Abuse and neglect occurred between 2004-2007.
If you know of other school abuse and neglect, please contact Spec. Ed. Attorney, Chris Vance 404-320-6672.
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Carol Sadler, Special Education Consultant/Advocate
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Woodstock, GA 30188
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"There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people." ---- Thomas Jefferson
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GNET=GetNoEducation/Therapy=PsychoNOed=Jail without jury or trial=Imprisonment without legal representation
CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED
Information contained in this communication is confidential and privileged. It is not meant to represent legal or medical advice, but rather advice given based on my knowledge as a trained Parent Advocate by the GA Advocacy Office, Council of Parent Advocates & Attorneys, CHADD, LDA, the GA DOE Parent Mentor program as an invited guest and the special education attorneys that I often work with on educational matters. Please do not forward without my permission.
Georgia Profession Standards Commission (GPSC)
CASE SUMMARY – COMMISION REPORT
File Number: PCW-07-11-385
Investigator: Franklin
Position Held: Middle School Special Education Teacher
Employment Status: Resigned
Complaint Origin: School system
THIS EDUCATOR DOES HAVE PROPERTY RIGHT'S.
Complaint:
The educator left a special education student alone for an unknown period ()flame. It was estimated that the student had been alone for several hours. Ile was restrained in a Rifton chair. The student defecated on himself and then smeared himself. the chair and the rug with feces. The school system's investigation revealed that this was not the only time that this student and others had been isolated in a room across the hall from the educator's classroom. The investigation found additional allegations of mistreatment of students.
Investigative Findings:
· The middle school at which the educator worked had opened in 2004/2005 and the educator transferred to the moderate/severe/profound special education unit. She had worked in special education one year at her former school.
· The middle school exceptional student coordinator said that the educator was not certified in her field when she started, but wanted to work in special education. At the educator's former school the educator had been reported for being too rough with her students. A school system social worker looked into the case but did not report it to DIVS. The middle school coordinator provided the educator with some specialist to help her. The middle school coordinator sin s that she told the educator's new principal about the incident.
· c:
" was assigned to the educator's classroom for the three Years she worked at the new school. -
Ile was taller than the educator and possibly of equal weight. Ile suffers from Angel ilE111. disease and has difficulty walking. He would --plop" on the floor and yell and grab at people. lle was described as a very difficult student with whom to work.
· Parapro 2 who was initially assigned to the educator's classroom observed the educator frequently kick SV in an effort to get him up off the floor.
· Parapro 2 said that she saw the educator lift one of her students out of his wheel chair and slam him onto a vinyl wedge.
· The school cluster nurse made a written report to the educator's principal saying that she had seen the educator hitting student/victim (SV) on the back of the head. The nurse was aware that the educator was isolating the SV in a room across the hall from her classroom.
· The nurse had seen and heard the educator saying things like your mother's on crack to another students. The educator's principal called the nurse and the educator into her office and told the educator to stop hitting the student. 'Hie educator was also given a letter by her principal.
· During the 2004/2005 school year, two parapros who worked in the educator's classroom saw the educator throw a camera at the SV and hit him on the head, raising a lump. The educator denied that she had thrown anything at the SV and explained that the SV got the lump on his head when he fell off of a beanbag. The educator did not document the incident. The educator was questioned about the incident by her principal. The principal took no further action.
· Parapro 3 worked in the educator's classroom for the first half of the 05-06 school \ ear. l he educator would put SV across the hall three times a week. by himself with the door closed: she had seen the educator do a nudge-type kick to SV to try to get him ()riot' the floor.
· 'The educator's principal had seen the educator doing the nudge-type kick on SV.
· She had also seen the educator put her buttocks a few inches from S face and pass gas into his
face.
· Parapro 3 said that the educator isolated another student across the hallway with the door closed when that student would cry. She said that the educator did that two or three times a week ibr two or three hours at a time.
· Parapro 3 also described how the educator would scream into the ear of a blind student when the student got upset and screamed. The educator would describe this as scream therapy.
· The school's special needs nurse has seen the educator isolating students and when in January 2006, she heard the educator tell one of her students that his mother was on crack and that his parents did not care about him, she reported the incident to the principal.
· There were other allegations of the educator pushing students, kneeing SV to try to get him up. spraying Lysol very near students, burping in students' laces, and screaming at students on public field trips.
· The Instructional Support Teacher (1ST) who was in charge of special education in the school was getting reports from staff about the educator's actions. The 1ST said that she was passing the information along to the principal.
· The director of special education for the school system said that the school system does not require restraint or disciplinary training for the special education teachers. It is available. A principal usually has to request the training for their teachers.
· The incident that brought all of this to light happened on or about May 21, 2007. It is described in the complaint, above. Everyone on the hall was aware of the incident because of the smell.
· It was reported that SV had been put across the hall in the adaptive P.E. room in a Rifton chair about 10:40 a.m. and left there alone until lunch time After lunch he was returned to the room where he remained until around 2:30.
· The educator's parapro pointed out SV's condition to Teacher 2. Teacher 2 said that the door was closed and that the glass part of the wooden door was covered with paper so that an adult had to stand on tiptoe to see into the room. SV Was confined in the Rifton chair with his hack to the door. He, the chair and the carpet/rug, around him were smeared with his feces.
· The educator and her parapro cleaned the student up and changed his clothes before putting him on the bus. The student's mother noticed that he still had some feces on him when he got home. However, this was not the first time that SV had defecated on himself and smeared feces.
· The educator did not advise S \us mother of the incident by writing it in his agenda book. She says that she left a message for S V's mother telling her that SV had defecated and smeared feces on himself.
· The next morning a former teacher and Teacher 2 went to the IST who took them to the principal to report the incident. The principal called a school social worker who referred the case to DIVS. DFCS substantiated the complaint.
foe educator stated:
· She thought that it was okay to isolate students. Other teachers on the hallway isolated their students. She could see SV and she had her parapro check on him while he was in the room across the hallway.
· She admitted that she did scream at students to show them what their behavior was like. She denied doing so in public.
· She admits that she nudged SV with her foot and used her knees in an effort to get him off-oldie floor. He has difficulty walking and would "plop'. onto the floor. He was taller than she and it was difficult to get him up. She denies that she ever used force hard enough to hurt him.
· She denied throwing a camera at SV and denied that she ever had to discuss the incident with an administrator.
· She said that the comment about the student's mother being on crack was made to the special needs nurse, not to the student.
· She admitted that she had burped and passed gas in students' faces.
· It got to the point that parapros were refusing to work in the educator's classroom.
· The educator denied knowing that she had been reported for being too rough with her students at the former school. She said that she only became aware of the allegations during the school system's investigation.
· The educator said that she did not feel that she had been supported by the school system. She had tried to get SV into a more restrictive and appropriate setting. I lis mother did not agree with her recommendation and the school system would not hack her up. Therefore she was assigned this very difficult student for three consecutive years.
· She also felt that there were people in her unit that were out to get her.
· In her opinion, this made for an extremely stressful situation, a hostile work environment.
· She felt that she was able to do some good for and with some of her students.
· A fellow teacher and her forme:- Assistant Principal wrote letters of recommendation on the educator's behalf.
Findings of Fact:
The educator admits to numerous acts that are outside the normal accepted methods of dealing with special education students. She used her feet and her knees on a student to get him up off the floor. She isolated students in a room across the hall from her classroom. She admits that she did strike a student with her hand. She admits that she did not document that she screamed m students faces. She admits that she burped and passed gas in students' faces, and that she made derogatory comments about a student's mother.
Standard, Rules or Laws Violated:
PSC Rule 505-6-.01 (3) (b) - The educator failed to maintain a professional relationship with students by committing an act of-child abuse, including physical and verbal abuse: committing an act of cruelty to children or any act of child endangerment;
PSC Rule 505-6-.01 (3) (j) - The educator failed to demonstrate conduct that follows generally recognized professional standards by exhibiting conduct that impaired the certificate holder's ability to function professionally in his or her employment position and demonstrate conduct that f011ows generally recognized professional standards by demonstrating a pattern of behavior or conduct that is detrimental to the health, welfare, discipline, or morals of students.
INTERNAL NOTE
Case Number: 07-11-385
Name: Ms. Melanie Ann Pickens Cerificate: 2:3-47-174711)
File Number: 07-11-385
Investigator: Franklin
Position Held: Middle School Special Education reacher
Employment Status: Resigned
Complaint Origin: School system.
Complaint:
The educator left a special education student alone for an unknown period of time. It was estimated that the student had been alone for several hours. He was restrained in a Rifton chair. The student defecated on himself and then smeared himself', the chair and the rug with feces. The school system's investigation revealed that this was not the only time that this student and others had been isolated in a room across the hall from the educator's classroom. The investigation found additional allegations of mistreatment of students.
Investigative Findings:
· The middle school at which the educator worked had opened for the 2004/2005 and the educator transferred to the moderate/severe/profound special education unit. She had worked in special education one year at her former school.
· The middle school exceptional children coordinator said that the educator was not certified in her field when she started. but wanted to work in special education. At the educator's former school the educator had been reported for being too rough with her students. A school system social worker looked into the case but did not report it to DIVS. 'fhe middle school coordinator provided the educator with some specialist to help her. The middle school coordinator says that she told the educator's new principal about the incident.
· SV was assigned to the educator's classroom for the three years she worked at the new school. He was taller than the educator and possibly of equal weight_ 1 le suffers from Angelman s disease and has difficulty walking. He would "plop" on the floor and yell and grab at people. lie was described as a very difficult student with whom to work.
· Parapro 2 who was initially assigned to the educator's classroom observed the educator frequently kick SV in an effort to get him up off the floor.
· Parapro 2 said that she saw the educator lift one of her students out of his wheel chair and slam him onto a vinyl wedge.
· The school cluster nurse made a written report to the educator's principal saying that she had seen the educator hitting student/victim (SV) on the hack of the head.
· The nurse had seen also heard the educator saying things like your mother's on crack to another of her students and the nurse was aware that the educator was isolating the SV in a room across the hall from her classroom.
· The educator's principal called the nurse and the educator into her office and told the
educator to stop hitting the student. The educator was also given a letter by her principal.
During the 2004/2005 school yCaF_ two parapros who worked in the educator's classroom saw the educator throw a camera at the SV and hit him on the head, raising a lump. The educator denied that she had thrown anything at the SV and explained that the SV got the lump on his head when he fell off of a beanbag. The educator did not document the incident. The educator was questioned about the incident by her principal. The principal took no further action.
· Parapro 3 worked in the educator's classroom for the first half of the 2005/2006 school year. She said that the educator would put SV across the hall three times a week, by himself with the door closed.
· Parapro 3 also said that she had seen the educator do a nudge-type kick to SV to try to get him off of the floor.
· The educator's principal had seen the educator doing the nudge-type kick on SV.
· She had also seen the educator put her buttocks a few inches from SV's face and pass gas into his face.
· Parapro 3 said that the educator isolated another student across the hallway with the door closed when that student would cry. She said that the educator did that two or three times a week for two or three hours at a time.
· Parapro 3 also described how the educator would scream into the ear of a blind student when
the student got upset and screamed. The educator would describe this as scream therapy.
· The school's special needs nursed has seen the educator isolating students and when in January 2006, she heard the educator tell one of her students that his mother was on crack and that his parents did not care about him, she reported the incident to the principal.
· There were other allegations of the educator pushing students, kneeing SV to try to get him up, spraying Lysol very near students, burping in students' faces, and screaming at students on public field trips.
· Other teachers on the special education hallway were aware that the educator was isolating students, and some had spoken to the educator about it that practice as well as about her temper.
· The Instructional Support Teacher (1ST) who was in charge of special education in the school was getting reports from staff about the educator's actions. The 1ST said that she was passing the information along to the principal.
· The director of special education for the school system said that the school system does not require restraint or disciplinary training for the special education teachers. It is available. A principal usually has to request the training for their teachers.
· The incident that brought all of this to light happened on or about May 21, 2007. It is described in the complaint, above. Everyone on the hall was aware of the incident because of the smell.
· It was reported that SV had been put across the hall in the adaptive P.E. room in a Rifton chair about 10:40 a.m. and left there alone until lunch time. After lunch he was returned to the room where he remained until around 2:30.
· The educator's parapro pointed out SV's condition to Teacher 2. Teacher 2 said that the door was closed and that the glass part of the wooden door was covered with paper so that an adult had to stand on tiptoe to see into the room. SV was confined in the IZifton chair with his back to the door. He, the chair and the carpet/rug around him were smeared with his feces.
· The The educator and her parapro cleaned the student up and changed his clothes before putting him on the bus.
· The student's mother noticed that he still had some feces on him when he got home. I low-ever. this was not the first time that SV had defecated on himself and smeared feces.
· 'I he educator did not advise SV's mother of the incident by writing it in his agenda book. She says that left a message for SV's mother telling her that SV had defecated on himself and smeared feces on himself.
· The next morning a former teacher and Teacher 2 went to the IST who took them to the principal to report the incident. The principal called a school social worker who referred the case to DFCS. DFCS substantiated the complaint. SV's mother was very upset about SV having been left alone.
· The educator said that she thought that it was okay to isolate students. Other teachers on the hallway isolated their students.
· She said that she could see SV and that she had her parapro check on him while he was in thr room across the hallway.
· She did scream at students to show them what their behavior was like. She denied doing so in public.
· She admits that she nudged SV with her foot and used he knees in an effort to get him off of the floor. lie has difficulty walking and would "plop.' onto the floor. He was taller than she and it was difficult to get him up. She denies that she ever used force hard enough to hurt him.
· She denied throwing a camera at SV and denied that she ever had to discuss the incident with an administrator.
· She said that the comment about the student's mother being on crack was made to the special needs nurse, not to the student.
· She admitted that she had burped and passed gas in students' kices.
· It got to the point that parapros were refusing to work in the educator's classroom.
· The educator denied knowing that she had been reported for being too rough with her students at the former school. She said that she only became aware of the allegations during the school system's investigation.
· The educator said that she did not feel that she had been supported by the school system. She had tried to get SV into a more restrictive and appropriate setting. His mother did not agree with her recommendation and the school system would not back her up. Therefore, she was assigned this very difficult student for three consecutive years.
· She also felt that there were people in her unit that were out to get her.
· All of that made for an extremely stressful situation, a hostile work environment, in her opinion..
· She felt that she was able to do some good for and with sonic of her students. She cited taking a student to the Special Olympics for a weekend, chaperoning a student to an 8'1' grade dance. creating a recycling program at the school and working with regular education students in a junior Beta club.
· A fellow teacher and her former Assistant Principal wrote letters of recommendation on the educator's behalf. They noted that she was a dedicated teacher who loved her students. Her co-teacher did not believe that the educator had been supported by the school.
Findings of Fact:
· The educator admits that she used her feet and her knees on SV in an eabrt to get him up off the floor. She denies that it was with enough force to hurt hint.
· The educator admits that she isolated students in a room a cross the hall from her classroom. She denies that the door was closed when her students were in the room and say that she did have her parapro check on them.
· She admits that she did strike SV with her hand(s), but never with enough force to hurt him.
· She admits that she did not document at least one incident in which SV was injured nor did she document the May 21, 2007 incident.
· She admits that she screamed in students faces.
· She admits that she burped and passed gas in students' faces.
· She admits that she made derogatory comments about a student's mother but denies that she was speaking to the student when she did so.
Standard, Rules or Laws Violated:
PSC Rule 505-6-.01 (3) (b) - The educator failed to maintain a professional relationship with students by
1. committing an act of child abuse, including physical and verbal abuse;
2. committing, an act of cruelty to children or any act of child endangerment:
PSC Rule 505-6-.01 (3) (j) - The educator failed to demonstrate conduct that follows generally recognized professional standards by exhibiting conduct that impaired the certificate holder's ability to function professionally in his or her employment position.
PSC Rule 505-6-.01 (3) (j) - The educator failed to demonstrate conduct that follows generally recognized professional standards by demonstrating, a pattern of behavior or conduct that is detrimental to the health, welfare, discipline, or morals of students.
Case Number: 07-1 1- 385
Educator: Melanie Pickens
Certificate Ill #: 615646
Employer: Fulton County
Complainant: Cindy Kanner
Fulton County Schools
786 Cleveland Avenue, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30315 404/763-4586
Attorney for the Educator: Warren Fortson
123 Tuxedo Terrace, N.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30342
(Name; Address; Phone #; Relation to Case)
Frances Boyd. Principal (case t 07-11-386) 6380 Vernon Woods Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30328
13111 Thompson, Current Principal Hopewell Middle School 13060 Cogburn Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3240
Paula Merrit, former Instructional Support Teacher
Currently AP at Little Rivers Elementary, Cherokee Co. Schools 3170 Trickum Road
Woodstock, Georgia 30188
770/926-7566
Larry Walker. One-on-one parapro
Ilopewell Middle School 13060 Cogburn Road
lton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3240
Kay Kendrick, Speech Therapist Iiopewell Middle School 13060 Cogburn Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3240
Nathaniel Coneway, Custodian Hopewell Middle School 13060 Cogburn Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3240
Judy Massey. Pickens' parapro Hopewell Middle School 13060 Cogburn Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3240
Yasland King, Parapro 2 llopewell Middle School 13060 Cogburn Road Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3240
Stephanie Sosebee, Teacher 1 Ilopew ell Middle School 13060 Cogburn Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3240
10. Terri Goodman, Special Needs Nurse lIopewell Middle School
13060 Cogburn Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3240
11. Stacey White, Former Teacher at I lopewell 430 Hunters Crossing Drive
Atlanta. Georgia 30328
404/513-4445, c
770/804-0054. h
12. Judy Reddick, Cluster Nurse
13. Calendra Deanise Baugh, Parapro 3 Hopewell Middle School
13060 Cogbum Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3241
14. Amanda Mathis, Parapro 4 Hopewell Middle School 13060 Cogburn Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3241
15. Susan Tallant, Special Education Teacher 2 Hopewell Middle School
13060 Coeburn Road
Milton, Georgia 30004
678/297-3241
16. Dottie Pettis, Middle School Coordinator
Services for Exceptional Children
Fulton County Schools
786 Cleveland Avenue, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30315
404/763-5600, x 132
17. Nancy C. Wadel, Ph.D., Special Education Coordinator Fulton County Schools 786 Cleveland Avenue, S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30315 763-5600, x147
18. Jake Marshall, Student/victim Judy Marshall, Mother
1460 Woodcrest Drive
Roswell, Georgia 30075
770/992-1425
19. Barbie Dixon, 1)1 \CS Special Investigation Caseworker 404/505-3634
(Supervisor. Sheryl Ward, 404/505-3660)
20. Trisha LeBlanc, School Social Worker Northwestern Middle School
Alpharetta, Georgia
770/667-2879, school
404/583-8309. cell
21. Joe Umbarger,
W.S. Williams, School system investigators
(The school system had more investigations than personnel and hired firm to conduct this investigation.)
W.S. Williams Business Decisions Information Inc.
Toward the end of the school day on or about May 21. 2007, teachers noticed a bad smell on the the section of the school designated for the moderate/severe/profound special
education students. Massey. Pickens' parapro, asked Tallant a special education teacher, to conic and look into the Adaptive P.12.. room. Per Tallant that room is at an angle across the hall from Pickins' classroom. The glass in the P.L. room door had been covered with paper up to the point where adults had to stand on tip-toe to see over the paper into the room. What Tallant saw was Marshall. I Ifs back was to the door and he was in a Ritton Chair in a slightly reclined position with the tray in front. The tray was a restraint to keep Marshall in the chair. Marshall was covered in feces as was the chair and the floor around it. Mikan did not know how long he had been there, but she said that the feces was dry and flaking.
Massey intbrmed Sosebee, another special education teacher, of Marshall's condition
Massey and Pickens started cleaning Marshall up. The school bus was waiting. They quickly put Marshall into the shower and changed his clothes. Marshall was put onto his usual bus to go home. Pickens did not write note the incident in Marshall's agenda book because it was so late in the day and the bus was waiting. Pickens says that she called and left a message.
When Marshall arrived at home, Marshall's mother noticed the smell immediately. It was not the first time that he had defecated on himself. While Mrs. Marshall was cleaning him up, she noted that Marshall had feces on his fice and under his fingernails.
The following day Marshall's mother was contacted by a school system social worker, LeBlanc. Mrs. Marshall was shocked to learn that Marshall had been left alone. The social worker said that she was referring the incident to DFCS.
A couple of days later. Mrs. Marshall went to the school to meet with the DFCS worker, Dixon. The DFCS worker, the social worker and Boyd met for about an hour before Mrs. Marshall was called in to meet with Dixon. Mrs. Marshall was given no explanation for why she was not called into the meeting with the other three.
Mrs. Marshall recalled to the school system's investigator that she had gotten a call
during the previous school year about Marshall being "tapped on the back of his head by Pickens.
Mrs. Marshall had met with Boyd and Pickens and had defended Pickens saying that it appeared that her son like Pickens and she thought that Pickens was doing, a good job with Marshall.
Rack to the school. All of the teachers on the G-11all had noticed the awful smell. The next morning, Tallant went to White who was the lead teacher tOr the 2006/2007 school year. They agreed that something had to be done.
Per Tallant, this was not the first time that Pickens had left Marshall alone across the hall with the door closed. White and Tallant went to Merritt, the instructional support teacher (IST) who was in charge of special education in the school. Merritt said that the three of them would go to Boyd. Tallant said that Boyd was "floored." Boyd asked Tallant to write a statement and then asked for more details. Boyd said that she was going to call someone. Tallant thinks that Boyd contacted a school system social worker.
The school social worker, LeBlanc, referred the incident to DFCS who "substantiated" the complaint and to human resources.
The school system's human resources department began their own investigation. The school system's investigation revealed that this was not the only time that Pickens had treated one of her students in a questionable manner.
Tallant said that she had seen Pickens being rough with Marshall. She and everyone else Who dealt with Marshall said that he was large and had trouble walking. l le would "plop" down onto the floor and refuse to get up. Tamil told the school system investigator that Pickens would use her foot to try to get him up and she would use her knees to try to get him up. Tallant also said that Pickens would grab Marshall's harness al I1
sioye her body up against him against
the wall. When he was isolated in the room across the hall, sometimes the door would be open and sometimes it would he closed. When the door was open, it would depend on where the chair was in located the room as to whether or not Pickens could have been able to see him from her room
Tallant said that Pickens would put another student, Garrett, across the hall from time to
time.
Tallant witnessed an incident on the bus while the special education students were on a field trip. One of the students was screaming and hitting himself in the nose. Pickens started screaming at the child like the child was screaming. It seemed to be mocking the child.
fler observation was that as the school year went along, Pickens had less and less patience with her students.
Tallant had only been working at the school since January 2007. She did not want to cause waves. She had not reported any of the other incidents between Pickens and her students to anyone before the May incident when she and White went to Merritt, the IST.
White no longer works at the school. She was very' reluctant to get re-involved with the situation. She was the lead teacher daring the 2006/2007 school year. Regarding the May 21, incident, she said that she had assumed that Marshall was across the hall on time-out. That was not an unusual occurrence. When she and Tallant went to Boyd's office, Boyd acted as if she did
not know what to do and said that this was the first time that she had heard anything about this problem. White said that she did not know how Boyd could not know anything and told Boyd that she would not let it drop.
She told the school system investigator that starting in October 2006. Marshall had been put in that room alone with the door closed about five times a week. She said that Pickens would leave Marshall in the room for hours at a time. White said that she had spoken with Pickens on more than one occasion about this practice. She told her that she was breaking the law because it was not written into his LEP and because a parapro was not standing there watching him. She started to think that when she reported Pickens, someone would tell Pickens because Pickens would stop putting Marshall across the hall for a while so that administration would never catch her. White did not document her conversations with Pickens
About a week prior to this incident, White and Sosebee met with Pickens regarding parapro assignments. White was leaving, so there would have to be reassignments. None of the parapros wanted to work with Pickens. The parapros did not like the way that Pickens treated the students and were concerned that they would get into trouble by association. White and Sosebee suggested that Pickens change the kinds of students that she taught, perhaps less severely disabled. After a few days, White asked Pickens what she had decided and Pickens told her that she did not want to move and that the parapros would just have to "get over it.- White also told Pickens that over the summer that she needed to get professional help to control her anger. The May 21 incident happened the next week.
Merritt had tried to get a one-on-one assistant for Marshall and Pickens turned down the
chance.
White did not feel that Pickens got enough support from the school system. Pickens had tried to get Marshall transferred to the psycho-educational center and Mrs. Marshall would not agree. The school system did not choose to go against the parent. A behavior specialist came out to make suggestions to control Marshall's behavior. White did not think that the suggestions were helpful. 'ho her knowledge, Pickens had no training in sell-defense or restraints or how to control aggressive students.
White had reported Pickens' behavior to the lead teacher in the 2005/7006 school year. She would say that they were aware of it. When nothing happened or changed, White got discouraged and quit reporting.
White said that she had reported Pickens in 2005 to Merritt, the 1ST for kicking Marshall and kneeing him and then picking him up and throwing him on the steps of the bus. Merritt called White and Pickens into her office and told Pickens that the behavior was not acceptable. Pickens acknowledged that she might have been too rough.
White told the school system investigator that a bus driver had reported Pickens in 2006 for pushing a special education student down. Boyd, the principal. met with Pickens and White. White was not aware of any further action.
Pickens would kick Marshall all the time to try to get him up. White had told Pickens to call for help from the resource officer or the front office to help.
White had witnessed Pickens press her students against the wall. The students would be facing the wall and Pickens would put her back against them pressing them up against the wall with their feet off of the floor until they calmed down.
She witnessed Pickens screaming in a student's lace. White thought it Was very unorthodox and it was something that she would never do. But, it would cause the student to quite down.
She had also seen Pickens pass gas and burp in her students' faces. She believes that Pickens thought that it was funny. She warned Pickens that if she ever saw her do it again, she would report it
One student was transferred to White's classroom after his parents found Aaron across the hall, lights out, by himself She believed that Aaron was put into White's class the following year to keep the parents from suing.
DFCS was investigating Pickens the first year the school was open. People were going to the lead teachers and the 1ST who said that they were telling Boyd about incidents. She does not know how Boyd could not know that there was a problem with Pickens.
Massey was Pickens parapro from August 2003 when they were both working at Holcomb Bridge Middle School until Pickens resigned. Pickens was rude to Massey. She would make comments about how Massey dressed or how bad her teeth were. Massey was gettinL, extremely stressed working with Pickens. She had asked to he moved from Pickens' classroom Pickens was not speaking to her tbr the last two weeks of school.
Regarding the May 21 incident, she said that Marshall had been difficult. lie had tripped another student, grabbed a students hair. Pickens had to remove him from the Adaptive Art class. Around 10:40, Pickens put Marshall in the Rifton chair and put him in the Adaptive P.E. room by himself with the door closed. He stayed there alone until lunch time, about 12:30. Pickens did not check on him during that time. After lunch, around 1:12. Marshall went hack across the hall. by himself. Massey checked on him about fifteen minutes later and he had defecated and was playing in the feces.
Per Massey, this was not the only time that Marshall had defecated on himself while in the room alone, but this was the worst. When she and Pickens were cleaning him up, Pickens told her not to say anything.
Massey said that Marshall was isolated across the hall, maybe once a week. Sometimes it would be for most of the day.
During the 2003/2004 school year, she saw Pickens throw a disposable camera at Marshall and hit him in the head. It made a knot.
She had also seen Pickens throw a shoe at Marshall and shake her buttocks in his face. She has seen Pickens nudging Marshall with her foot in an etTort to get him up.
On or around May 14, 2007, Massey had spoken with Merritt about Pickens treatment of another student. Meritt told Massey not to say anything about it. When Massey asked White about the situation, White did not know of any action being taken. Massey said that Merritt would tell them not to go to Boyd.
King was Pickens' parapro for the 2004/2005 and half of the 2005/2006 school years. She moved from Pickens classroom after they had a disagreement over a classroom incident. She noted that Pickens was rough with the students from the beginning. Initially it was just with Marshall, but it spread to other students.
Pickens would rub her breasts and buttocks in Marshall's face. There were other times
when Pickens would pick Marshall up by his belt giving him a wedgie. Sometimes Pickens would nudge Marshall with her foot and other times it would be a kick. That happened all the time.
Marshall had a problem with his legs. 11k feet turned in so that it was very difficult for him to walk. His mother wanted him to walk.
She had witnessed Pickens push Marshall against the kvall. Marshall would resist and Pickens would escalate. King thought that Pickens would purposely aggravate Marshall from time to time.
Sometimes Pickens would take her frustration out on other students. King had seen
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Pickens spray Aaron Hatcher with Lysol. It was not in his Lice or directly on him, but it was very close to him. Pickens would also get angry with Hatcher's mother because the mom would send him to school when he was sick. Pickens would get so frustrated that she would pick I latcher up from his wheelchair and slam him onto the foam wedge. Hatcher cried a lot, sometimes all day. It seemed to aggravate Pickens.
In the first half of the 2005/2006 school year, there was an incident in which Marshall got a knot on his head from a blow. King said that student Garrett had brought a toy camera to class. King didn't see Pickens actually throw the camera. but she saw the camera in Pickens' hand, heard a clunk and heard Pickens say, -Oh, shit.- Then the camera was on the floor. It made a bump on Marshall's head. Marshall's mother came to school.
King told Merritt what she thought had happened. She is not sure what Massey said. Massey may not have wanted to be involved. After that Pickens did not want to work with King. King went to White's classroom when White was hired.
While she worked with Pickens. Pickens would put Marshall across the hall in the Rifton chair with the door closed. Sometimes it would be lOr a couple of hours at a time. If Pickens was angry enough, she would not let Marshall have lunch.
Merritt would ask her about things that had happened on the hallway. Sometimes she would go to Merritt. Merritt said that she was passing the information on to Boyd. She did not see Boyd on the G-Hall very often. King did not feel comfortable reporting Pickens. King \A as a minority person and needed her job.
Sosebee is another special education teacher and was Pickens best friend. In addition to speaking with me she wrote a letter of recommendation for Pickens. Sosebee said that Pickens loved Marshall and he loved her in return. It was an odd relationship. Marshall was very difficult to work with. The first year Pickens took data in an effort to have Marshall reassigned to the psycho-educational center. Apparently, his mother was not comfortable with the idea of his going there, so he remained at the middle school.
Within two month of his going to high school, this 2007/2008 school year, he was reassigned to the psycho-education center. He is also in a wheel chair.
Sosebee said that Pickens went beyond the usual in working with her students. She cited occasions when Pickens would volunteer for after school dances, carnivals and concerts. She even attended overnight events volunteering at Special Olympics so that her students could participate.
Sosebee acknowledged that she had seen Pickens nudge Marshall with her foot and knee
to try to get him up. She knows that it WAS not acceptable, but she did not know what would have worked. She was also aware that Marshall was being placed across the hall and acknowledges that it is never acceptable to leave any student alone.
She had seen Pickens push students in frustration. She never saw her make a student fall.
She had spoken to Pickens about her temperament. She had told her that her facial expressions made her look angrier than she was.
Sosebee does not believe that Pickens had enough administrative support. After the first year when Pickens attempted to get Marshall reassigned, there were no other interventions established for the remainder of the years that Marshall was in her class.
None of the other teachers wanted Marshall. The 0-Hall teachers would meet to discuss student placement every year, and Pickens would end up saying that she would take Marshall again.
Baugh is another parapro on the 0-Hall. She worked with Pickens from August until November 2006. During that time she saw Pickens hit Marshall on the arm or shoulder when he was not doing his work. It was not a hard strike, but hard enough to hurt. Pickens would put Marshall across the hall alone with the door closed about three times a week. She had also seen Pickens kick nudge and knee Marshall twenty or thirty times during the time that she worked with Pickens. Again, it was not a hard kick, but hard enough to hurt.
Hatcher was another student that Baugh believed that Pickens mistreated. He cried a lot. Pickens would put him across the hall alone with the door closed until he cried himself out. Sometimes he would be there for a couple of hours. Pickens also recorded I latcher crying and made him repeatedly listen to himself.
Another student. Murray, was blind, could not talk and was mentally impaired. When she got into a loud situation, she would get upset and give out a scream. On one occasion, Pickens got very close to Murray's ear and screamed into her ear. Murray would just scream and cry more.
Baugh also saw Pickens pass gas in Marshall's face and burp into students' faces. Baugh told White some of the things that she witnessed. She never told Boyd. Mostly she and other employees on G-I kill would talk among themselves.
Mathis is a parapro on G-Hall. She had seen Pickens put Hatcher across the hall alone, unsupervised, and with the door closed when he would cry. Once Hatcher was moved to another classroom, he would only cry when he was uncomfortable. Once his discomfort had been addressed, he would stop crying.
She too had seen the incident on the field trip where Pickens started screaming in the lace of student Garrett Lee on the sidewalk in front of a store. There were other people around and walking right by them.
She told White and Tallant about the incident.
She also had seen Pickens make students who had not completed their work skip lunch and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead.
In April, 2007, some of their students went to a Special Olympics event at another school. A student with cerebral palsy (CP) participated. He was exhausted by the time they returned to
Hopewell and could not get off of the bus. Pickens would riot allow anyone to help him and left him on the bus. Mathis ended up helping him which upset Pickens. Because of the (71), the student's balance is poor and he has trouble walking with his backpack. Pickens makes him carry his backpack and has shoved it toward him with enough force to cause him to fall. She estimated that happened a couple of times a week.
At the end of the 2006/2007 school year, Mathis was told that she was going to be assigned to Pickens' classroom the next year. Mathis went to Boyd and told her that she would quit before she would work with Pickens.
Eitman is a parapro on the Regarding the May 21, 2007 incident, she estimated
that Marshall had been isolated from approximately 10:30 a.m. until approximately 2:45. This was not the first time that he had been isolated in that way. She estimated that it happened once a week. She noted that Marshall was difficult and aggressive and probably needed more services than their school could offer.
Pickens would also put Hatcher and Lee across the hall. She spoke with Sosebee and White about Pickens actions.
Pickens behavior got worse as the years went along. Pickens had to option to have Marshall assigned to another class, but she opted to keep him. She has seen Pickens knee and nudge/kick Marshall to try to get him off of the floor. She has seen Pickens push Marshall up against his locker to try to make him stand.
She has seen Pickens push CP student and cause him to stumble
Eitman has heard Pickens call one of the children a "little shit."
Litman refused to work with Pickens because of her methods.
Finnan believed that Boyd was a good, responsible principal. She would not have ignored any problems of which she was aware.
Walker is a one-on-one parapro. He was never in Pickens classroom. 1 le was aware that Pickens would isolate students across the hallway from her class. He had also seen Pickens use her knee to help Marshall get up. He did not think that Pickens' actions were malicious. Walker noted to the school system investigator that he tried to stay out of the interactions between the teachers and assistants/parapros on the G-Hall.
Goodman is the special needs nurse for the G-Hall. Student Aaron Matcher was in Pickens classroom for the first two years. Pickens would put him across the hall, alone with the door closed. He was the strident whose parents came to the school and found him alone in the other room. The parents wanted him to have another teacher the following year. In 2006, Goodman heard Pickens telling Aaron that his mother is a crack head and that his parents did not care about him.
Goodman also noted that Pickens would slap the table and make loud noises to make the students flinch. It got to the point that Aaron would flinch when Pickens came around.
Goodman told her supervisor, Reddick, in the presence of the head of Student Health Services. What she had seen. They shook their heads and said that they had problems with Pickens before. They suggested that she see Boyd, the principal.
When Goodman went to Boyd. Boyd said something to the effect of. "Now, what has Melanie done?" or "Don't tell me Melanie's doing it again" Boyd told Goodman that she needed to point the problem out to Pickens and told her that she, Boyd_ would take care of it.
Goodman told Boyd that if it happened again that she would go to the director of Student Health Services. Pickens confronted Goodman later asking Goodman if she had a problem with Pickens. Thereafter, Pickens seemed very guarded when Goodman was around.
Reddick, the cluster nurse, had been the special needs nurse at the middle school for the 2004/2005 school year. She told the school system investigator that in November 2004, she had witnessed several incidents where Pickens had hit Marshall on the back of his head. She hit him with considerable force. Marshall got to the point thatthe would cower and cover his head when Pickens came around.
Reddick had heard Pickens use a harsh tone of voice when dealing with Marshall and had heard Pickens use inappropriate language when speaking to Hatcher and Marshall. She heard Pickens tell Hatcher that his mother was a crack head and she heard Pickens call Hatcher and Marshall "little flickers."
She had seen Marshall across the hall in a room with the door closed a couple of times a week. She estimated that he was there at least ten minutes at a time.
In November 2006, Reddick wrote a formal letter to Merritt, the 1ST about Pickens hitting Marshall on the head. Merritt told Reddick that she had given the letter to Boyd and she met with Boyd. Boyd wanted Reddick to directly confront Pickens saying that Pickens had a right to face her accuser. Reddick felt intimidated by Boyd's proposal and said that she wanted her supervisor, the head of Student Health Services, to he present for any such meeting.
Boyd did not want the supervisor involved or !Or Reddick to speak to her about it. A school system social worker did an investigation and suggested that the G-Hall teachers meet once a week to discuss concerns and issues.
In December. Boyd told Reddick that she should not continue to work at Hopewell. Reddick was intimidated by this but felt that if she left, it would send the message that anyone who reported an incident would not be welcome at the school. Reddick then spoke with her supervisor, and Reddick believed that Boyd was forced to take formal action.
Coneway is a custodian at the school. The Instructional Support Teacher (1ST), Merritt reported to Boyd, the principal, that Coneway had told her that he, Coneway, had contacted Marshall's mother because Pickens was being too rough with Marshall. When Boyd called Coneway and Merritt into her office, Coneway denied that he had called Marshall's mother. When he was interviewed by the school system investigator, he said that he had seen Pickens be unnecessarily rough with Marshall. For example, Marshall would sit down in the hall and Pickens would use her foot to get him to stand up. He had seen Pickens grab Marshall's belt at the back of his pants and pull so hard that the pants would come up in his crotch making him uncomfortable. He estimated that he had seen things like that happen a couple of times a month.
He. Coneway, had asked Pickens not to treat Marshall in that manner. Conewav would talk to Marshall and help him stand up.
Coneway denied that he had ever been to Boyd's office to discuss any action taken by
Pickens.
When I spoke with Coneway. he denied calling Marshall's mother, but said that he had seen her out in the community. When he saw her, he says that he told her that Marshall was doing good. He denied ever seeing Pickens mistreat any of her students.
-Thompson was a former Assistant Principal and is now the principal. He believes that Boyd is being held responsible for things that she did not know. The community has reacted badly to Boyd's leaving.
Merritt is the former Instructional Support Teacher which put her over special education in the school. She says that over the three years that she worked at the school she would estimate that she went to Boyd on at least ten occasions with information related to Pickens mistreatment of her students. She says that every time someone relayed information to her, she relayed it to Boyd either by stopping by her office, telephoning her or emailing her and asking her to see her. She has no documentation of any of this. She is now an Assistant Principal in a different school system.
In 2005/2006 King and Baugh reported the incident about Pickens throwing the camera and hitting Marshall in the head to Merritt. Merritt went immediately to Boyd. Boyd called Pickens into the office and Pickens said that the camera had slipped. Boyd did nothing else.
Boyd had commented to her something to the effect that if the parapros were making trouble they did not need to be at the school.
Merritt says that she asked for statements in writing. but that people were afraid to do so.
Merritt believes that Boyd thought that she was overly dramatic and too passionate about many things. She believes that employees on the (i-Hall became reluctant to report anything to Boyd alter Boyd showed Reddick's written complaint about Pickens to Pickens. And, nothing Was ever done to Pickens even after the report_
Regarding the incident with Coneway. the custodian, she says that Coneway stopped her, Merritt, in the parking lot as she was leaving the school. He told her that he was concerned about Pickens dragging and kicking Marshall. Coneway's wife had previously been a care-giver for Marshall, and so had some relationship to his family.
She, Merritt, telephoned Boyd. It was well-known in the school that Coneway neither read nor wrote. Some of the special education employees would help him out in those areas. Boyd asked him to put his statement in writing. Coneway changed his story and refused to ever speak to Merritt again. At some point in this incident Boyd met with Coneway and his supervisor. Coneway apparently became afraid that he would lose his job.
Merritt recalled that in March, 2007, Kendrick, the speech teacher, came to her about Pickens passing gas in a student's face. Merritt took the report to Boyd. Boyd told Merritt something like, "If it's not in writing, it didn't happen." Boyd than called Pickens into her office and said something like, "I'm so sorry. It looks like they're picking on you again." To Merritt's knowledge, nothing else was done.
Regarding the May 21, 2007 incident, Merritt says that she was unaware of the incident until the following morning. When White and 'Valiant came to her, she took them in to see Boyd. Boyd kept telling them that they should report the incident to the social worker. Per Merritt, the
social worker had already told Boyd that it was her job to report incidents to the social worker. Boyd reacted to Tallant s and Whites' report as if it were the only true evidence of inappropriate behavior and as if it were an isolated case.
When asked why she. Merritt, had not contacted the social worker or someone outside of the school about Pickens' behavior, she said that someone, she did not recall who, had told her that she was to report incidents to Boyd. She regrets that she did not document when and what she told
She denied that not getting the Assistant Principal's job that came open affected how she handled the situations.
She denied that she was casual or flippant in advising Boyd of the incidents that were reported to her
Pettes is that middle school coordinator. When Pickens originally started working with the school system, she was not certified in that field, but she wanted to teach in that area From the beginning, there had been concerns that she was rough with her students.There was an incident at Pickens former school in which Pickens yanked a student's hair and possibly pulled his ear. Pettes described Pickens as having a short, quick temper. Pettes brought in a specialist to help Pickens. Pettes said that she had informed Boyd of the incident after Pickens was transferred to her school.
She, Pickens and Pettes met during the 2004,12005 school year. That was related to the incident when Pickens had hit Marshall on the back of the head. Pettes told me that she was unaware of any more problems with Pickens until the May 2007 incident. She told the school system investigator that Merritt had told her some general concerns about Pickens yelling and screaming at kids in their faces. Pettes got more assistance to help Pickens. She also got a verbal report that Pickens had shoved Marshall onto a bus, but the report said that he was not injured
She said that if parapros and teachers were reporting incidents to Merritt, Merritt should have informed both Boyd and her. She also noted that Merritt could have contacted the social worker if she had been concerned.
She distrusts Merritt's credibility. She cited an incident in which Merritt had changed the minutes of a meeting without permission.
She thought that there was a communication problem between Boyd and Merritt. She believed that Merritt had a tendency to say things about teachers and to misrepresent the severity and the facts of the situation. She thinks that perhaps Merritt was setting up her, Pettes, and Boyd because Merritt did not get the AP position.
Pettes told the school system investigator that had she know about the serious incidents involving Pickens, she would have removed her from the classroom until facts had been determined.
Wadel is the school system special education coordinator. She was very reluctant to visit this situation again. The school system's attorneys had asked her to collect paperwork on Marshall after the May 2007 incident had been reported. While at Boyd's school, Boyd asked her to come to her office for a talk. Boyd told her that she had been concerned about Pickens all along. She had spoken with Walker, the one-on-one parapro. He reportedly told Boyd that the
special education students were a difficult population with which to work.
Wadel asked if Boyd had asked with any of the other teachers or if she had gone into Pickens' classroom. Boyd said something about the students being difficult to handle.
Wadel says that Boyd told her that Merritt had told her that students were being left along. She also said that Merritt had told her that teachers and assistants/parapros did not want to be identified in reporting incidents because they wanted to keep their jobs.
Boyd told Wadel about Pickens using her foot on Marshall to get him up. Wadel asked Boyd how she knew about the practice and Boyd did not answer. Wade! asked Boyd if she had reported it to the social worker and Boyd said that the first time that she had.
Boyd told Pickens about the May 2007 incident. When Wadel asked Boyd how long he had been left alone there, Boyd did not know but said before and after lunch.
Boyd commented that the teachers had cleaned Marshall up some after he had smeared the feces over himself. The bus driver had smelled feces under his fingernails. Boyd said something to the effect that no one would have know anything if the teachers had cleaned under Marshall's fingernails.
Wadel had heard some comments from Pettes about Merritt's performance as the [ST. There were problems with paperwork and the minutes of meetings (I assume she is referring to 11T meetings.) being incomplete and that Merritt did not follow through with actions needed in her department.
Wadel confirmed that the school system does not require training in restraint or discipline for their special education teachers. It is available if a principal requests it lOr their teachers. It was her understanding that Pickens had gotten some training from an independent organization one summer.
Boyd became the principal of the middle school when it opened. All of the teachers transferred in from other schools. Boyd said that no one wanted to be principal at that school because it was going, to have the severe/moderate/profound unit. She decided that she needed a challenge and volunteered for the job. Boyd had no experience with Severe/Moderate/Profound students.
She said that the only thing that Pettes told her about Pickens problems at her former school was that she had curriculum problems. She denies that she was told about her being too rough with her students.
She did not hear about the May 2007 incident until the day after it had happened when Merritt, White and 'Valiant came to her office. She pulled out the policy book and read the part about willful neglect and then called the social worker. The mother, Ms. Marshall, was very upset that Pickens had not contacted her.
Boyd denied having been told that Marshall or any other student was being left alone prior to that occasion.
She said that the first year at the school. 2004/200fi. Reddick, the special needs nurse, had reported that Pickens was hitting Marshall on the back of the head. Boyd contacted the social worker and an investigation was done. Because the social worker did not refer the case on to DFCS, it became a personnel matter. Marshall's mother said that she was sure that Pickens had not hurt Marshall—he would not he so fond of Pickens is Pickens was abusing him.Boyd spoke
to Pickens and she admitted that she had -tapped'. Marshall. Boyd told Pickens not to do that and at the suggestion of someone in central office. gave Pickens a letter. She did not recall showing Pickens the statement that Reddick had written.
Regarding the incident with Coneway, she said that he and Merritt got into an argument in her office about what he had or had not told Merritt. Merritt told her that he and two parapros wanted to get Pickens fired.
Boyd said that the incident between Coneway and Merritt had influenced how she had reacted to further reports from Merritt. She had called Marshall's mother to find out whether or not Coneway had telephoned her. Mrs. Marshall denied that he had and went on to say positive things about Pickens.
She said that she had heard about the camera incident reported by Baugh and King in which they alleged that Pickens had thrown a camera and hit Marshall in the head. She said that Merritt was laughing when she reported the incident to hen She had talked to Pickens about the report and Pickens denied that a camera had been involved. Pickens said that Marshall had rolled off of a bean chair and hit his head on a piece of furniture. She did nothing else to resolve the conflicting stories. She wondered if this was another ploy to get Pickens into trouble.
Merritt had told her that no one else wanted to deal with Marshall_
She said that the statement. "If it isn't in writing, it didn't happen. was taken out of context. She was telling Merritt that eventually things would have to be documented. If anyone had any information, it was their duty to report.
Boyd also noted that any teacher could have contacted the social worker.
Despite the reports that Boyd received about Pickens inappropriate behavior. she took no actions to confirm or deny the reports. She acknowledged that she did not take the allegations seriously because she did not trust Merritt. Boyd felt that having a talk with Merritt in May 2006 when Merritt did not get the AP position was the correction for her lack of credibility. Boyd did not document the conference but two other APs were in the conference with her. Merritt was also informed that her position was being cut out of the budget.
Boyd thought that the allegations against Pickens were personality conflicts and gossip. Merritt would stick her head in the door and casually mention a problem. When I asked why she thought that the rumors persisted. she said that she was not sure. She assumed that they were in a high stress situation and that gossip went with the territory.
Boyd only spoke with Walker, the one-on-one parapro about what was going on in the unit. I Ie told her that the people there liked to gossip.
She did not recall Goodman telling her about Pickens telling a student that his mother was on crack or that his parents did not care about him.
She did not recall being told about the incident of Pickens screaming at the student in front of a store on the field trip.
She did not recall being told about Pickens passing gas in students' faces.
Once Marshall's mother had said that she was content with Pickens dealinc! with Marshall, she thought that everything was okay.
She got the impression from Merritt that things would be worse if she, Boyd, got involved in the personality conflicts.
Boyd said that her comment that if the teachers had cleaned Marshall up (after he had
spread feces all over himself) no one would have known anything was taken out of context. It was said to express disgust at What Pickens had done and how she had dealt with the parent afterwards.
Boyd denies that she ever told Wadel that she had been infOrmed that any students were being left alone.
Boyd said that she went onto G-Hall at least once a week and sometimes more often to participate in activities there. She never saw a student isolated. When she went into Pickens' classroom she never saw anything that raised her suspicions.
Toward the end of the 2006/2007 school year. Merritt came to her and said something to the effect that something is wrong on G-Hall. Pickens is getting nervous and escalating. Assistants had seen Pickens trying to get Marshall off of the floor and they were not sure whether or not Pickens was over-stepping the hounds.
She, Boyd spoke with Pickens and told her not to lose it. There was only a short time until school ended and Marshall would be moving on to high school.
Boyd said that in light of what she had learned after the May 2007 investigation that she saw where she could have taken different actions, but that she did not willfully neglect her duties. She did act on the two clear cut incidents that had been reported to her.
Pickens said that Marshall was 5'3" tall and weighed 145 pounds. She is 4'11" tall. Marshall suffers from Angleman's disease and has difficulty walking. As he got older, he got more aggressive. He would grab at other students, sometimes making them fall. He would pinch, bite, pull his pants down and kick. Marshall had a wheel chair and a walker but those would not restrain him. Depending on his behavior, she would sometimes put him in a Rifton chair that would restrain him, and isolate him. Sometimes he would be in a different part of the classroom and sometimes she would put him across the hall.
Pickens did not think that there was anything wrong with putting him across the hall. She said that other teachers isolated students.
Pickens said that she could see Marshall when he was across the hall. She said that the door was open and that she had her parapro check on him every two or five minutes. She denied that he had been left alone for hours on May 21, 2007.
When she learned that he was covered in feces, it was the end of the school day and she cleaned him up as best as she could with the bus outside waiting for him. She did not have time to write anything in his agenda, but she did telephone his mother and leave a message.
She had Marshall in her class for three years. She was very fond of him.
Regarding the incident at Holcomb Bridge, her previous school, she said that the student had grabbed her and had head butted her. That was not the reason that she transferred to
I ropewell. She denied that it had ever been an issue when she was at Holcomb Bridge. She denied knowing that it had been reported or looked into until this investigation was started.
Regarding the incident where it was alleged that she threw a camera at Marshall, she said that the parapro could not have seen her if she had thrown a camera. The only camera in the room was hers, and she would not have thrown it. She said that Marshall was asleep on a bean bag next to the bookcase. When he woke up and stretched, he fell off the beanbag and hit his head on the metal bookcase. She exclaimed concern for Marshall and went to assist him. She got
ice for the hump.
Pickens denies that she was ever asked to explain to an administrator about the incident. She spoke with Marshall's mother at another time. She acknowledges that she should have documented the incident. She was unaware that anyone had made the allegation until the current investigations
Regarding hitting Marshall on the back of the head, Pickens says that she would lightly tap Marshall on the head to encourage him to move. It was not striking.
Pickens denied that her using her foot to nudge Marshall off of the floor was a swinging
kick.
Regarding Aaron she said that she had problems getting necessary supplies from his mother. His mother would be late sending diapers or the nebulizer that he frequently needed for his breathing treatments. She made comments about his mother to Goodman, not to Aaron.
Regarding Garrett, she said that he would have crying and screaming spells when he got to school_ She tried yelling ack at hi to see if he liked what he was doing. After five times or so, he did not really like being yelled at and he would quit. She only did this in the classroom. She denies haying yelled at him on the field trip. She also denies screaming at the blind child.
Pickens believes that three people from the school have grudges against her. They are White. King and Baugh.
White and Sosebee met with Pickens and spoke with her about changing the kind of
changing
special education that she taught. Pickens did not want to move and told White who was the lead teacher at the time. White assigned Baugh, the paraprofessional to Pickens classroom allegedly because Baugh was the only one willing to work with Pickens. Pickens was told that Baugh would report her at the first chance that she had_ Two difficult students had been transferred from Pickens classroom to Whites. Pickens thinks that was the basis for White disliking her.
King was her parapro for 2004/2005. She was absent a lot. Pickens spoke to Baugh about her absences and the burden they put on her and the second parapro, Masses. When it came time for annual evaluations. Pickens scored her low in the section related to attendance. Pickens was later told by Merritt that King and Coneway had cooked up a story against Pickens. Pickens was not specific as to what the story was. At any rate, that strained their relationship to the point that they could not work in the room together.
Baugh is close friends with King. Baugh was assigned one-on-one to a student in Pickens classroom until the student's parents requested that Baugh's student be moved to another classroom because of Marshall's behavior. Pickens believes that White blamed her for the transfer and increase in White's class size, plus the addition of a potentially troublesome parapro to White's class.
She noted that she had attempted to get the Holcomb Bridge student and Marshall sent to the psycho-educational center and she got no support from the school system. She had Marshall in her classroom for three consecutive years. It is her understanding that shortly after each went to high school they were transferred. She does not feel that the school system supported her. Dealing with those students and with people who had grudges against her placed her in a hostile work environment.
Pickens does believe that she was able to do some good with students. She took one of her students to a Special Olympics for a weekend and also chaperoned that student to an 8t5 grade dance. She chaperoned after-school events and worked with regular education students. She also started a recycling program.
She alwa\ s received positive evaluations for the Wars that she taught.
BEFORE THE GEORGIA PROFESSIONAL. STANDARDS COMMISSION
STALE OF GEORGIA
IN THE MATTER OF:
Melanie Ann Pickens Certificate 4 615646
Respondent. |
*
fi |
PSC NO. 07-i I-385 |
|
|
MAY 9 1 2008
r nrn rr
Us) Ullt! I. 1
FINAL ORDER
The Professional Standards Commission approved a probable cause determination and propoQPd a disciplinary sanction in the Ahnve_captinoed rwiner on April lft 2008, and the Respondent was served notice of this decision on April 16, 2008. Because the Respondent failed to request a hearing within thirty (30) calendar days after service of notice of the proposed disciplinary sanction, the Respondent has waived the right to contest the proposed sanction. Therefore, the proposed sanction becomes the Final decision of the Commission pursuant to Commission Rule 505-6-.04 (1) (c).
FINDINGS OF FACT
The Findings of Fact entered by the Commission in the Consent Order are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference herein.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The Conclusions of Law entered by the Commission in the Consent Order are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference herein.
ORDER
1.
The Order entered by the Commission in the Consent Order is hereby adopted and incorporated herein by reference with the following specification. The Commission's proposed disciplinary action that Respondent's certificate be revoked is adopted and having become final on
ylav 16. 2008 is hereby made the Final Decision of the Commission on May 10, 2008.
lithe Respondent so chooses, he/she may appeal the findings of Professional Standards
Commission within 30 days of service of this order by following the procedures outlined in §50-13-19.
itch`'C. Henson Executive Secretary
Professional Standards Commission State of Georgia
