Gilroy
– In an unanimous school board decision, the teacher who read
aloud two questionable narratives to her sixth-grade social studies
class at Brownell Academy was placed on paid administrative leave
for this work week and will return to the classroom Monday. Further
disciplinary action is being discu
ssed, according to district officials.
Gilroy – In an unanimous school board decision, the teacher who read aloud two questionable narratives to her sixth-grade social studies class at Brownell Academy was placed on paid administrative leave for this work week and will return to the classroom Monday. Further disciplinary action is being discussed, according to district officials.
All teachers have Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving.
The board held an emergency closed session Monday night to discuss appropriate reprimand for Joanne Lewis, in her fifth year at Brownell, who read two overtly sexual poems to her students within the past few weeks. The material was intended to be humorous.
Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz said further discipline will be implemented, but to what degree is still being discussed. The three-day absence this week was necessary for the district to launch an investigation that is intended to reveal the facts of the incident, Diaz said.
“There will be some action taken that is beyond the fact that she’ll be out of the classroom this week. The level of discipline is still to be determined,” he said. “We are moving forward with what we think is appropriate action within the regulations we operate under. She has due process rights.”
Board member TJ Owens said all board members consider this a “very serious matter,” and in the closed session board members directed board president Jaime Rosso to act as board spokesman for the issue.
“There were unanimous feelings about how to proceed,” Rosso said. “We left clear direction for (Diaz) to proceed, and we thought we did what we can do to address the matter … I don’t think anyone wants to see the district or anybody getting into a big, drawn-out legal battle, and I think we have to look at what’s in the best interest of the students and the teacher.”
Frank Cariglio, a 53-year-old native Gilroyan who attended Brownell when he was in middle school, said Lewis’ actions were abhorrent and that a three-day paid suspension is ludicrous.
“She should lose her job, absolutely. It makes me angry, and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. She had no right to push that onto those kids,” he said. “This is a public school. This is our school. My taxes go to this. Doesn’t the school board know what teachers are putting into these impressionable minds? I would think that they would.”
The district learned of Lewis’ actions last week, and Brownell principal Suzanne Damm sent a letter to parents apologizing for the teacher’s actions and assuring parents the materials would not be used again.
Linda Piceno, GUSD assistant superintendent of human resources, said the investigation is continuing.
“Some parents are just now finding out and calling with questions,” she said Tuesday.
Michelle Nelson, president of the Gilroy Teachers Association, said Lewis was planning to make contact very soon with an attorney from the California Teachers Association to handle the matter on her behalf.
The board also unanimously agreed to advise Lewis not to use the materials again and to take action to prevent future problems.
A supplementary instructional material policy, adopted by the board in March and revised in August, says the district encourages the use of supplemental instructional material only if the material is relevant to the curriculum and enriches student learning. At a staff meeting Monday, Damm circulated copies to teachers.
Part of the reason the policy apparently isn’t working as well as it could is a lack of communication between the district and teachers, both Rosso and Nelson agreed.
“I’m not sure how well all teachers are aware of all the policies,” Nelson said.
Rosso said the district is planning to take steps to improve communication with staff, including “how to better communication our expectations.”
Not everyone thinks Lewis’ actions are worth such an uproar. Denise Apuzzo, a Brownell parent and member of the school’s site council, said that although the material was inappropriate, the issue has been overblown.
“I’ve talked to a number of parents, and most people seem to think the issue was taken care of by the letter sent home by the principal,” Apuzzo said. “A lot of parents think it was a non-issue. Ms. Lewis is highly regarded and loved by the kids. My daughter is in her class, and she suffered no trauma whatsoever.”
Apuzzo said she understands why some were alarmed as the material was questionable, and that she thinks Lewis should be reprimanded. But parents taking informal action – such as circulating the narratives to parents in an attempt to alert them to the problem, as one Brownell parent did last week – is simply unnecessary, Apuzzo said.
“My concern is not for the sexual content,” she said. “My concern is that (the poems) have nothing to do with social studies.”
Apuzzo said some parents have told her that if it comes to it, they’ll band together and write letters of support to the district in Lewis’ favor.
“I think the reason parents would do that is not what they think is inappropriate but because there’s been an overreaction to this,” Apuzzo said. “There’s a fear in this district that teachers might lose their job over this kind of thing, so they’re willing to write letters of support and do whatever’s necessary.”
Gilroy High School drama teacher Kurt Meeker was let go last year after skits drew the ire of parents, students, district officials and board members alike. The performances contained sexual references and indecent language, but Meeker maintained the material was appropriate for high schoolers.
Rosso said a main objective of the board is to do what’s best for students, and if Lewis is a good teacher, she should stay in the district.
“At this time, I think the expectation is that this has been a teacher who has been considered a good teacher and has done well with students in general,” he said. “She generally has had good reviews.”
Policy says: teachers should “carefully preview” supplementary instructional materials in order to ensure they:
• Directly relate to the class they are used in
• Are of high literary quality
• Are appropriate for students’ ages and maturity levels
• Are in compliance with the state’s education code
