OSHKOSH, Wis–The state’s largest teachers union is critical of the Oshkosh Area School District’s suspension of the former Dean of Students at Vel Phillips Middle School.
Christopher Willems was initially placed on suspension for five days after an incident where he shoved a 13-year old boy up against a wall at the school back in January. Willems also called in the schools police resource officer, who pinned the boy to the floor and handcuffed him. The district later put Willems on suspension for the rest of the school year, and has removed his information from the Vel Phillips website.
In a statement from District 5 Director John Horn, the Wisconsin Education Association Council accuses Oshkosh administrators of “scapegoating” Horn for the incident–and that the suspension was extended only after media attention was paid to the original incident.
WEAC full statement:
“In January, after investigations by school district administrators and the police, district administrators made the decision to suspend the Dean of Students at Vel Phillips Middle School for five days and signed a written agreement to that effect.
The basis for the discipline was largely due to the Dean of Student’s decision to include the School Resource Officer along with the administration when he radioed for help in dealing with a student who became disruptive after a teacher asked him to turn over his cell phone pursuant to district policy. The Dean of Students sought additional assistance after his efforts to get the student to comply were met by the student yelling profanities and refusing to proceed to the student services office. The student was roaming the halls, peering into classrooms, pushing into the Dean of Students, and generally acting in a disruptive and erratic manner. At that point the matter was no longer about a cell phone but instead was about addressing a serious disruption.
In hindsight the Dean of Students has reflected that he would have handled things differently and regrets that the incident ended with the student being placed in handcuffs and charged.
Prior to this matter, the Dean of Students had never been disciplined, had excellent evaluations, and was instrumental in helping propose and develop initiatives at Vel Phillips to reduce repeat suspensions, increase all students’ voice in their education, and developed a proposal for a more inclusive gifted and talented identification process.
Presumably the District recognized it would not be in the best interests of students to lose an educator like the Dean of Students when it decided not to terminate him and instead to enter into the agreement to suspend him for five days.
What changed in the several weeks between when the district administration signed this agreement and when it reversed itself and placed the employee on indefinite leave is that members of the Oshkosh news media showed interest in the incident and filed information requests. The media made it clear there would be news coverage and that district administrators would be expected to respond to questions.
Rather than answering questions from the media and the public about their own investigation, policies, and decisions, and presenting the facts about the incident, many of which have not been included or have been misconstrued in media reports, district administrators are attempting to avoid doing so by scapegoating the employee involved. The school district’s policy and personnel decisions should be based on facts and what is in the best educational interests of students, not on public opinion.”
The Oshkosh Area School District says Horn’s employment status was (quote) “handled in a fair and consistent manner”.
OASD full statement:
“Personnel decisions within the district are the result of thorough internal reviews conducted in compliance with established district policies and legal requirements, ensuring a fair and consistent process. While privacy laws prevent the district from commenting on specific personnel matters or individual student situations, all decisions are made based on the facts known to us and in accordance with our established procedures, with the goal of supporting the best educational environment for all students.”
