbreaking, insurance fraud, verbal harassment, and disregard of federal, state, and local safety regulations against one of their own.

Not only did Superintendent C. J. Huff and R-8 Human Resources Director Tina Smith sweep the accusations against Buildings, Grounds, and Transportation Director Mike Johnson (now in charge of the building project) under the table, but after the whistleblower, environmental control worker Luther Hunt resigned because of the corrosive atmosphere, Ms. Smith took steps to deny Hunt unemployment benefits, according to the documents.

Hunt had documented his allegations in a 10-page letter to Huff, dated August 23, 2011, and sent to the superintendent by certified mail.

2013 in Review: Crackup imminent for C. J. Huff, Joplin Administration

(From September 8, 2013)

Paranoia has become rampant at the Joplin R-8 Administration Building, sources have told The Turner Report.

A source from within the administration said that Superintendent C. J. Huff has spent nearly as much time dealing with his "enemies" as he has with the school's business, likening it to an obsession.

Part of that obsession, the source said, came after I had been removed from my job as an eighth grade communication arts teacher at East Middle School. Huff was caught totally off guard by the revelation that I had recorded my "interrogation" by HR manager Tina Smith and has determined that no one is going to record anything he says unless it is something designed to promote him and the school district.

2013 in Review: Joplin R-8 cracked down on Turner Report MSSU coverage

(From June 2013) Joplin R-8 problems with my writing began long before the problems with three of my books that have me facing the imminent loss of my job and my teaching career.

Human Resources Director Tina Smith, the same person who conducted the four-minute interrogation of me April 8, sent word through East Middle School Principal Bud Sexson on March 12, 2012, that administration was unhappy with the Turner Report's coverage of Missouri Southern State University President Bruce Speck and was also unhappy that I had the nerve to refer to myself as a teacher in the Joplin School District.

Sexson also told me that "they," never specifying who he meant by "they," wanted me to stop writing about politicians. "They see that it might cause problems because they are trying to get money from the state for the disaster."

2013 in Review: The Books that Got Me Fired

(This post from April 2013 includes the audio of Joplin R-8 Human Resources Director Tina Smith's "interrogation" of me. Once the audio was released, my recording of the conversation for my own protection was added to the list of charges against me.)

(The following is my latest Huffington Post blog.)

Two weeks ago today, I walked out of my classroom for perhaps the last time.

It wasn’t anything I planned. Even when I wrote for Huffington Post a couple of weeks ago recommending that young people not become teachers, I never stopped loving my job. I never lost my enthusiasm for teaching eighth graders the finer points of writing.

My students are still in my classroom every day and will be until May 21.  I miss them greatly and hope, perhaps against all hope, that I will get a chance to be with them at least one more time before the school year ends.

That usually doesn’t happen, however, for teachers who have to be escorted from the school building by a police officer in full view of students who were boarding school buses to leave for the day.