CHARLESTON, W.Va.-- The Tuesday suspension of a Putnam County kindergarten teacher and an aide in connection with secret recordings where they are allegedly heard yelling at students, is a step in the right direction, but months late, the mother of one of the students said.
"It was downright verbal abuse, harassment and intimidation," Kathy Crouse said Wednesday. "If a parent had been caught, their kids would have been taken away. Why they continued to work [in the county's school system] for another month just blows my mind."
Members of the county Board of Education suspended Buffalo Elementary School teacher Carolyn Rogers and aide Yvonne Francisco on Tuesday. Both were suspended with pay pending the results of an internal investigation, Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said.
Hatfield said the school system began investigating allegations brought forward by Crouse, the parent of a kindergarten student at Buffalo Elementary, about three weeks ago.
Hatfield did not have a time frame Wednesday of when the investigation would be complete.
Crouse and several other parents of students in Rogers' kindergarten class met with board members on Sept 24, to voice their concerns about recordings of Rogers and Francisco in the classroom.
"[Rogers] was constantly yelling at the kids, she wouldn't let them go to the bathroom, she called them babies, telling them they didn't deserve to be in kindergarten. It was just one thing after another," Crouse said.
After the September meeting, Rogers and Francisco were reassigned to different schools in Putnam County, Crouse said. They were removed from all classrooms following their suspension Tuesday.
Crouse sent her son to school with a tape recorder in his backpack a week into the school year, as a last-ditch effort, when he began acting strangely.
Mike Stover, a parent of a child in the Buffalo kindergarten class, said what happened is not about one child or parent, but about the conduct of two teachers toward an entire class, and the school's administrator not taking action.
Stover said he and his wife also had been concerned something was not right when their son would only briefly talk about his day at school.
It wasn't until Crouse approached them with the tape that their suspensions were solidified, he said.
He said the children were intimidated to the point that they were afraid talk to their parents, and even go to the bathroom while at school, because teachers threatened to take away their playtime, he said.
"You can actually hear the teacher asking the students 'What did you go home and tell your mommy and daddy?'" he said.
At one point in the tape, Stover said one of the women talks about hitting a student on the back, and the other tells her not to worry about.
Stover said he would not be surprised if parents pursue a lawsuit down the line.
The elementary school's administration did not properly address concerns that were originally brought to them, he said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va.-- The Tuesday suspension of a Putnam County kindergarten teacher and an aide in connection with secret recordings where they are allegedly heard yelling at students, is a step in the right direction, but months late, the mother of one of the students said.
"It was downright verbal abuse, harassment and intimidation," Kathy Crouse said Wednesday. "If a parent had been caught, their kids would have been taken away. Why they continued to work [in the county's school system] for another month just blows my mind."
Members of the county Board of Education suspended Buffalo Elementary School teacher Carolyn Rogers and aide Yvonne Francisco on Tuesday. Both were suspended with pay pending the results of an internal investigation, Superintendent Chuck Hatfield said.
Hatfield said the school system began investigating allegations brought forward by Crouse, the parent of a kindergarten student at Buffalo Elementary, about three weeks ago.
Hatfield did not have a time frame Wednesday of when the investigation would be complete.
Crouse and several other parents of students in Rogers' kindergarten class met with board members on Sept 24, to voice their concerns about recordings of Rogers and Francisco in the classroom.
"[Rogers] was constantly yelling at the kids, she wouldn't let them go to the bathroom, she called them babies, telling them they didn't deserve to be in kindergarten. It was just one thing after another," Crouse said.
After the September meeting, Rogers and Francisco were reassigned to different schools in Putnam County, Crouse said. They were removed from all classrooms following their suspension Tuesday.
Crouse sent her son to school with a tape recorder in his backpack a week into the school year, as a last-ditch effort, when he began acting strangely.
Mike Stover, a parent of a child in the Buffalo kindergarten class, said what happened is not about one child or parent, but about the conduct of two teachers toward an entire class, and the school's administrator not taking action.
Stover said he and his wife also had been concerned something was not right when their son would only briefly talk about his day at school.
It wasn't until Crouse approached them with the tape that their suspensions were solidified, he said.
He said the children were intimidated to the point that they were afraid talk to their parents, and even go to the bathroom while at school, because teachers threatened to take away their playtime, he said.
"You can actually hear the teacher asking the students 'What did you go home and tell your mommy and daddy?'" he said.
At one point in the tape, Stover said one of the women talks about hitting a student on the back, and the other tells her not to worry about.
Stover said he would not be surprised if parents pursue a lawsuit down the line.
The elementary school's administration did not properly address concerns that were originally brought to them, he said.
Crouse said she approached Buffalo Elementary School's principal, Mike Mullins, several times with concerns about conduct in the classroom.
She grew concerned after the first day of school, when Rogers told her that her son was distracted and would not listen, she said.
It was the first day of school, students were excited and getting acclimated, Crouse said.
"[The second day] it was the same thing, a big old note saying all the things he wasn't doing. On the third day, it was a little bit more," she said.
Then her son began coming home in tears.
Crouse asked the principal to move her son to another classroom, but her request was denied. She then asked that she be allowed to observe the classroom.
"The principal refused, and the next week we started taping," Crouse said. "After taping a day it was like 'OK, this isn't' right, but it's just one day, so maybe it's not like that all the time.' We taped the next day and it was the same thing."
Crouse decided to contact other parents and approach the school board.
"We tried everything we could think of, but we just weren't getting anywhere," she said. "The last thing I wanted to do was bring to light that I had taped the classroom and heard all these things."
Over a three-week period, Crouse taped about seven days of her son's class using a Sony voice recorder.
Crouse made copies of the tape and gave it to parents of students in the classroom, and together they set up a time to meet with the county school board in September.
"I can deal with them being suspended with pay at the moment," Crouse said. "I will give [the BOE] time to work through the system or any red tape, but I would expect in the long run for them to be fired, and I don't think I can be happy with anything less with that."
Rogers has worked in Putnam County since the mid-1990s and has taught at Buffalo Elementary for about a year. In the past three years she has also worked at Mountain View and West Teays Elementary.
Francisco has been an employee at the Buffalo school for a number of years.
A phone number for Rogers was unavailable. Francisco did not immediately return a phone message left at her house.
Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.
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Inviting whatever criticism forthcoming, I would suggest the same about some parents and their kids. They do not belong in a public system. But, those politicians who set the rules really believe that everyone can learn (in public). I do not disagree with CAN. I do suggest that without the desire to learn the teaching thing is not going to be effective. I do support home schooling (forced) if the kid is not there to learn but to exercise the right/obligation to disrupt
I have gotten into dark/forbidden area, but the education system is too expensive to allow a group of knuckleheads, old and young, to waste the opportunity for all.
With slowdown in economy, some people may become familiar as to what is currently going on in the system and not what they remember happened 10+ years back. Most systems will welcome volunteers as their budgets have been cut.
But she's not the only entry level professional that works extra hours at night as others do as well. As for summer time work, the majority is done to add education which adds compensation down the line thus it is not done for free.
I am not saying that some teachers don't put in extra hours but by and large, the average is about 1400 hours, thus all teachers hourly wage average is inline with that of other professionals. Add the rest of the benefits package and West Virginia teachers have a very fair compensation package.
We also hear verbal excerpts from the tape. I assume these are from the parent’s interpretation and not neutral, experienced investigators. There are no statements of tonal impact. As noted below, we also only hear one side. What does the rest of the tape have on it?
I have seen many parents stand up and defend their children, until tapes are produced. In board meetings, special sessions are held; it is always the parents that come out apologizing. Not to say the other way may occur, I just have not seen it.
I will stand for the teachers until more evidence (or at least substantial evidence) is presented. Are they not innocent until proven guilty.