Fairfield City Schools Continues To Slap Around Our Community - Literally

Imagine hearing a story about a guy stocking shelves at the grocery store and then slapping a blind 10 year-old child in the potato chips aisle.  Now imagine that this employee was not criminally charged, and then permitted to sit around on suspension for about four months collecting a salary.  Then imagine the public was disallowed by both his employer and the county children's services agency from even being informed of what happened in the alleged incident.

That's quite a story, right?  It made you angry to even consider something like that could happen.

Well, something just like that may have actually happened here in Fairfield.  As usual, Fairfield City Schools has a lot of explaining it should do to this community, but will get to skate around justice.

You may remember allegations of an incident which occurred on October 16, 2018 at Fairfield East Elementary, involving art teacher Annie King.  It is alleged she slapped a blind special needs student on that day last year.  You can read the Fox 19 story about what happened here.  

There is a compelling 2 minute video about the incident that is worth watching.  We've copied and pasted the text for you as well.  Pay special attention to the statement from the district below, in italics.

A school is investigating after an elementary school teacher was accused of slapping a student across the face last week.

After a long day at work as a nurse Michelle Lewis can't wait to get home to her three children. Her 10-year-old boy, Shawn, is visually impaired and has a brain disorder.

“I’m his protector. What vision he doesn’t have, I make up for that. I am his eyes. So, it hurts to know that I can’t even send my children my school,” said Lewis, while playing Connect Four with her kids.

Lewis says she got a call from the principal at Fairfield Elementary East saying that her son was hit by a teacher after a behavioral episode.

"My son states that she was taking him to the ground and he bit her on her arm and she let go, walked beside him and smacked him in the face," said Lewis.

FOX19 is not naming the teacher because she hasn't been charged. Lewis did file a report with the Fairfield Township Police Department hoping to keep the teacher away from children in the future.

“He’s been through so much and he’s only 10. I’ve been there to protect him through this whole ... and it’s frustrating cause I don’t hit my children,” said Lewis, as tears rolled down her face.

A single mother of three who works as a nurse at a retirement home, Lewis doesn't understand how anyone could hurt a vulnerable human-being. FOX19 reached out to the school for comment and was told children services is investigating the teacher. The superintendent e-mailed the following statement:

The district became aware of an alleged incident involving a teacher and a student at Fairfield East Elementary on Tuesday, October 16, 2018. After a preliminary investigation, the teacher was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday, October 17, 2018. The district also reported the allegation to Children’s Services. The teacher will stay on administrative leave while Children’s Services completes their investigation. Once the investigation by Children’s Services is complete, the district will finish its investigation and take appropriate action.

Lewis says the teacher wasn't placed on leave immediately.

“This woman she could have done anything to my children coming back the next day not knowing if she was going to lose everything," Lewis said. “Why wasn’t she escorted off of the premises? why was she still there?”

Lewis was hesitant to share her story with FOX19 but did it anyway hoping to send a message.

"This is serious. This isn't to be overlooked. You don't do any child like that," she said.

Shawn is no longer attending school at Fairfield East Elementary.

Sad, isn't it?  It is always sad when a child is assaulted by an adult.  The tale is particular sad when you consider the student involved is visually impaired with special needs.  How terrifying it must have been for that youth to be getting slapped and not able to see who was doing it, why, or where to even defend yourself from the blows.

Before we go any further about this incident or what we discovered over the course of our investigation, lets get one thing straight.  At no time has anyone at Fairfield City Schools denied that the teacher in question slapped that special needs student.  Never.  

If the incident did not happen, then why has the district never disputed these claims?  It seems a simple enough thing to do if the incident didn't happen.  When wrongly accused, most innocent people tend to profess it.  Nobody at Fairfield has in this case, however.  Feel free to draw any conclusions from that you like.

Fairfield City Schools has a lot to explain to the community in this incident.  The first thing they need to explain is why Fairfield East Art teacher Annie King wasn't suspended until the evening of October 17, 2018 based on allegations she slapped a student the previous day, October 16.  

We know this is true based on three documents you can see below for yourself.  You can see the police report narrative first, which attests to the fact the incident took place October 16.  The second document is an e-mail to Annie King from East Elementary Principal Paige Gillespie, and the third image is the actual attachment.  As you can see, the letter suspends Ms. King, and was sent at 8:35 PM, October 17th, 2018.

How could a teacher accused of striking a child be permitted to finish out the day in a classroom around your kids?  How in the hell would they permitted back into the classroom for the entire next day?  How does that happen?  Fairfield City Schools has some serious explaining to do.

A few days after news of this slapping incident found it's way into the news headlines (A place Fairfield has grown all too familiar with), we reached out to Superintendent Billy Smith for any information on the incident.  You can read that e-mail exchange below, as Butler County Children's Services took over the investigation.  Take special notice of where Fairfield vows to take "appropriate action" with the employee involved.  You'll read in a few paragraphs what "appropriate action" means.

The story about what happened between teacher Annie King and the special needs student went quiet for several weeks until the December 20, 2018 Board of Education meeting.  As you can see from the minutes excerpt below, it was on that date that Fairfield East art teacher Annie King retired, effective February 14th, 2019.  See for yourself.

So what was the point of Annie King's retirement being approved on December 20th, but not effective until February 14th?  What happened between the date of the incident, October 16th, and the December 20th board of education meeting?  

We still don''t know that.  We likely never will know that.  But we do know Annie King was paid regularly even while suspended (there's your "appropriate action" we mentioned a few paragraphs ago).  Yes, we know that from her pay stubs.  Check it out:

We're not entirely clear if Annie King ever came off suspension.  It is our understanding that she did not.  Fairfield City Schools was not forthcoming with those answers.  But she was certainly still under suspension when we exchanged emails with Superintendent Smith on November 1st.

Look those documents over that are above and soak them in.  Every two weeks, someone accused - and who never denied - having slapped a student was possibly on suspension and still collecting $3141 from the taxpayers of this community.  That culminated in a lump sum payout of some kind for over $12,000 on March 1st.

That's good work if you can get it. Most of Fairfield's taxpayers who are support this injustice can't get work like that.

Our group did finally try in the Spring and Summer of 2019 to get an answer to a very easy, basic, fundamental question:

Did Fairfield East art teacher Annie King slap a special needs student on October 16, 2018?

Seems like an easy yes or no question.  Most businesses would know and be able to confirm or deny if one of it's employees slapped a customer or not.  It is a question with only two possible answers.  Yes, the student was slapped.  No, the student was not slapped.

The question we posed was beyond the ability of Fairfield City Schools to answer, however, as this email exchange can attest to:

(Notice how Mr. Smith confirms the teacher retired, effective February 14th, 2019.  No other teacher retired, effective that date, save Annie King).

Fairfield City Schools is unable or unwilling to tell this community if a teacher slapped a blind child or not.  That is sick.  It is very sad too.  But it goes beyond just being sad or even sick.  It is downright pathetic, the lack of transparency the school district has with our community.  And when you look at those pay stubs, it adds insult to injury.  

So what of the findings by Butler County Children's Services, the agency which investigated the incident?  We requested those in writing.  Below you can read where Butler County also says that the community has no right to know if a teacher slapped a student.

You go to work everyday and earn a paycheck.  Many of you live paycheck to paycheck while paying taxes so organizations like Fairfield City Schools can teach your children, and agencies like Butler County Children's Services can ensure they are well treated and safe.  You also go to work everyday to earn a paycheck to cover the taxes so folks like Annie King can earn a salary of $74,336 a year.

You held up your end of the bargain, taxpayer.  You punched the time clock, paid your taxes and honored the implied agreement you have with local institutions that are supposed to exist to improve the lives of our kids.  As usual, Fairfield City Schools has not returned the same courtesy.  To make matters worse, Butler County Children's Services has also failed the community in this story.  

Fairfield City Schools had a duty to act in loco parentis and safeguard a child.  That duty is especially vital when the student has special needs.  But what happened instead?  The child was allegedly attacked by the very adult charged with safeguarding him.  There were no criminal charges.  No one was fired or demoted.  No, the teacher accused rode off into the sunset in retirement with $43,000 in earnings between October and February.

There is no justice in that.  To make matters worse, children's services and the school district say nobody even has a right to know if the child was assaulted or not.  How can we have trust in local institutions when they behave in this way?  

One of the cardinal rules we all learned in grade school was that you should keep your hands to yourself.  It is really one of the founding principles of our laws.  Keep your hands to yourself.  When your hands touch someone else, you've crossed a line.

As usual, Fairfield City Schools has crossed the line.  They have failed our community and our kids.  At no point in this story could any reasonable person point to Fairfield and say they were proud of our community's schools.  When is there going to be change, and when will there be some accountability?

Why Did Fairfield South Elementary Allow a Former Registered Sexually Oriented Offender in the Building and Around Your Kids?

Why Did Fairfield South Elementary Allow a Former Registered Sexually Oriented Offender in the Building and Around Your Kids?

That's not a question we ever thought we would have to ask.  They didn't just allow the man into the building.  They invited him into the classroom like some kind of honored guest.

News of this incident comes fresh off the heels of a substitute at Creekside Middle School being arrested yesterday for masturbating in front of a room filled with students.  Just when you think you have heard and seen it all about Fairfield City Schools, they jump the shark again with even more outrageous conduct.

Sometime last month, according to a post on the Fairfield South PTC Facebook page, a Mr.Brian Schweikert was in the building for some kind of musical performance alongside his daughter, who is a music teacher at South.  The now-deleted image is below:

Why was the image deleted?  Keep reading and you'll understand why.

If the name Brian Schweikert rings a bell for some of you, it is because he was a former Fairfield High School teacher convicted in 2001 of three sex crimes with his students.  Check out a newspaper clipping below from way back when:

Pretty disturbing stuff, right?  You can read all about the case here at the Butler County Clerk of Courts page.  Schweikert was convicted of two counts of sexual battery and one count of gross sexual imposition.  You can even read a disturbing page with more details from the civil trial here:

For these sex crimes, Mr. Schweikert was labeled as a sexually oriented offender, and forced to register for 10 years, starting in 2001.  Here is his sex offender registration order from the local courts:

So lets be crystal clear here.  If Mr. Schweikert was ordered to register for 10 years starting in 2001, that order was obviously expired last month in December 2018.  Mr. Schweikert committed absolutely no crime by being with that room full of students at Fairfield South last month.  He had as much legal right to be there, if invited in, as you or us, or any citizen or parent.

But just because Fairfield South had the right to invite that man into the building with your kids on the grounds he is the father of a teacher, is no reason to have done so.  Where is the common sense?

And don't tell us that nobody at Fairfield South was aware of who Mr. Schweikert was or about his past.  Not in a coffee klatsch like Fairfield.  Don't hand us that.  No way, no how, was every staff member at South in the dark about who they invited in to be around your children.

And if Fairfield South was unaware of who Mr.Schweikert was, then why was the post with the picture of him playing music deleted?  Hrmm?  Answer that one for us.

We don't care if his order to register as a sexually oriented offender had expired or not.  He shouldn't have been on the premises.  This incident is just one more in a continued series of examples where Fairfield City Schools has acted with complete indifference to the needs of our students. 

You should contact South principal Jason Hussel and politely, respectfully ask him why a former registered sexually oriented offended was in the building and around your kids:

 hussel_j@fairfieldcityschools.com

The Board and Superintendent should also be copied:

begley_b@fairfieldcityschools.com
oneal_c@fairfieldcityschools.com
hare_d@fairfieldcityschools.com
berding_m@fairfieldcityschools.com

smith_b@fairfieldcityschools.com

We're Done With You: The Lack of Accountability at Fairfield City Schools

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Fairfield City Schools has taken great strides this year to get the bullying problems under control. Nothing is perfect, but the district is taking the issue seriously now, and even hosted a seminar on the subject that was a great success. Staff and administrators are engaged on bullying issues and things are getting done. The future is bright.

It has been a stupendous turnaorund. Superintendent Billy Smith deserves all the credit in the world.

But there is still the little item no one wants to talk about - accountability (or more to the point, a lack of it) for the small number of district employees with dirty hands in the Emilie Olsen case. All the good Fairfield City Schools has accomplished this year is almost null and void when one considers that nobody has been held accountable at the district for any amount of wrongdoing in the Emilie Olsen bullying suicide coverup.

We were disturbed and saddened this week to read in the Fairfield Board of Education meeting minutes from May 17, that School and Community Relations Director Gina Gentry-Fletcher was given a contract extension until 2022. While it is beyond question that Ms.Gentry-Fletcher had no dealings with Emilie Olsen during that child's young life, which ended on December 11, 2014; the actions of the district's Community Relations Director since that day have been highly questionable, as we will demonstrate in great detail. The lack of any sort of accountability for Ms.Gentry-Fletcher, coupled with multiple pay raises and now a contract extension, exhibits why there is no accountability at Fairfield City Schools.

Despite worldwide negative publicity about Emilie's story, a federal lawsuit, and two more bullied to death students, nothing has really changed. There can't be real change without accountability.

Gina Gentry-Fletcher's role in the Emilie Olsen case began over the weekend following Thursday December 11, 2014. In the days following Emilie's suicide, the entire community was rocked by rumors of her having been bullied. The rumors were seemingly vindicated by a WCPO news story on the Sunday 11 PM broadcast, covering an impromptu vigil thrown by Emilie's friends at her home, where classmates echoed claims she had been harassed.

In an effort to put the rumors to rest, Gina Gentry-Fletcher issued this statement to local media on December 15, 2014 at 2:31 PM. Fairfield City Schools categorically denied Emilie Olsen was bullied, or that the district was ever notified she had been harassed:

Then, just a few hours later, Ms.Gentry-Fletcher released a different statement to the local press, acknowledging Emilie had been bullied at one time, but that the district believed the issue had been addressed:

So what changed? How did Fairfield and Ms.Gentry-Fletcher's position evolve over a mere 3 hours from vehemently denying Emilie was bullied, to admitting she had been, albeit in a previous academic year?

It started with an email from WCPO reporter Jay Warren to Gina Gentry-Fletcher at 4:31 that day. As you can see below, he asked whether or not Emilie's dad, Marc Olsen, had been in contact with Fairfield Middle School Assistant Principal Mark Rice about bullying.

E-mails began pouring in to Ms.Gentry-Fletcher's inbox that afternoon. These messages were forwarded communications between Emilie's dad and her assistant principal that Jay Warren had been asking about. As you can read below, Gina Gentry-Fletcher was made aware of bullying complaints Emilie's dad had made to administration at Fairfield Middle School throughout the Fall of 2014. Ms.Gentry-Fletcher then forwarded these e-mails between Mr.Rice and Marc Olsen on to Superintendent Paul Otten. See for yourself:

This paper trail is important. It establishes that as early as December 15 – before the media and public scrutiny reached its zenith – that the public relations director and the superintendent were in possession of information that proved Emilie Olsen really was bullied, that Fairfield was notified about it, and that harassment included at least some of the torment she endured that current academic year in 2014 at the Middle School.

Thusly, any further communication from Public Relations Director Gina Gentry-Fletcher or Superintendent Paul Otten where Emilie’s bullying was denied has to be questioned, given the e-mail activities of December 15, 2014. Why, in several subsequent communications to the public, media, Board of Education members and others, did Ms. Gentry-Fletcher deny Emilie had been bullied when they she was in possession of correspondence from Marc Olsen complaining in specific terms about his daughter being harassed?

The following day, Gina Gentry-Fletcher sent this email to the Board of Education, where she claims again that the only bullying concerns registered by Emilie's father involved incidents from the previous academic year:

Now scroll back above to the image of that last e-mail Mr.Rice forwarded to Ms.Gentry-Fletcher. You can see clearly in that e-mail from September 8th, specific bullying ongoing that academic year is mentioned. Look for yourself. Mr.Olsen describes how Emilie was enduring "gestures/noises" in class that she found disruptive. Sounds like bullying to us.

So why did Gina Gentry-Fletcher say that there were no reports of bullying about Emilie, or that he father was focusing strictly on complaints regarding harassment only in 6th grade?

Also on December 16th, 2014, Ms.Gentry-Fletcher sent this e-mail below to WCPO, claiming that the reports about Emilie being bullied were rumors being generated by kids just wanting to get on TV. How kind of her.

Later that week in December 2014, the Journal-News ran a story about Emilie. It turned out the district had removed anti-bullying posters from the walls of the high school. This was done, according to Ms.Gentry-Fletcher because they referred "to the deceased student as having been bullied and that information is unsubstantiated." Gina Gentry-Fletcher told the Journal-News that reports of Emilie being bullied were unsubstantiated, despite being in possession of e-mails sent by her father alleging that she had been.

As 2014 winded to a close, Emilie's case mostly disappeared from the headlines until May 2015, when the WCPO I-Team came out with a blockbuster report that blew the lid off the story. It was proven beyond question Fairfield City Schools was lying when it claimed Emilie Olsen was not bullied, or that the district had any knowledge of such. You can read that story here, or watch it here:

The fallout stemming from the bombshell report once more put Fairfield into the unwanted limelight of negative publicity. Public Relations Director Gina Gentry-Fletcher's actions and words in the days following WCPO's report raises many questions about her conduct and professionalism.

On the morning following the WCPO story being aired, Ms.Gentry-Fletcher informed district leaders they would no longer respond to interview requests from the Journal-News. The reason for this was because the Journal simply passed along what WCPO had reported. This hardly seems professional to us. You can read the e-mail below...where it's alleged the reporting is false, but neither Ms.Gentry-Fletcher or anyone else at Fairfield could say why.

The e-mails, this time filled with contempt for Emilie's supporters, continued later on that May 15, 2015. In the communication below, Ms.Gentry-Fletcher derides those concerned about bullying as having mere "Facebook courage." She even wanted armed police on hand at that evening's Board of Education meeting. See for yourself:

Following that May 15, 2015 Board meeting, Gina Gentry-Fletcher very professionally informed WCPO "we're done with you." What a way to represent our community, right? You can watch more about that outburst here, courtesy of WCPO. Luckily, cooler heads eventually prevailed and Fairfield City Schools' leadership decided not to pursue a boycott on conversing with WCPO or the Journal-News. But the incident shows a lack of control and professionalism all the same.

On May 16th, 2015, Gina Gentry-Fletcher sent an e-mail which should raise even more eyebrows.  Please read for yourself the May 16, 2015 e-mail exchange between the district spokesperson and Instructional Specialist Lori Wegman:

We have detailed in a previous post why most of what Ms.Gentry-Fletcher is saying here is absolute nonsense.  We know what she's saying here is untrue.  Scroll back up above to the e-mails Ms.Gentry-Fletcher was sent by Emilie's assistant principal on December 15, 2014.  The district spokesperson was informed about bullying complaints Marc Rice had raised about his daughter's experience that academic year in 7th grade.  

This e-mail exchange between district employees - even if we had not conclusively proven it to be a pack of complete lies - raises some very troubling questions about Fairfield City Schools.

Why is the Public Relations Director speaking about the Emilie Olsen case at all with a frontline staff member?  Why is Fairfield speaking about private details of Emilie's case with district employees, while cowering behind student privacy laws to the public?  Has FERPA - the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act - been violated?

We'll wait with bated breath for an explanation from Fairfield City Schools.  But there are other questions that need asking too:

Have student privacy laws been violated here?   Has professional misconduct taken place under Ohio Department of Education regulations?  Is this e-mail one more example in a long pattern of abuses and misconduct by Fairfield City Schools?  Does this e-mail only provide further proof of a pattern of conduct by Fairfield City Schools that resulted in Emilie Olsen being deprived of her civil rights under federal law?

We think so.  What do you think? 

As a reward for all the actions we have chronicled above, Gina Gentry-Fletcher has enjoyed 3 pay raises since 2014, for a total bump in salary of 18%. You can check out the facts here, at the Dayton Daily News I-Team project. See for yourself:

So where do we go from here? Nowheresville, apparently. Public Relations Director Gina Gentry-Fletcher will be passing Go and collecting $73,543 a year, at least, until 2022 and likely beyond.

There is no accountability for anyone employed at Fairfield City Schools on a wide variety of subjects, with the Emilie Olsen incident being only one glaring example. How can a public relations official tell the community, local reporters, school staff, and even the Board of Education repeatedly there was no evidence Emilie Olsen was bullied or that allegations of such had been made that academic year, when she had been presented e-mails early on in this saga stating that very thing? How can a public relations director tell local reporters that Emilie's friends were just saying she was bullied to get on TV? How can a public relations director tersely tell two local media outlets "we're done with you," in a fit of rage and frustration? How can a public relations director deride and dismiss community members concerned about bullying as having only "Facebook courage?"

How can a public relations director discuss particulars of Emilie's life and story with a frontline staff member who has no business being informed of such details? Was the law violated?

How can a public relations director get away with all this?

In a school district like Fairfield, where everyone has gotten away with misconduct in the Emilie Olsen case, it's easy to understand how a public relation director would not only skate by despite the outrageous actions detailed above, but actually receive hefty pay raises. Not a single employee of Fairfield City Schools has been reprimanded, suspended, fired, or in any way sanctioned for the Emilie Olsen case.

Where is the accountability?

There is none at Fairfield City Schools. This lack of accountability casts a long shadow over any good the district seeks to do on a going forward basis. We will not forget Emilie Olsen. We won't forget the actions of Fairfield City Schools. Her memory and the factual record will survive until there is some justice.