Suit claims teachers heckled student

Mother says they also failed to protect child from bullies

By SCOTT DAUGHERTY, Staff Writer

Capital Gazette Communications

Published 07/11/09

Two veteran gym teachers at Southern Middle School not only failed to protect a student from bullies, but actively participated in the heckling, according to a lawsuit filed against the county Board of Education.

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In the suit, Tracey Roy, of Shady Side, claims two gym teachers at the Lothian middle school "engaged in the heckling" of her son, Christopher Roy Jr., in 2006. They also "encouraged other students to engage in inappropriate behavior," the suit said.

Brendan H. Fitzpatrick, Roy's attorney, declined to comment about the lawsuit.

Maneka Monk, a spokeswoman for the school system, and County...

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Bullying - 2009-07-11 14:49:48

AACPS are just as bad now as when I attended 25years ago.Kids harrasing because of stupid crap.I say put cameras in every place possibe and maybe that will be a start.Maybe that way when some punk does something to an innocent child you can show the tape to the punks parents when they say"my baby would never do that"

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robert m. - , - Karma: Terrible

A few patterns here at AACPS - 2009-07-11 10:08:38

There are some patterns here. The same performance director who brushed off Sean on this board in response to pressing inquiries on the handling of bullying was brushed off by Lorna Leone, the "performance director" at Arundel High. Leone was the "performance director for South County (including Southern Middle at the time of the incidents in this lawsuit). The Capital printed her salary, raises and bonuses the last two years in its annual report on school pay -- so you wouldn't guess there's any accountability in the merit pay system for administrators. I raised direct complaints with Leone about declining performance in the schools she oversaw, including concerns about teacher hostility towards children at another school. Same pattern -- we were offered a transfer (which AACPS later reneged on). No issues were ever addressed, despite lip service. Poor Ms. Adkins was offered a transfer, and the school system's stonewalling about what they promised and what their actions are is a sign of the lack of transparency and accountability on Riva Road.

Another pattern will likely be another pithy and condescending statement by the school board's attorney, like the one he offered in the Jones case. Typical of the culture at AACPS of being dismissive of citizen and parent concerns.

Then, there'll be another press release down the road, duly reported in the Capital, of a program with a fancy name (that will no doubt need more money) to address bullying.

Put aside the culture of no accountability to the parents and the taxpayers, the suffering of these kids and families that intersects with the school experience, and look at this in dollars and cents. Lawsuits capped at $200k each, 2 lawsuits, and a bureaucrat's salary and bonuses over the last few years while this stuff was going on. Do the math, are we getting what we are paying for when it comes to responsible school management?

There are too many disturbing patterns, and more attention needs to be pai

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Chris Doherty - Harwood, MD - Karma: Excellent

Quota? - 2009-07-11 08:58:27

I love how halfway through the article it switches topics from what the title indicated it is about to the Chris Jones story. It's like the author had a word quota to fill and simply cut and paste part of another article into this one.

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Insider Info - , - Karma: Excellent