IPS officials waited six days before reporting information it received from an IPS student's parent of a sexual relationship between the student and one of its counselors at its Longfellow alternative school. Shana Taylor was charged by the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office with multiple felony counts of child exploitation earlier this week, accusing her of having a sexual relationship with at least two students, some of the encounters taking place on school grounds. Court documents indicated that despite multiple IPS officials learning of Taylor's sexual relationship with students, the school waited at least six days after one of the victim's parents supplied the school with graphic images and text messages exchanged between the student and Taylor.
Supt. Louis Ferebee will hold a press conference this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. to discuss the school's delay in reporting what it knew about Taylor's relationship with students immediately to the Department of Child Services or law enforcement as required by state law according to Fox 59 News. The IPS board has also scheduled a meeting following the press conference at 2:30 and will go into executive session at 5:30 p.m. Board members contacted by the media have so far declined to comment publicly on school officials' handling of the matter. The board recently gave a huge pay raise to Supt. Ferebee after his administration mishandled the reporting of Taylor's sexual abuse of the school's students.
My guess is that if anyone wishes to whitewash anything around their house they'd best head to the store now before the price goes up. Somewhere around noon today there is going to be a strong market demand for whitewash. Laying down a bit of a marker....which of these elected school board members is going to offer to resign for incompetence? My bet is that they knew about the matter as fast as ANYONE....e.g. they were FIRST RESPONDERS.
ReplyDeleteAs explained at the last IPS board meeting, charter managed autonomous schools (created by the board), are solely responsible for the daily operation of their schools. The only obligation a charter like Phoenix has is to honor whatever is in the agreement with the board. Evidently, complaints by educators, parents, or the voting public have been contractually farmed out to the Academy with the board now under no obligation, or legal right for that matter, to intervene. It was not a delay in reporting but just a Time Out to get their ducks in a row to preserve the concept of charter privatization. Let's see how to board dances around this one.
ReplyDeleteSexually abusing students, educationally abusing students, selling students to the highest charter manager bidder, it's pretty much the same. Abuse and neglect is running rampant. Someone please get those administrators under control.
ReplyDeleteI, 1:19, erred in attributing Phoenix Academy as the manager of now troubled Positive Supports Academy. Located at 510 Laurel St. are New Horizons Middle School (Old Longfellow #28) and referred to as the Longfellow Alternative School and also the aptly named Positive Supports Academy. I do not know if there is a private entity involved in the administering of what appear to be two separate schools. Phoenix Academy is old Garfield #31 at 307 Lincoln and I am sorry for having included them in this discussion.
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