SMMUSD Irresponsibility Endangers Our Children

Michael Chwe, michael@chwe.net
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The SMMUSD has refused to answer questions about teachers who have sexually abused and sexually harassed children

• On May 21, 2008, ten parents wrote a letter to SMMUSD Supt. Dianne Talarico asking 14 questions about the SMMUSD's handling of the case of Lincoln MS teacher Thomas Beltran, who was later convicted of sexually molesting eleven Lincoln students over a period of more than ten years.  On May 30, 2008, Supt. Talarico responded saying that "The active investigation status of this case prohibits the district from responding to many of your questions at this time."  We never received a further response.  On September 2, 2010, long after the criminal case against Mr. Beltran was resolved, I wrote to Superintendent Tim Cuneo asking for the district to now answer our questions.  Supt. Cuneo never responded.
• On December 7, 2010, over 150 SMMUSD parents wrote a letter to Supt. Tim Cuneo and Santa Monica HS principal Dr. Hugo Pedroza asking for information about Mr. Ari Marken, a Santa Monica HS teacher who was found by the SMMUSD to have sexually harassed a thirteen-year-old ninth grade girl in one of his geometry classes.  Supt. Cuneo and Dr. Pedroza did not respond.  (For a news article about this letter, click here).  The parents of the girl have never been given any information about the results of the SMMUSD investigation apart from this letter saying that Mr. Marken violated SMMUSD policy 5145.7. 
  

The SMMUSD has failed to inform parents when their children have been victims of potentially criminal harassment

• On May 4, 2011, two Santa Monica HS students on the wrestling team locked an African American teammate to a locker, shouting "Slave for sale" and displaying a noose.  They are currently being investigated on hate crime charges.  Santa Monica HS administrators failed to inform the victim's mother, Veronica Gray, of the incident.  Ms. Gray found out from other parents.

The SMMUSD has destroyed evidence concerning harassment of children

• Several Santa Monica HS students took cell phone pictures of the noose in the wrestling team practice room.  These pictures were essential evidence, as the display of a noose to terrorize another person is a specific crime under California Penal Code section 11411.  However, without reporting the matter to the police, Santa Monica HS administrators confiscated students' phones and destroyed the pictures.
  

The SMMUSD has asked parents to destroy emails and not talk to each other about teacher sexual harassment of children

• On August 31, 2010, SMMUSD Supt. Tim Cuneo sent a memo to parents asking them to destroy an email which Mr. Patrick DeCarolis, attorney for the 13-year-old girl sexually harassed by Mr. Marken, sent to parents on August 30, 2010, asking for help and information.  This email was communication entirely between private citizens.  Supt. Cuneo felt that he had the authority to write: "Please destroy all copies of the email and do not forward it or discuss the content of the email with others."
  

The SMMUSD removed evidence of child abuse from its own records

• In March 2006, an eighth-grade Lincoln MS student made a written complaint about Thomas Beltran, two years before he was arrested for sexually molesting students.  However, on May 8, 2008, after Mr. Beltran's arrest, Asst. Supt. Mike Matthews said that "this is all new to us" and said that there were no complaints about Mr. Beltran in his personnel file.  One might expect that a handwritten student letter about a possibly abusive teacher would be among the most sensitive and crucial of all records kept by a school district.  On February 28, 2011, SMMUSD attorneys wrote that the district did not have a copy of the student's letter.
  

The SMMUSD has impugned the testimony of its own employees who report child abuse

• On October 22, 2011, teacher's aides in the special education classroom at Cabrillo ES informed parents that the special education teacher Jennifer Becker was abusing their children.  On October 28, 2011, the parents of four students met with SMMUSD director for special education Sara Woolverton.  At this meeting, Dr. Woolverton stated that the four teacher's aides were not credible and not trustworthy, and were committing a "mutiny" because Ms. Becker was making them work.

The SMMUSD has ordered teacher's aides to not talk to parents

• Melissa Winder, teacher's aide in the Cabrillo ES special education class, states that Bekah Dannelly, SMMUSD special education coordinator, visited the special education classroom to order the teacher's aides to not talk, text, or call the parents of the special education students.

The SMMUSD has tried to intimidate students and parents

• After the hate crime incident involving two members of the wrestling team, Santa Monica HS H House principal Leslie Wells told the victim that "The incident could get the whole wrestling program canceled."  The victim did not tell his mother about the incident, reportedly because he did not want "to make a big deal out of it."
  
• On September 8, 2010, I wrote Supt. Cuneo asking specifically whether parents are legally obligated to destroy Mr. DeCarolis's email.  In his reply on September 9, 2010, Supt. Cuneo wrote: "The further dissemination of inaccurate information, which may include slanderous accusations, comes with it legal risk or liability.  As such, the District response to the recipients about the information did not mince words in describing the seriousness of further dissemination."  Supt. Cuneo did not make any specific claim that anyone said anything slanderous.  His response was nothing more than an attempt to intimidate.
• The agreement between the SMMUSD and the Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Association states that if a student or parent wants to file a complaint against a teacher, the teacher can request a meeting.  However, "if the complainant refuses to attend the meeting, the complaint shall neither be placed in the unit member's personnel file nor utilized in any evaluation, assignment, or disciplinary or dismissal action against the unit member."  This policy is a license for intimidation.  Very few children, or even adults, would be courageous enough to make a complaint against a teacher knowing that they would have to then meet the teacher face to face. 
  

The SMMUSD has tried to mislead parents about their legal rights

• After Supt. Tim Cuneo asked parents to destroy and not talk about an email sent to them by Mr. Patrick DeCarolis concerning Mr. Ari Marken's sexual harassment of a 13-year-old girl, I asked him directly whether parents are legally obligated to do so.  He did not answer this question or acknowledge parents' free speech rights.  One must conclude that the SMMUSD is willing to intentionally mislead parents.  Of course no parent is legally obligated to destroy any emails, regardless of implications for the district.  The SMMUSD has no business telling parents what they can and cannot talk about.
  

The SMMUSD has publicly misrepresented its own legal obligations

• After over 150 parents wrote a letter on December 7, 2010 to Supt. Tim Cuneo and Santa Monica HS principal Dr. Hugo Pedroza asking for information about the SMMUSD's finding that Mr. Ari Marken had sexually harassed a 13-year-old girl, Supt. Cuneo stated in a newspaper interview that the SMMUSD could not legally disclose details about the case.  However, in its court filings, the SMMUSD admits that they are legally required to release this information.
  

The SMMUSD has violated California state law

• Under California Penal Code 11165.7, school personnel are legally required to report suspected child abuse to police.  In the case of the alleged abuses in the special education classroom at Cabrillo ES, no one reported Ms. Becker's actions to the police until the parents, informed by the teacher's aides, reported it themselves.
  
• In response to my California Public Records Act (CPRA) request asking for information about Mr. Marken's violation, the SMMUSD delayed its response by an additional month and one day, in violation of the CPRA. 
  
• The SMMUSD delayed in order to allow Mr. Marken to try to obtain a court order to stop the release of the records, ignoring the California Supreme Court ruling in Filarsky v. Superior Court (2002) that "the exclusive procedure for litigating the issue of a public agency's obligation to disclose records to a member of the public" is a lawsuit initiated by the person requesting the records.
• By not releasing the records concerning Mr. Marken's violation, the SMMUSD is in violation of long-standing case law, including AFSCME Employees v. Regents of University of California (1978), which establishes that records concerning the actions of public employees who have been disciplined must be disclosed to the public.
• The agreement between the SMMUSD and the Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Association states that if a student or parent wants to file a complaint against a teacher, no record of the complaint will be kept unless the student or parent agrees to a meeting with the teacher.  This violates the California Code of Regulations Title 5, Section 4621, which states that "local policies shall ensure that complainants are protected from retaliation and that the identity of a complainant alleging discrimination remain confidential as appropriate.''