| It appears that Campbell’s propensities were known beforehand but the district hired him anyway. I base this in part on the indifference expressed by the assistant high school principal when the plaintiff’s aunt apprised him of what had occurred, as alleged in plaintiff’s sworn complaint: “On or about November 19, 2003, co-defendant Rick Prewitt, assistant [Burnet] High School principal, was made aware of the incident against the plaintiff by plaintiff’s aunt. He stated to plaintiff’s aunt that ‘this should be kept quiet because we [are] in the playoffs and this could hit the news media, and would not be good for Paige (plaintiff) or the school.’” The complaint, however, goes further. It states that Craig Spinn, high school principal, told the plaintiff’s mother that “he was aware that co- defendant Foy Campbell had engaged in sexual relations with a student at Lampasas during his employment by the school system in Lampasas, and that it had been ‘swept under the carpet’ when Burnet High School hired him.” (continued in grey sidebar at far right) |
| Questions being faxed to BCISD supe Jeffrey Hanks today: o "Why did you hire Foy Campbell?" o "What did you know about Foy Campbell's history in Lampasas and when did you know it?" o "Did Foy Campbell fully complete his employment application?" o "Did you do or cause to be done a criminal background check on Foy Campbell including fingerprints before hiring him?" o "What is your annual budget"? I will post the district's response if any when received. It is my sincere hope that Hanks will save his taxpayers some money and answer these simple and straightforward questions himself rather than involving Walsh Anderson's employment law attorneys. Foy Leighton Campbell's State Board for Educator Certification page shows that he possesses a Secondary Mathematics certificate for grades 6-12, valid through Dec. 31, 2007, and the notation that "This individual is currently under review by the SBEC Professional Discipline Unit." This must be a comfort to Paige and her family. |
| P E Y T O N W O L C O T T |
| H o w w e t a k e b a c k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n : o n e p e r s o n , o n e q u e s t i o n , o n e s c h o o l a t a t i m e . Copyright 1999-2008 Peyton Wolcott |
| Conservative Commentary - "Pass the Trash" educators |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
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| S.E.S.A.M.E. |
EXCERPTED FROM THE S.E.S.A.M.E. WEBSITE STOP EDUCATOR SEXUAL ABUSE, MISCONDUCT, AND EXPLOITATION www.sesamenet. org Founder and board president: Terri Miller The mantra Ms. Miller hopes will inspire change is: As Parents we are mandated, by law, to send our children to school - by law, our schools had better be mandated to keep them safe. When asked about her credentials, she responds: "my title is MOM; Mamma On a Mission; I'll never give up pursuing better practices for Safety and Success in educating children." |
| ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS: Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you. |
| Copyright 1999-2008 Peyton Wolcott |
"I can't give you brains, but I can give you a diploma." --The Wizard of Oz |
| Never-before released photos: Texas supe's fall By Peyton Wolcott Revised Sun., Dec. 17, 2006 |
| (COMPLETE STORY HERE) Former Llano ISD supe Jack Patton's fall--from superintendent of one of Texas' richest school districts and former superintendent of the year--to selling BBQ from a convenience store/gas station in East Texas can be traced to one specific action on his part: His refusal to produce a steak dinner receipt in response to a public records request, thus becoming Texas' first Public Information Act conviction, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. These photographs are being published now as (1) a cautionary tale for those superintendents who appear to their parents and taxpayers to think and act as though they are above the law, and (2) as an encouragement to parents and taxpayers stuck with superintendents who appear to think and act as though they are above the law. History teaches us that tyrants fall and justice and truth eventually prevail. |
| PHOTOS, clockwise from top: Jack Patton waiting while trustees deliberate his settlement; Patton with attorney in Johnson City courtroom; LISD trustee handing papers (see arrow) back to Patton during settlement deliberation-- which papers trustees later denied having seen; LISD board president beckoning Patton back inside after deliberation. All of these photos in larger easier-to- see sizes here. |
| Burnet CISD total disbursements all funds 2004-05 $44,762,563 |
| 1. "On or about November 27, 2006 a call was made to the Burnet Police Department from [BCISD] concerning a female teacher’s aid and her sexual involvement with a 17 year-old male high school student." (SOURCE--Harvey Klee) |
| (R) BCISD supe Jeffrey M. Hanks; BCISD employee D.J. Elsasser (PHOTO--KXAN) |
| Att'y Mark Goulet of Walsh Anderson |
| As a purely practical matter, the problem with this practice is that we now have a situation called "Pass the Trash," where educators can pass in and out of districts all over the U.S. For example, although former Llano ISD superinten- dent Jack Patton (story above right) surrendered his Texas educator credentials as part of his conviction for violations of the Texas Public Information Act, there is nothing in the world to keep Patton from hypothetically driving over the Louisiana border near his home and getting a job as an educator in that state. |
| The average school district will generally allow educators such as the three above to leave, with no notice added to personnel files, for several reasons, not the least of which is the possibility that the educators can sue the district if there's a dispute. |
| In the D.J. Elsasser case, Burnet supe Jeff Hanks says he consulted the district's lawyer, Mark Goulet, a shareholder in Texas education law firm Walsh Anderson. "In a telephone interview with The Bulletin on Feb. 13, four days after Elsasser's arrest, Hanks said he consulted with the school district's law firm and on their advice made a report to the State Board of Educator Certification. 'Based on the information I had, there was no compelling reason to make a report to law enforcement,' Hanks said. 'Based on the information we had, there was no reason to believe there was a criminal act.' " (SOURCE--The Burnet Bulletin) |
| Burnet HS homecoming parade |
| 2004 Burnet HS football coaches |
| Is federal legislation the answer? There was a bill in Congress which did not see passage; House Bill 6411, known as “The Jeremy Bell Act of 2006,” was named for a West Virginia boy who died while visiting his elementary school principal's fishing cabin. |
| Edgar Friedrichs, Jr. (Philadelphia Weekly) |
| The principal, Edgar Friedrichs Jr., was later convicted of sexually abusing Bell’s friends, and in a separate trial three years ago, Friedrichs was convicted of killing Bell. |
| Now let's take a closer look at Foy Campbell, the former Burnet CISD coach. Regarding Campbell, he "was employed by the Lampasas ISD before being hired by the Burnet school district as a football coach. While at Lampasas, according to the 33rd District Attorney’s Office, Campbell was involved in 'multiple instances of sexual misconduct, inappropriate sexual behavior and improper relationship between an educator and a student on or about June 1, 2001 with two students in Lampasas County, Texas.' The Burnet CISD either knew or should have known of these prior 'crimes and bad acts' before Campbell was hired and once known, should not have hired him." (SOURCE--Burnet Bulletin) |
| Edgar Friedrichs, Jr. as a young teacher in Pennsylvania |
| "Background checks are conducted to weed out the incompetent or undesirable. As later explained, according to one of the allegations in the Complaint, the Burnet CISD did in fact know of Campbell’s prior sexual relations with at least one student while employed at Lampasas ISD." (Ibid.) |
| The Edgar Friedrichs murder case is a prime example of how severe the consequences of "Passing the Trash" can be. |
| CONCLUSION: While my immediate instinct to the proposed Jeremy Bill Act was enthusiasm, my enthusiasm is now tempered. This is a bill that would, if passed, perhaps make parents feel temporarily safer, and that is all. At the end of the day, such bills are only as good and as effective as their enforcement. The Jessica Lunsford Act and its predecessors all look good on paper, but if the district that employed John Evander Couie can't manage to turn in their paperwork within a few weeks of the bill's passage, how much more compliant will other districts be? If such a bill passed, we'd have more federal controls--theoretically, anyway--and in actuality we'd still only have what we have now: parental responsibility at the local school district level to insist that our schools do their jobs and perform thorough background checks. |
| HOW DO WE PUT AN END TO "PASS THE TRASH"? By Peyton Wolcott Revised Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006 |
| 3. "In 2005, 29-year-old Foy Campbell was indicted on a sexual assault of a child charge. He was a football coach at Burnet High School. The accuser claims he picked her and another teenager up in his vehicle for sex in Buchanan Dam in 2003. He made a deal with prosecutors and received probation on an injury to a child charge." (SOURCE--KXAN) |
| 2. "Acting on telephone tips from the public, the Burnet Police Department became involved in an alleged case of inappropriate conduct by an educator with a student--a crime school district officials knew about but never reported until confronted by law enforcement officials. Danya Jean Elsasser [right], 32, was a teacher at R.J. Richey Middle School and long distance track coach for the district." (SOURCE--The Highlander) NOTE: Mrs. Elsasser's husband Rich Elsasser is Burnet Middle School principal. |
| Friedrichs "began his teaching career in his native Pennsylvania. Men now in their 40s who were once his grade school students testified in Fayette County Circuit Court about how Friedrichs molested them in their Pennsylvania school. He was never charged with any crimes in Pennsylvania, but the parents of students there believed he had been banished from teaching. Instead he began a new career in West Virginia. Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick introduced a bill this month that would require schools to do a better job of checking the backgrounds of potential teachers. Now that Congress has adjourned for the year and Fitzpatrick is leaving office, Patricia Wandling, a member of Fitzpatrick’s staff, said Wednesday that the bill would have to be introduced again." (SOURCE--Susan Williams/West Virginia Gazette) |
| In 2003, Burnet CISD wide receiver Jordan Shipley, left, was awarded a ball by Burnet HS principal Craig Spinn (far right) for breaking the state receiving record. (PHOTO--Alex Jones/Austin American-Statesman) |
| A closer look at Burnet CISD's football'n'balloons climate that would enable the hiring of a Foy Leighton Campbell, Jr. |
| Burnet High head football coach Bob Shipley at BCISD Football Signing Day in high school library, Feb. 4, 2004 |
| Three seasons after Burnet's "Signing Day" Burnet High's star football players are still grabbing headlines. Here's one from this past Thanksgiving Day from the Austin American- Statesman: |
| 'Horn or Aggie, Always a Bulldog' Jordan Shipley and Stephen McGee, who thrilled Burnet as high school football stars, meet Friday in the Texas-Texas A&M game. |
| McGee plays for the Texas A&M Aggies, and Shipley for the University of Texas Longhorns. And, oh, Jordan Shipley's father Bob Shipley is head coach at Burnet HS. |
| NOTED: Two of the three BCISD educators listed above are coaches. |
| Bob Shipley (right), head Burnet HS Bulldogs football coach, with Pastor Rodney McGee, Stephen's dad; Shipley led both boys and their team to 3A state title games their junior and senior years. (PHOTO--Alex Jones/Austin American-Statesman) |
| Burnet HS Gym |
| Thar's gold in them thar education fields (above); this is the entrance to Burnet High School; note the new Cadillac and the Range Rover in assigned staff (see inset) parking slots. |
| FACT: Neither then-Citrus County School District supe David Hickey (above) nor then-Homasossa Elementary principal Roberta Long nor then-Homasossa ES assistant principal (and now HES principal) Regina Allegretta appear to have made sure that all workers involved in Homasossa's renovation were safe for school children to be around. |
| QUESTION: Do federal laws and controls help when educators do not appear to be using common sense and operating with a sense of urgency when it comes to protecting our children and their students? Perhaps Florida's Citrus County Public Schools might be a good place to look next. |
| Jessica Lunsford (left); John Evander Couey |
| FACT: "For five months, convicted sex offender John Evander Couey worked as a mason's helper at Homosassa Elementary School, where 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford attended class." (SOURCE--St. Petersburg Times) Further, "a mason on the job said Couey had direct contact with students and teachers during the project, though it was unknown whether he had contact with Jessica." (Ibid.) |
| David Hickey (PHOTO-RonThompson /St. PetersburgTimes) |
| Sept. 19, 2005--five and a half months after Gov. Jeb Bush approved the legislation and almost three weeks after the bill went into effect. QUERY TO HIMMEL NOW OVER A YEAR OLD WITH NO ANSWER YET: On Dec. 14, 2005 I first contacted Sandra "Sam" Himmel asking why the district was so slow in complying with requirements of the Jessica Lunsford Act. |
| Jessica Lunsford Student - Homosassa Elementary School October 6, 1995 – Born February 23, 2005 - Abducted February 27, 2005 - Died March 18, 2005 - Couey confessed March 19, 2005 - Body found in hole Rest in Peace, Dear Child. |
| FACT: In medicine the first rule is, "Do no harm." Why isn't this true also in education? |
| "Homosassa Elementary School principal Regina Allegretta, left, jokes with media specialist Deborah Kenney inside the school's recently completed media center Tuesday afternoon. The opening of the media center, along with the school's new cafeteria, was delayed due to serious construction problems." (PHOTO--Stephen J. Coddington/St. Petersburg Times) |
| FACT: This photo above was published August 7, 2005, just over four months after Jessica Lunsford's death. Gone apparently are the crisis counselors Allegretta brought in to assist students and teachers. FACT: A banner reading, "Where Our Children Come First" still scrolls across Homosassa's webpage. What does this slogan mean in a school that failed to screen visitors and workmen adequately? If children really come first at this school, wouldn't the children's safety have been the first order of the day? |
| Sandra "Sam" Himmel |
| FACT: Current Citrus County School District supe Sandra "Sam" Himmel's letter to vendors regarding compliance with Florida's HB 1877 (the Jessica Lunsford Act) is dated |
| Burnet MS principal Rich Elsasser at school (above); wife Danya Jean Elsasser (KXAN) in court this week |
| Coach's alleged molesta- tion of student ignored because 'We are in the playoffs'? By Peyton Wolcott First published Sun., Jan. 14, 2007 |
| Burnet HS football coaching staff (PHOTO/Burnet CISD) |
| To understand the above headline, you first have to understand the importance of football here in Texas, especially small-town rural Texas. Here's an illustration: Late one afternoon a few years back my husband and I were driving home from San Antonio; about halfway, we passed an enormous convoy of Burnet CISD school buses plus a seemingly endless stream of pickups and SUV's, all heading towards San Antonio. It appeared all of Burnet ("The Bluebonnet |
| Capitol of Texas") was driving to San Antonio to support their football team in the state playoffs that night. They lost, but the entire town was there to cheer them on. Burnet's a nice small town (population 4,735 according to the 2000 census) with beautiful scenery, a picturesque central square with some great antique shops, some quarries and mines, and a state prison for women (Halbert SAFP*); the local school district is the largest local budget and the largest employer. Heading the list of assets on the Chamber's website are the library and post office. According to local historian John Hallowell in Hill Country Magazine, "attendance at the [Burnet HS Friday night] football game is more than the town’s entire population." So this is the context of high school football in Burnet. Retired California attorney and Bluffton, Texas resident (near Buchanan Dam) Harvey Klee has been covering goings-on involving the three BCISD staffers who have had sexually related complaints filed against them in the past two years in his commentaries. Here's what Harvey learned from reviewing the complaint against Foy Campbell: |
| * "SAFP" is the acronym for "Substance Abuse Felony Punishment." |
| WHAT ELSE IS BURNET CISD NOT FULLY DISCLOSING? How much money is BCISD raking in annually, $21 million or twice that amount, $42 mil? According to the Burnet Chamber of Commerce website, the "Public School Budget" is "$20,788,200." But according to the Texas Education Agency, BCISD's total expenditures for all funds for the most recent reporting period (2004-05) were "$41,988,164." |
| Friday Night Lights–Out! Former Burnet High School Coach Sued for Sexual Assault upon a Minor By Harvey Klee Posted July 31, 2006 It wasn’t one of Foy Campbell Jr.’s most sterling moments, although he had several of them in his illustrious career. As a football coach in the local school district he was a hero on campus, admired and looked up to by his colleagues and students alike. High moral standards were expected of him both on and off the field. After all, he was the coach. Not just any coach but one of the football coaches of the Burnet Bulldogs – one of the most successful teams in the conference from Central Texas. It was 2003 and once again they found themselves in the playoffs heading for the state finals as they had the year before. Campbell had more to celebrate that Tuesday night than just a winning season. He was engaged to Rikkie Love, a teacher at Burnet High School, and was soon to be married. His friends cooked up a bachelor party for Coach Campbell, sort of a last fling at the single life before exchanging marriage vows of lifelong fidelity. According to court documents, around 10:00 p.m. as Campbell was driving under the influence of alcohol on highway 29, he spied a couple of girls from Burnet High School driving down the same highway. He signaled them to pull over in an uninhabited and unlit area. What follows is abstracted from a sworn complaint filed July 25, 2006 in the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, Austin Division. Once they had pulled over, Campbell invited the two girls to take a drive in his new truck. Campbell said he would let Veronica, the 18 year-old and driver, to drive his truck. However, he coerced the female passenger, 16 year-old Paige, into his truck by saying she could either wait by the side of the highway in this dark and deserted area until they came back or go with them. Paige didn’t have a driver’s license or even a learner’s permit and was unable to drive home by herself. Besides, Veronica was Paige’s cousin and older; she felt reasonably safe in getting into the truck. Once inside the truck, however, Campbell forced Paige to perform fellatio on him in spite of her spoken refusals and pushing him away. Campbell was older and stronger than Paige and held a position of authority over her as a coach at the High School. She conceded, thinking it the only way she would be able to get home. Campbell’s conduct is bad enough but what followed, in my opinion, borders on criminal irresponsibility by the school district and several of its employees. Paige’s aunt notified Nick Prewitt, Assistant Principal of Burnet High School, as to what had happened to her niece. Alleged in the sworn complaint filed in this matter, he stated, “This should be kept quiet because we (are) in the playoffs and this could hit the news media and not be good for Paige or the school.” Two days later, Paige and her mother appeared at a meeting called by school officials. Jeffery Hanks, Superintendent of the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District; Ed Middlebrooks, Assistant Superintendent of the BCISD; Craig Spinn, Principal of Burnet High School; and Prewitt were present. These four school representatives were all males. The female school counselor, who called Paige’s mother encouraging her to call Principal Spinn, did not attend the meeting. In fact, no victim’s advocate, nurse, or anyone familiar with assisting child victims of sexual assault attended the meeting which lasted over an hour and twenty minutes. Following the meeting, Principal Spinn told Paige’s mother that Child Protective Services would be notified and would contact her about the incident as per school policy. Paige’s mother asked the school to provide counseling for her daughter. Child Protective Services, however, has never contacted Paige nor did the school arrange counseling for her. Aggravating the situation further, Spinn told Paige’s mother that he was aware Campbell had engaged in sexual relations with a student in the Lampasas school district during his prior employment in that district and that it had been “swept under the carpet” when Burnet High School hired him. As it turned out, Campbell had engaged in multiple instances of sexual misconduct with Lampasas students in 2001, yet he was hired by BCISD. Matters didn’t come to a halt following this high level meeting with school administrators; Paige was assigned to a class taught by Rikki Love, who by then had married Campbell. Paige immediately got leave from another teacher to go to the office to get her class assignment changed. She didn’t want to be in a class taught by the wife of the man who sexually assaulted her. In the hallway, Paige was approached by teacher Denise Love, Rikki’s mother and now Campbell’s mother-in-law, who called Paige a “slut.” Both Rikki and Denise were later overheard talking about Paige, calling her a liar and stating that they “didn’t care who heard them” talking. The harassment continued. Paige was assigned to take classes from teacher Frank Love, Campbell’s father-in law. The school refused Paige’s mother’s request that she be reassigned. Criminal charges were brought against Campbell to which he pled guilty but only after the charges were reduced to that of a Class “A” misdemeanor. He was placed on 30 days probation, fined $1,000 and $198 in court costs. This is the extent of the penalty paid by Campbell for sexually assaulting a 16 year-old child even though the prosecuting attorney submitted evidence of "Multiple instances of sexual misconduct, inappropriate sexual behavior and improper relationship between and educator and" two students in Lampasas County, Texas, where Campbell was previously employed. No penalty has been paid by the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District, its administrators or teachers, however; although they knew or should have known of Campbell’s propensities before he was hired. It appears they chose to blame the victim after Campbell’s assault against Paige became known. The District along with the administrators and teachers mentioned herein, and of course Campbell, are all named defendants in the lawsuit. Employment at BCISD seems to be a family affair and perhaps explains why the teachers and administration take on a bunker mentality when any of their own comes under attack. Football may rule in Texas but it shouldn’t trump the welfare of our children. www.kleekal.com |
| Is this a small city? Is this where Citizen Kane's "Rosebud" sled wound up? No. It's Burnet High School's gym. Really. |
| Burnet HS football coaches |
| In the next county over, less than a half-hour from my home, Burnet Consolidated ISD has employed not one, not two, but three separate educators who allegedly sexually molested students, all in the past two years. How can this be, three incidents in two years in one small, 3,000-student school district? |
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Burnet CISD (TX) parking lot:
Forget the kids--is this really
what it's all about?
Forget the kids--is this really
what it's all about?
| COMMENT: I did not point out to Himmel the irony that the school district that caused the act to be passed in the first place was already out of compliance with the act's reporting requirements. I myself would have thought Himmel would have wanted to be first out of the starting gate, with all of the necessary paperwork at the ready; as it is, it appears the district was dragging its heels. |
| Friends, here is a range of stories all revolving around a common "Pass the Trash" theme. From right to left, they go from one involving merely money -- my own former superintendent who lost his credentials over his refusal to turn over a big restaurant receipt, to a coach-student-sex incident in a nearby town, to three examples from Florida to Alaska of what longtime investigator Dan Barber calls "preferential pedophiles," two of them becoming murderers of students. |
| FOY L. CAMPBELL, JR. |
| ANDREW JACKSON PATTON |
| FOOTBALL CULTURE |
| EDGAR FRIEDRICHS, JR. Pennsylvania, W. Virginia |
