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Parent alleges administration failed to act promptly on band staff claims, urges policy changes
Summary
During public comment, Joe Morris disputed district statements about an outside investigation into allegations involving a band staff member's son and said the administration did not act immediately on his August report; he urged the board to revise policies on student-staff relationships and reporting.
Joe Morris used the public comment period to dispute a district statement — attributed in local reporting to Superintendent Becker — that an outside investigator had been engaged promptly in response to allegations involving a band staff member's son.
Morris said his August 26 email to Assistant Superintendent Jeff Williams describing multiple allegations was not acted on promptly. "She did not take my original allegations seriously and did not respond promptly," Morris said during his five-minute public comment. He told the board that photographs later surfaced and were forwarded to the district's attorney and the New Philadelphia police department months after his initial report.
Morris named a staff member's son as "Brandon" (transcript references include variants of the surname) and said, as he told the board, that the person later admitted to matters during a police interview; those statements were presented by Morris as part of his remarks. Morris also said former students told him they had seen inappropriate communications and images and that some former students did not want to share their experiences with the administration.
Morris asked the board to change district policy and procedures related to student-staff relationships and to alter how administrators respond to allegations of abuse so that future reports are taken seriously and result in corrective action. He said he would provide more suggestions to the board if given time and is willing to discuss his concerns with board members.
The comments were made during the public participation portion of the meeting; no board action or response to Morris's request was recorded in the meeting transcript that followed his remarks.
