The SMMUSD refuses to take responsibility for re-hiring Carl Hammer, former Santa Monica HS band director, after his firing for a felony charge involving a 14-year-old girl Michael Chwe, michael@chwe.net Return to smmusdsafety.org On August 6, 2004, Dr. Carl Hammer, band director at Santa Monica HS, was arrested on two felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a 14-year-old girl.  He was placed on leave from his teaching position and ordered to not have any contact with students.  On June 21, 2005, as part of a plea bargain, he pleaded no contest to a felony charge of false imprisonment.  On July 15, 2005, he was sentenced to 60 days of jail time and five years of probation, and was ordered to undergo sex therapy counseling for one year (click here for court transcripts).  He was ordered to not be around minors, other than his own children, without a responsible adult present, for five years.  Due to a successful legal rehabilitation, charges were dropped against Dr. Hammer in July 2008 and his probationary period ended in June 2010.  According to a statement by SMMUSD board member Kathy Wisnicki on May 21, 2008, Dr. Hammer had pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of false imprisonment in an attempt to retain his California teaching license, but his teaching license was revoked on July 1, 2005 for five years. Despite his criminal history, from 2005 to 2008, Dr. Hammer was hired by Santa Monica HS band director Mr. Terry Sakow to arrange music and the field show for the marching band, with the full knowledge of Santa Monica HS Principal Hugo Pedroza.  Dr. Hammer was paid in total over $7000 by the Santa Monica Band Parent Association (SMBPA), using funds from parent donations.  This practice continued until November 3, 2008, when I sent an email to the SMMUSD Ad Hoc Committee on child abuse policy and other district officials about it.  On November 4, 2008, Dr. Pedroza called me on the telephone saying that Santa Monica HS policy on Dr. Hammer had changed and that henceforth Dr. Hammer could participate in the band program only as a parent. The SMBPA payments to Dr. Hammer were not publicly disclosed to parents, who might be alarmed to know that their donations were funneled in part to a convicted felon who had victimized a child.  They were disclosed only after I wrote an email on March 1, 2009 to Sydney Bennion, SMBPA treasurer at the time (click for Ms. Bennion's response and my reply).  At the time, the SMBPA did not comply with minimal standards of public disclosure; for example, it had never filed 1099 forms for its independent contractors, in violation of Federal tax law. Mr. Sakow has never admitted responsibility for his decision to hire Dr. Hammer.  On November 5, 2008, he told me that he could not talk about it because he was not qualified, saying, "I am only the band director."  On March 1, 2009, I emailed Mr. Sakow asking who was responsible for hiring Dr. Hammer, but he never responded.  Mr. Sakow had planned a prominent public role for Dr. Hammer in the SCSBOA band festival hosted at Santa Monica HS in April 2009 until a parent alerted Dr. Pedroza about it.  Even after being issued clear instructions disallowing Dr. Hammer's participation in any way other than as a parent, Mr. Sakow attempted to get around them. In early November 2008, Nealla Gordon, another band parent, and I asked SMBPA presidents Helen Weary and Leah Moore if the issue of criminal background checks for chaperones for the marching band's December 2008 London trip could be discussed at the monthly SMBPA meeting.  At that time, the SMMUSD was considering a new policy for parent volunteers on overnight trips, but it was not clear whether it would be implemented in time for the trip.  We were denied permission to discuss this issue, and Ms. Weary announced in the meeting that the band program swould follow district policy.  Ms. Weary told me later that the decision to not allow discussion of the issue in the SMBPA meeting was made by Mr. Sakow.  On November 18, 2008, at a meeting of the SMMUSD Ad Hoc Committee on child abuse policy, Asst. Superintendent Mike Matthews announced the immediate implementation of the new district policy requiring criminal background checks for parent volunteers on overnight trips.  At this meeting, SMBPA treasurer Sydney Bennion, speaking for the SMBPA, strenuously argued that the marching band's London trip be specifically exempted from this policy.  Ms. Bennion said that  parent volunteers had been personally "vetted" by themselves and that newspaper articles on Dr. Hammer's case were not to be trusted.  On November 21, 2008, I emailed Supt. Cuneo urging the SMMUSD to not grant any exemption.  In the end, the SMBPA complied with district policy.  If the SMBPA had gotten its way, band students would not have received the basic protection which background checks provide. In June 2010, Dr. Hammer's son, a member of the band program, graduated from Santa Monica HS.  On August 30, 2010, Dr. Hammer was present on the Santa Monica HS campus at 9pm after band camp rehearsal was over, and entered the band room while many students were still there.  In a meeting with me on September 1, 2010, Dr. Pedroza said that Dr. Hammer had "done his time" and that his presence there was a case of "adult to adult" contact.  In this meeting, Dr. Pedroza said that he could not immediately rule out the possibility of Dr. Hammer's further involvement with the band program, for example serving as a guest conductor, despite his November 4, 2008 statement that Dr. Hammer could participate only as a parent, and despite the fact that Dr. Hammer was no longer a band parent.  Dr. Hammer is still associated with the band program in the 2010–2011 school year, managing the program's website even though he is not listed on the website's contacts page.  By hiring Dr. Hammer to arrange music and the field show, Mr. Sakow did not directly place students at risk.  But Mr. Sakow's hiring of Dr. Hammer using parent donations, and the entire history mentioned above, demonstrates a lack of commitment to child safety.  A person observing that Dr. Hammer was hired by the Santa Monica HS band program with the acquiescence of Principal Pedroza, even after he was dismissed for a felony involving a child, can reasonably conclude that Santa Monica HS implicitly tolerates crimes against children.  On the issue of parent chaperones for the 2008 London trip, the band program's continuing relationship with Dr. Hammer compromised its decisions about child safety. No parent or educator involved with a school organization would choose, all other things being equal, to engage in a financial relationship involving thousands of dollars with a person who has served jail time for a crime involving a 14 year old girl, even after those charges were dropped after probation.  The reason for this is that no school organization would want to support, tolerate, legitimize, or normalize even to the smallest degree the criminal victimization of children.  For Mr. Sakow, some other consideration was more important. In his statements, Mr. Terry Sakow has demonstrated an unwillingness to be even minimally accountable for his actions.  By not fully informing everyone, Mr. Sakow has been asking hundreds of parents and students to unwittingly serve as moral cover for a person who many would agree does not deserve it. Dr. Pedroza's statements have also been inconsistent and evasive.  In a meeting of the SMMUSD Ad Hoc Committee on child abuse policy on August 5, 2008, Dr. Pedroza acknowledged that Dr. Hammer had been hired by the SMBPA under the condition that he have no contact with students.  On November 4, 2008, Dr. Pedroza told me over the telephone that henceforth Dr. Hammer could not receive money from the SMBPA and could participate in the band program only as a parent.  On March 1, 2009, Dr. Pedroza said in a meeting with several parents that he had never approved the hiring of Dr. Hammer, even though his previous statements indicate that he had known about it and that as principal he had the power to stop it.  On September 1, 2010, Dr. Pedroza said that the hiring of Dr. Hammer was a decision made by the SMBPA, a parent organization separate from Santa Monica HS, and thus he had no responsibility for or power over it.  This latest statement conflicts with his November 4, 2008 telephone conversation with me and also with Ms. Bennion's March 4, 2009 email, in which she states, "Dr. Pedroza has instructed Mr. Sakow to obtain the arrangement and drill for the next field show from a different provider and SMBPA will comply with these instructions." Mr. Terry Sakow's decision to hire Dr. Hammer and his unwillingness to acknowledge responsibility for it, as well as Dr. Pedroza's acquiescence and inconsistent statements, demonstrate a lack of commitment to child safety and a persistent pattern of unaccountability.

Ryan Hyatt, "Hammer Faces the Music," Santa Monica Daily Press, July 16–17, 2005