{"id":5287,"date":"2006-04-27T15:03:50","date_gmt":"2006-04-27T19:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2006\/04\/27\/school-board-bullies-jamestow"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:53:58","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:53:58","slug":"school-board-bullies-jamestown-ny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2006\/04\/27\/school-board-bullies-jamestown-ny\/","title":{"rendered":"school (board) bullies — jamestown, ny"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

It’s a psychological cliche that bullies are really insecure, immature <\/font><\/p>\n

cowards. The students of Jamestown, NY, are getting a good lesson <\/font><\/p>\n

in the pathology of bullying from their very own <\/font>Board of Education<\/font><\/a>. The<\/font><\/p>\n

courageous “victim” has just returned to finish her assignment, but the <\/font><\/p>\n

bullies on the Board have more mischief in store for her.(scroll to the end <\/font><\/p>\n

of <\/font>this<\/a> <\/font>news story from the Jamestown Post-Journal<\/font><\/a><\/em>,<\/font> April 27, 2006)<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/font>safeschools\/bullying<\/font><\/em><\/a><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

As we reported in <\/font>our post<\/font><\/a> on Feb. 1, 2006, the object of the school <\/font><\/p>\n

board’s bullying for the past few years has been their fellow Board <\/font><\/p>\n

Member <\/font>Deann Nelson<\/font><\/a>, Ed.D (who was represented by Your Editor’s <\/font><\/p>\n

brother, Arthur J. Giacalone, in the federal first amendment suit, <\/font><\/p>\n

Nelson vs Board of Education<\/em><\/font><\/a>,<\/em> WDNY, Jan. 27, 2006). What set <\/font><\/font>off <\/font><\/p>\n

Board President Joseph Pawelski and his posse (Members Timothy <\/font><\/p>\n

Thomas,Joseph DiMaio, Laurel Lucas, Thomas Pope, and Christine <\/font><\/p>\n

Schnars) was the insistence by Dr. Nelson that the Board do more than <\/font><\/p>\n

merely rubber-stamp special education placements. <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"tiny<\/em> The proper placement of students has been a primary focus <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

of Dr. Nelson her entire time on the Board (see, e.g., <\/em>Buffalo <\/em><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

News,<\/em> “<\/font><\/font>New Board Member Puts Focus on Special-Ed Students<\/font><\/a>,” <\/font><\/p>\n

July 24, 2003.)<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Deann Nelson had the temerity to claim the right to actually read<\/em> each <\/font><\/p>\n

Individualized Education Plan [IEP] before voting to approve or reject it.<\/font><\/p>\n

The custom of the Jamestown Board, however, is to take action on each <\/font><\/p>\n

IEP based solely on a one-page summary — called a “board action sheet” <\/font><\/p>\n

— prepared and forwarded to the Board by the Committee that prepared the <\/font><\/p>\n

Plan. <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

safeschools\/bullying<\/font><\/em><\/a><\/font><\/em>\u00a0 …..\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"tiny <\/em>The response of the Board bullies? They insisted that IEPs <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

could only be read by Board Members at the School Board <\/font><\/p>\n

Offices, during normal working hours, with no copies being <\/font><\/p>\n

made.<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dr. Nelson complied with these restrictions and read hundreds of IEPs. <\/font><\/p>\n

However, she also started to object to individual Plans and voice concern <\/font><\/p>\n

over various systemic problems and irregularities in the evaluation process.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"tiny <\/em>The response of the Board of bullies? As described in detail <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

here, they passed a resolution on September 14, 2004, prohibiting <\/font><\/p>\n

any board member from reading the Individualized Education Program <\/font><\/p>\n

(IEP) of a district student, in the process of deciding whether to approve <\/font><\/p>\n

or disapprove the IEP. The Board Member must rely solely on the brief <\/font><\/p>\n

summary written by the Committee that prepared the IEP.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dr. Nelson also asked to see Board records on amounts spent on outside <\/font><\/p>\n

attorney fees. Denied that request, she filed Freedom of Information requests, <\/font><\/p>\n

which were repeatedly refused over many months. The State Secretary of State <\/font><\/p>\n

finally intervened on Deann’s behalf, telling the Board it had the legal duty to dis-<\/font><\/p>\n

close <\/font>that information. The Board again stalled and stalled. Finally, they called <\/font><\/p>\n

Dr. <\/font>Nelson and made an appointment for her to come to their offices, where she <\/font><\/p>\n

would only be allowed to read the materials. Dr. Nelson, a diminuitive grand-<\/font><\/p>\n

mother, arrived for the meeting, bringing a bagged lunch and expecting a long <\/font><\/p>\n

day of reading.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"tiny The response of then Board Secretary Karen Peterson?<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

She kept Dr. Nelson waiting for hours and then told her the <\/font><\/p>\n

papers would not be ready that day. When Nelson asked what <\/font><\/p>\n

was going on, Peterson started screaming that she was being <\/font><\/p>\n

“intimidated<\/em>.” Dr. Nelson then followed Peterson into her office, <\/font><\/p>\n

attempting to calm Peterson down and get an explanation. <\/font><\/p>\n

Peterson continued yelling and other personnel called the police, <\/font><\/p>\n

who came and arrested Dr. Nelson, charging her first with harass-<\/font><\/p>\n

ment and then with felony unlawful imprisonment of Peterson <\/font><\/p>\n

in her office (because she had closed the office door when enter-<\/font><\/p>\n

ing the room).<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Board immediately held a press conference, charging Dr. Nelson with <\/font><\/p>\n

causing a fight that required her arrest. As a result, Jamestown and Buffalo <\/font><\/p>\n

media gave one-sided coverage blaming Dr. Nelson for the incident. See, e.g., <\/font><\/p>\n

wgrz<\/em>.com<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/a>, “Jamestown School Board Member Arrested, Nov. 4, 2005; and <\/font><\/p>\n

WKBWNews7<\/font><\/em><\/a>, “Member of Jamestown of School Board charged faces charges,”<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Nov. 7, 2005, which began: “<\/span>Police say a member of the Jamestown School <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Board, needs to learn a hard lesson, in the law.”)<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\"BulliesPushG\"<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The Board Bullies managed to soil Dr. Nelson’s reputation, without ever letting <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

her see the materials mandated to be disclosed under the State’s Freedom of Infor-<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

mation laws. <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"tiny The further response of the School Board?<\/em> They scheduled <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

a disciplinary hearing charging Dr. Nelson with official misconduct<\/em>. <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Among the <\/span>enumerated charges, in addition to the arrest, was <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

the claim that Dr. Nelson takes too many notes at Board meetings<\/strong><\/em>, <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

thus intimidating other Board members [there’s that “i-word” again; <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

somebody must have had it on a spelling test last semester].<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Originally scheduled for December, the hearing was postponed <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

to await action on the criminal charges. <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On March 23, 2006, the county grand jury refused to indict Dr. Nelson on the <\/font><\/p>\n

charges of false imprisonment, and the charges were dropped. (Jamestown Post <\/em><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Journal<\/em>, “Nelson Not Indicted on Criminal Charges,” March 24, 2006). Yesterday, <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

April 23, 2006, Dr. Nelson attended her first Board meeting since December, having <\/font><\/p>\n

recused herself from Board activities until the criminal charges were resolved. (See <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\"tiny The response of the School Board?<\/em> Per the Post-Journal<\/em>: \"bully\"<\/font><\/p>\n

“Joseph Pawelski, Jamestown board president, said Wednesday <\/font><\/p>\n

the public [official misconduct] hearing will now be rescheduled, <\/font><\/p>\n

but no date has been set.”<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But, of course<\/em> she’s misbehaving: Deann Nelson is still asking questions, taking <\/font><\/p>\n

notes, reading <\/font>relevant documents (when allowed to see them), and generally <\/font><\/p>\n

making her fellow <\/font>School Board members feel insecure and inadequate, and — <\/font><\/p>\n

yes — intimidated, by doing the job she was elected to do. <\/font>We would understand if<\/font><\/p>\n

Deann decided to resign from this <\/font>intolerable situation. <\/font>But, we hope she’ll stand <\/font><\/p>\n

up to the bullies.<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

\n

afterthought<\/strong><\/em> (April 29, 2006): Is this just another example of the local\/schmocal<\/em><\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

phenomenon we discussed <\/font>i<\/font>n <\/font>January 2005 — with local government bodies being <\/font><\/p>\n

populated by far too many fools and knaves? If you’ve got stories, feel free to share <\/font><\/p>\n

them with us.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"tiny\u00a0 <\/em><\/font><\/font>Meanwhile, here are some resources that the Board might consider <\/font><\/p>\n

reading and taking to heart:<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– “<\/font>Bullying Recognition & Response for School Employees<\/em><\/font><\/a>” from Safe-<\/font><\/p>\n

Schools.com<\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– <\/font>“<\/font>Bullying in Schools<\/em><\/font><\/a>: <\/font>Adult action <\/font><\/em>can improve school safety<\/em>;” and <\/font><\/p>\n

“<\/font>When our own children are bullying<\/em><\/font><\/a>, what can we do?<\/em>“, from the extensive <\/font><\/p>\n

online Library<\/font><\/a> of <\/font>KidPower.org<\/font><\/a><\/font>. The reply to the question, “What if my <\/font><\/p>\n

child is the bully?,” begins:<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

“Children who bully in this way need safer tools for getting what they <\/font><\/p>\n

want, better skills for handling the disappointment of NOT always <\/font><\/p>\n

getting what they want, clear boundaries about what the rules are for <\/font><\/p>\n

behavior, and consistently enforced consequences for breaking those <\/font><\/p>\n

rules.”<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

<\/font><\/font><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\"bully2\"<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

stepping on<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

sidewalk ants the boy<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

everyone bullies<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

in the howling wind<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

under the full moon<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

the snowman, headless<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

on the bus<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

the teenager pulls out a mirror<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

and adjusts her pout<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

George Swede<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

from <\/font>Almost Unseen<\/font><\/em><\/a> (Brooks Books, 2000)<\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Stifling heat<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

a palm frond suggests<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

there is a breeze<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

George Swede<\/strong><\/font><\/a> – The Heron’s Nest<\/em> (Dec. 2005<\/a>)<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\"bully2\" \"bully2\"<\/span><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a psychological cliche that bullies are really insecure, immature cowards. The students of Jamestown, NY, are getting a good lesson in the pathology of bullying from their very own Board of Education. The courageous “victim” has just returned to finish her assignment, but the bullies on the Board have more mischief in store for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1nh","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12669,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5287\/revisions\/12669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Jamestown Post-Journal<\/font><\/a><\/em>, “JPS Names New Bush Principal,” April 27, 2006)<\/font><\/p>\n