Well Folks - we can thank Ms. Taymore and the School Committee for making Melrose Schools an example of what not to do when handling student civil rights issues. A local teacher attended some special SPED and Civil Rights training and they used the recent Melrose OCR cases as what not to do. I have included below what this teacher wrote in one of the other topics on this message board concerning this training she just received - needless to say she was thoroughly embarrassed during this training.We should all be embarrassed - why is Ms. Taymore still here in our school district? Ms. Driscoll - chair of the school committee - are you proud of such an example this school district is setting? You and others on the committee should be recalled and kicked out - you are all an embarrassment to the community!
"I teach in another town. This afternoon was a professional development workshop about SPED and Civil Rights law. The example of what not to do with regard to Civil Rights law was the Melrose Public Schools. The educational lawyer who ran the event used the Melrose violations as our model to avoid. She highlighted all the mistakes and "errors in judgement" made in dealing with the student, families, and OCR. So embarrassing."
The Human Rights Commission is a farce. The MHRC has done ZERO related to the OCR findings in the MPS. The silence of the MHRC has permanently damaged their credibility.
Well, according to my sisters, as t'were, the OCR (#1, that is--they haven't come up with any sort of "reasons" for #2 and beyond), was all just a "mountain out of a molehill...a 'misconstrued' statement of the 8th grade teacher" (who happens to be a sis). According to them, the United States Office of Civil Rights apparently just made stuff up. Go figure!
Now anyone who has ever had to deal with this office or its corresponding U.S. Dept. of Justice Office of Civil Rights, knows that these departments will not even accept a case unless it is even more iron-clad than the thresholds for normal lawsuits. But the sisters have deemed it all just a vicious smear, which reveals more about how sincere anyone in this bunch is. Think about those who serve on the MHRC or the "Women's Commission" and you can extrapolate how sincere they will ever be about these heinous violations that in fact have been proven.
This was not worth posting on 3 different threads.
As the Melrose superintendent tries to downplay her condoning racism in the school system with supporters such as Martha Grover, Maribeth Darwin & Christina Gagliano publicly supporting her stance by writing letters to the papers & on social media, the actual facts of the case and the OCR findings are a tutorial in what not to do. Relevant cases will always be used in seminars such as this. They become part of historical documentation. Just because certain Melrosians think this type of behavior is ok, doesn't make it ok or legal.
I would be interested in seeing a detailed description of the type of professional development our teachers are receiving. What actually goes on once a month on those 1/2 days and on all those prof. dev days? Are the teachers gaining new skills and insights into how to better serve our children or are they also sitting with lawyers and learning how to cover their asses?
Now anyone who has ever had to deal with this office or its corresponding U.S. Dept. of Justice Office of Civil Rights, knows that these departments will not even accept a case unless it is even more iron-clad than the thresholds for normal lawsuits. But the sisters have deemed it all just a vicious smear, which reveals more about how sincere anyone in this bunch is. Think about those who serve on the MHRC or the "Women's Commission" and you can extrapolate how sincere they will ever be about these heinous violations that in fact have been proven.
So to spell it out, you are saying that the head of the Temple (also on MHRC), who gave a gushing speech about the mayor at the inaugural, is the leader of the religious group the the Plantation perpetrator is part of?! The head's wife (who is on the Women's Commission) is part of the women's organization in the Temple who think the perpetrator was wronged. Both are appointed by the mayor, and they do the bidding of the Mayor who wants to protect the super to show he is never wrong. Now it all clicks into place.
No wonder the MHRC does not and did not do much about the OCR violations due to the influence of the perpetrator's protector. Wow.
Yawn...nobody cares!
Connect the Dots connected the dots for me. So much makes sense now. There is always a trail to follow when things don't make sense and Dots figured this one out with Sis.
Apparently, they are being coached on how to intimidate, retaliate and cover their @ss when they violate civil rights laws by filing false harassment accusations and false police reports against kids and parents who file complaints of misconduct by school staff. So far, this irresponsible behavior has resulted in one elementary school principal being caught secretly filing a false police report against a family the day after they filed a complaint about an out of control teacher. No matter, this same principal still was awarded a shiny new three year contract from the superintendent despite also driving the elementary school and thus, the entire school district down to level three status in record time. Only in Melrose.
Whack it whack it whack it
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Whack it whack it whack it
Thanks Beep Beep. It's nice to see a member of the school administration and/or city hall getting involved with the discussion here with some thoughtful input.
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