"Administrators Didn't Take It Seriously Enough," Teacher Alleges

Excerpts from Washington Post online article, By Dan Morse and Donna St. George, Updated: Tuesday, August 13, 9:27 PM
Montgomery teacher Lawrence Joynes charged with sexual abuse of 15 students

“It just infuriates me,” said teacher Mary Silverman, who until last June worked with Joynes at New Hampshire Estates and said she twice reported him to administrators, including for locking his classroom doors when he had three first-grade girls inside for lunch. “It infuriates me that the administrators didn’t take it seriously enough.”

...

"Teacher Ellen Holder, who worked with Joynes for nearly 10 years, said she reported Joynes to the principal of New Hampshire Estates last year for a tickling incident and at other times for locking his classroom door with students inside. Holder said her heart sank Tuesday."

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"School Superintendent Joshua P. Starr sent a confidential letter to the county Board of Education in June outlining plans to “improve the process for tracking and managing information regarding allegations of inappropriate interactions” between school employees and students.

Information about such allegations will be recorded in a confidential database, the memo said, and if similar conduct is reported, administrators will be alerted."

To read the whole Washington Post article, CLICK HERE.

(Why did Joshua Starr send a confidential letter to the Board of Education about this so-called improved process and database? Doesn't he think the public has a right to know about the steps the county school system will take in the event of allegations like these? And does this mean there was no process in place before NOW?)