WASHINGTON - An 18-year-old Montgomery County man is suing the county and the estate of a man who masqueraded as a school psychologist for more than a decade.continues at link:
Brandon Hall, of Rockville, Md., has filed a lawsuit claiming the Board of Education of Montgomery County hired and retained a fraudulent psychologist, Duane Donald Flemmer, who in addition to counseling Hall and his family in school, was instrumental in a contentious custody battle between Hall's parents.
"Flemmer was a fraud and a charlatan," says attorney Ronald Karp, who filed the suit on Hall's behalf.
The suit claims intentional misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring, retention and supervision seeks compensatory and punitive damages against Flemmer's estate and the county school board...
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=3705004
I don’t know about this school psychologist (the fraud/charlatan)… In any case take him, MCPS and the County for all you can. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteAs far as a “real” school psychologist is concerned, some are good and some are very bad. One thing’s for sure, in most cases a school psychologist (as employed by MCPS, for example), is probably NOT a real psychologist. In most cases, the “school psychologist” only has a Master’s degree NOT a PhD. If you ever have problems with one of the bad “school psychologists (Master’s degree),” and want to report them to the APA (American Psychological Association), you can’t… they’re not real psychologists. They’re not under the APA’s jurisdiction. It’s just one of the many ways that MCPS and other school systems, have it both ways (calling someone a “psychologist” when they’re not). The school system empowers “school psychologists” as if they were properly educated and licensed, but they cannot be sanctioned or even monitored by the APA or held to any standard. That’s the real fraud.
How is this any different than the BOE paying a guy with a high school diploma 6 figures to advise principals and teachers on how to close the achievement gap? Talk about fraud, the guy coaches principals and teachers and tells them what they are doing wrong when he is too dumb to get a degree. What does this say about the quality of the principals and teachers in MCPS?
ReplyDeleteMCPS continues to lower the bar under Starr. I'm sure he'll get a nice hefty raise when the board renews his contract .
"School psychologist" is not the same as "psychologist" and has different licensing requirements.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/studentservices/mentalhealth/psych.aspx?id=335452
Perhaps they can have “school surgeons,” or “school lawyers,” or even “school priests.” How in the world is an average parent or better yet, a middle school student supposed to know that a “school psychologist” is not an actual “psychologist?” All I know is that our child’s “school psychologist” was utterly inept and duplicitous. She was more interested in getting test results to fit her preconceived notions (the “team’s” agenda), than she was in “doing no harm,” let alone doing the right thing. Her role and actions were purely political and not based in an ethical treatment philosophy.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, duplicious staff, confusing credentials, preconceived notions/agenda are themes that tarnish the MCPS image and the staff that are striving to do the best for the children. I would add to the list pure arrogance and a coercive environment. So, let's look at the administrators, who built such a system.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteThere's a lack of transparency throughout the system. MCPS operates like a secret industry rather than a public school system. The board and executive staff egos are unlike those of any other system. They think they are above the families they serve. SERVE that's a word MCPS higher ups need to learn.
DeleteThe lack of transparency is a tool for MCPS to continue the coercive policies. Ultimately, the system blames the parents who dare to speak up. There is a false premise that parents are part of the team, but really only if you go along with what we say is right! The hypocracy persists and spews out even greater caustic rationalizations. If keeping wraps on the discord doesn't work, then MCPS becomes quite dismissive and hires the pit bull, aggressive, private attorney to block all criticism. Again, this process occurs without transparency and while MCPS projects the image of supposedly doing what is best for the child. "We (MCPS) genuinely care about your child blah blah."
ReplyDeleteStaff who dare to speak up are intimidated by higher ups under the false premise that we are all a family. Any one who dares expose the family secrets to the public must suffer a hostile work environment and or demotion. Whistle blowers are strongly discouraged.
ReplyDeleteSo what do you think is the bottom line for the creation of such a caustic system-cost efficiency?
DeleteAccountability
DeleteYes, accountability is what is needed to fix it.
DeleteHow do we fix if there are no admissions by the system that anything is wrong and what is presented is so vague that we don't have any concrete statements of what is causing such a mess! So far, the system has beaten down all challengers and seems to get away with the dubious process.
Delete