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Thread: Unproven sex allegations fire girls coach at McKinley

  1. #1
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    Unproven sex allegations fire girls coach at McKinley

    This incident at Mckinley HS has been covered in several articles by Bflo News as well as by ARTVOICE.

    It appears to be a tragic abuse of power against a valuable volunteer as well as against a student who was 'doing the right thing' is seeking help from the School Board.

    I imagine many of the girls on the team come from single parent households & urgently need more positive adult role models, such as this volunteer, in their lives.

    And a seven week suspension of a girl who wants to go to college, in a city with a massive drop-out rate, is incredible.

    Hopefully effective media exposure will finally help resolve another apparent black eye against city schools.


    http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/265504.html

    Unproven sex allegations used to fire girls coach at McKinley

    By Mark Sommer, Updated: 02/01/08 7:34 AM


    Buffalo School Superintendent James A. Williams told the Buffalo Board of Education in executive session Tuesday that Michelle Stiles was dismissed as the volunteer coach of the McKinley High School girls basketball team because of suspicions that she was having sexual relations with girls on the team.

    Williams also told board members he lacked proof to back up the suspicion, according to several board members who were present but spoke on condition of anonymity.

    Sexual contact with an underage student is a criminal offense.

    But more than two months after Stiles’ dismissal, police sources say no complaints have been lodged against her, nor has any investigation been opened against her.

    In addition, parents and legal guardians of several girls on the basketball team say the school district has never notified them about suspicions of anything improper involving Stiles.

    Williams and spokesman Stefan Mychajliw did not return repeated calls about this story to The Buffalo News.

    Stiles, who said she is not a lesbian, expressed horror when informed of what Williams told the School Board and worried about potential damage to her reputation.

    “Who wants to have these allegations of [sleeping with underage kids] against you? They’re horrible,” Stiles said when informed of the rumors. “People who know me have no problems knowing this is not true. But for people who don’t know me, they could be scratching their head going, ‘Well, maybe.’ I have to repair a damaged reputation in the minds of people who haven’t met me yet.

    “I’m horrified that someone in this position of authority, and in charge of stewarding kids’ lives, is acting this inappropriately.”

    Stiles was dismissed after serving three years as a volunteer basketball coach not long after running afoul of James Daye, the boys basketball and track coach and assistant football coach. Stiles incurred his wrath, she says, after she questioned girls on the team about why Daye was seen leaving the house where one of them lived.

    Daye was a regular visitor to an adult cousin there, according to girls on the team.

    Stiles said that once she realized Daye was visiting an adult at the girl’s home, she did not pursue the matter.

    But an angry Daye later confronted her and, according to Stiles, “threatened to smear my character.”

    Christine Juarbe, a sophomore on the girls basketball team, said Daye later pulled her aside in the computer lab to claim, in the form of a warning, that Stiles was a lesbian.

    Daye has asserted that he had no involvement in Stiles’ dismissal.

    Stiles has been applauded by girls on the team and their parents for being a mentor as well as teaching the girls basketball skills.

    “Stiles has been nothing but good to us,” said Falesha Moultrie, a McKinley freshman. “She’s been a leader, and whether it was basketball or school, she pushed me more than anyone’s pushed me before. She does stuff she [doesn’t] have to do to make sure we stay out of trouble.”

    The situation with Stiles has also ensnared senior Jayvonna Kincannon, who was on the girls basketball team. She was suspended in December for five days after using a cell phone in school to try to get on the agenda of the Buffalo Board of Education to speak in support of Stiles.

    The suspension was later turned into seven weeks, with additional charges of leaving school on two occasions without approval and wearing a hoodie.

    msommer@buffnews.com

  2. #2
    Member run4it's Avatar
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    When it comes to allegations of improper sexual conduct between teachers and students, it has to be dealt with swiftly, especially for liability purposes. When the adult involved is a volunteer, not under contract, all the easier and quicker to take care of any possible problems.

    Unfortunately, this is the society in which we live. But if administration took the complaints under advisement and then some sort of improper action were to continue or take place separately, you know that the lawsuits would never end.

    This is why, as a teacher, you're given specific training on how NOT to become improperly involved with a student.
    But your being a dick
    ~Wnyresident

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    It just seems odd that when she questioned why a male teacher was at a players home, suddenly she becomes a lesbian who may be having a relationship with her students. Allegations of improper relations between an adult and student can not only ruin a career, but a life. If I were her, I would be considering a big fat law suit against the Buffalo Public schools, the principal and the male coach. That is all based on her being completely innocent of all charges.

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    But more than two months after Stiles’ dismissal, police sources say no complaints have been lodged against her, nor has any investigation been opened against her.
    Eh? I was under the impression that any school official or teacher with knowledge of a possible crime committed against a student was mandated by NYS law to report it to the police. So either the school is being negligent in not reporting a possible crime or they just opened themselves up to a lawsuit for slandering the volunteer.

    Ya know, the thing that bugs me is this: Dr. Williams is a pretty well respected in the education field. His approaches as far as dealing with education specific problems have been lauded by many other education professionals and theorists. His aptitude for diplomacy and adminstrative matters, however, seems to be a different story.
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

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    Member Sylvan's Avatar
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    I think Bauerle is still talking about this story - http://radiotime.com/station/s_27403/WBEN_930.aspx

  6. #6
    This whole story seems bizarre to me. There's no evidence of misconduct, but there is (hearsay) evidence of a smear campaign.

    The last sentence adds a further element of the bizarre.

    "The suspension was later turned into seven weeks, with additional charges of leaving school on two occasions without approval and wearing a hoodie."

    I fully understand being punished for leaving school without approval. That makes sense.

    But, you can also be punished for wearing a hoodie?

    I'm sorry, I know I'm a fat old white man who is frightened by change, but a hoodie's just a sweater with a hood. I wear them. What's the crime.

    Now we're punishing children for what they wear? No wonder kids have a hard time adjusting.

  7. #7
    Member run4it's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by raoul duke
    or they just opened themselves up to a lawsuit for slandering the volunteer.
    In order to sue for slander you have to be able to show real damages. Considering she was on a volunteer basis, she might be hard pressed to show where she has materially suffered.

    It sucks to be falsely called an abuser (trust me, I know). But unless you can show real material harm you're out of luck.
    But your being a dick
    ~Wnyresident

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    Something wrong

    There is something wrong about this story. Not sure what.


    However, I'll bet a dollar to a donut the lady is a butch/dyke


    Unless her husband, boyfriend, etc. comes out and states otherwise.


    Does this women have a real job ? Or is she just a white bitch from the burbs here to save us poor folks of Buffalo ?

  9. #9
    Member raoul duke's Avatar
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    Hey, I'm gonna bet rocking ron is a fat white guy sitting at his computer in his underwear basking in the glow of his own smugness.

    Am I close?

    Whether she is a lesbian or not, is irrelevant.
    One beautiful thing about having a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations is that every disaster is measured in terms of economic loss. It's sort of like getting your arm sheared off in a car accident and thinking, "Damn, now it'll take longer to fold the laundry" as blood spurts from your arteries. - The Rude Pundit

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    Close

    Quote Originally Posted by raoul duke
    Hey, I'm gonna bet rocking ron is a fat white guy sitting at his computer in his underwear basking in the glow of his own smugness.

    Am I close?

    Whether she is a lesbian or not, is irrelevant.

    Yes sir, you're very close (180 lbs).

    But, I still say she's a dyke from the burbs and she likes girls.

  11. #11
    Member unioncop's Avatar
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    yeah that's what it is any smart white bitch from the burbs would not waste their time working for a person like barton and why did they wait till now to drop this bomb shell and not when it was allegedly brought to thier attention or at least the other day when question on why she was let go could it be because it is bull **** and these two (williams and barton) are trying to safe face and their careers they both should be fired but with his new contract that cant happen
    "PAY POLICE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT"
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    ... Williams also told board members he lacked proof to back up the suspicion, according to several board members who were present but spoke on condition of anonymity.
    ...
    Wow! just like that. "I don't like you. I suspect you are a (fill in the blank here). You're fired?
    WTHeck kind of nonsense is that?
    First Amendment rights are like muscles, if you don't exercise them they will atrophy.

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    Let me clarify some things for people about the Buffalo Schools.
    There is a dress code in effect that has banned hoodies of any sort in any school.
    This is because a few years back, someone snuck into a school with a hoodie on. No one was able to recognize that they weren't a student in the school. This person ended up causing problems within the school.

    Cell phones are banned in the schools because a student once called a bunch of relatives and friends after a student made a comment to her about "her mother."
    These friends and relatives came into the school and attempted to beat down the student who said this.

    So, yes, there was justified discipline against these students, however, neither offense is a 7 week suspension, even for multiple offenses.


    As another point, I know the assistant principal, Fatima Morrell at McKinley. I worked under her at school 31 a few years back before she was booted out as a principal. She was mentioned in one of the first articles about this issue, and I immediately knew she was involved. She is very immature, makes very poor judgements, and really has no business being an administrator anywhere. She lost her school due to making very stupid mistakes, and now it seems that she is a part of even worse problems at McKinley.
    This is one of the most spirited schools in the Buffalo School District, and respected, and these two administrators are destroying it, and that's unacceptable.
    Barton has been cited for inappropriate behavior several times in the past as well.
    I'm sure Morrell and Barton, along with the boys coach got together and decided to teach these girls a lesson, but it backfired on them.


    As for the person who made the comment that teachers who are accused of these acts should be dealt with swiftly, I wholeheartedly disagree. If there is ample evidence, then that teacher should be suspended immediately, but you don't just remove an innocent person without just cause. There is too much of this crap going around these days, and people (students, teachers, administrators, parents alike) have the ability to destroy someone they don't like just by making false accusations about them. This woman was not an employee of the school, so she has no protection whatsoever, and that's too bad.
    I'm sure there is a side to this story we are not getting, also. I believe the girls are probably innocent victims in this, but there is something fishy about that volunteer coach. There must be something, at least for the sake of the school district. Otherwise---this could be one of the biggest lawsuits ever.
    http://www.buffaloreuse.org/~kool aid free zone~

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    Seven week suspension illegal, file missling

    This story is getting more sordid.

    Clearly a suspension without a hearing is illegal, but the file is missing!

    It appears that this principal considers herself above the law.

    Its a terrible way to teach students about respect for law. And an even worse way to recruit volunteers in understaffed schools.

    http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/266329.html

    Student’s suspension likely violated law
    Educators say hearing should have been held


    By Mark Sommer NEWS STAFF REPORTER, Updated: 02/02/08 7:23 AM


    The Buffalo School District appears to have violated state education law when Buffalo Superintendent James A. Williams added six weeks to the suspension of a McKinley High School senior, according to three professionals familiar with the law.

    The statute requires a superintendent’s hearing when a student is suspended for more than five days. No such hearing was held for Jayvonna Kincannon, who has just finished the fifth week of a seven-week suspension, according to the high school senior and her grandmother.

    “A student cannot remain out of school, according to decisions of the New York State commissioner of education, beyond the five days until they’ve had an opportunity for this hearing. It’s an obligation of the district to provide it,” Donald Ogilvie, district superintendent of Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services, told The Buffalo News.

    A Buffalo School District hearing officer, who usually determines how long a student can be suspended, confirmed Ogilvie’s reading of the law.

    “After five days, the student must return to school by New York State law,” said the hearing officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “If they want to suspend them again, it would have to be new charges.”

    And that raises another apparent violation of state education law.

    Jayvonna was punished twice for the same reasons — using the cell phone, wearing the hoodie and allegedly leaving school without permission.

    Principal Crystal Barton suspended Jayvonna five days in December, citing those reasons.

    When Jayvonna returned to school in the first week of January, an assistant principal told her she was suspended again for another six weeks. A letter from the school district, not signed, but with Williams’ name at the bottom, informed her and her grandmother that she was being suspended for the same reasons.

    John A. Curr III, of the New York Civil Liberties Union and an expert in education law, said Jayvonna’s treatment was “outrageous.”

    “There is no section of New York State education law that I am aware of that would allow the same student to be punished twice for a noncriminal action. We have had students commit [violent] acts against teachers who were treated better,” said Curr, executive director of the ACLU’s Western New York affiliate.

    Many people, though, believe that other reasons were behind Jayvonna’s lengthy suspension. She and her supporters say Barton is punishing Jayvonna, captain of the girls basketball team, because she dared to speak up in support of a volunteer basketball coach they believe was unjustly dismissed.

    That volunteer coach, Michelle Stiles, was dismissed, they say, because she dared to question why the boys basketball coach was seen leaving the home of a girl on the basketball team.

    What’s more, it now appears Williams may not have been fully aware of Jayvonna’s suspension until this week, even though his name was on the letter that informed her of the additional six-week suspension.

    So who did authorize the additional six-week suspension for Jayvonna? When the Buffalo Board of Education went into executive session Tuesday, the question was asked but not pursued, according to several board members who were present and spoke to The News on condition of anonymity.

    Barton told board members she had nothing to do with the additional six-week suspension since she, by statute, could only suspend a student for five days.

    Williams, who seemed offguard, according to the sources, did not address the question directly.

    The superintendent’s hearing required under state law when a lengthy suspension occurs allows a parent or guardian to appear and bring in legal counsel to make sure the rights of the student are preserved and due process is followed. The school superintendent or designated representative usually attends the hearing.

    The hearing officer suggested that the assistant superintendent for student services, who oversees the hearing officers, was the most likely person to have made that decision. That would be Monica Peoples.

    The Buffalo News called Peoples and Barton to inquire who determined the length of the suspension and who offered input into the decision. Neither returned the calls.

    When the hearing officer went to review Jayvonna’s file this week, it was missing from the filing cabinet.

    Williams said Friday he will review the reasons behind Jayvonna’s suspension next week.

    msommer@buffnews.com

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    Member Sylvan's Avatar
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    It appears that this principal considers herself above the law.

    Its a terrible way to teach students about respect for law.
    When law is designed without common sense, you end up with a society unable to instill proper principles and ethics that promote common sense into its children.

    "IF" there is a lawsuit, it should be considered to be much much bigger than any of the issues mentioned in this story so far. It should be about exposing the absolute incompetence in society and lead to the abolishment of the US Dept of Education.

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