Reply to Whitman Teacher and Crew Coach Arrested

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Whitman Teacher and Crew Coach Arrested"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]From my read of the court filing docs, the RED Flags that were missed and by whom:

1) The Whitman teacher ( Kirkland) showed a pattern over at least 8 years of inviting/ allowing female students who were in his Junior Year History class to hang out in his classroom during Free Periods. HELLO MCPS Principals and Superintendant NOT enforcing basic protocols to prevent sexual abuse. The red flag is why is this 39 year old male teacher giving up his break time ( Free period) to socialize with 16, 17, 18 year old girls ? What's he getting out of that ? Is he tutoring ? Do the parents know? Is anyone clocking the time in/out ? NOPE [b]Shouldn't a NORMAL adult prefer the company of his ADULT colleagues in the Staff lounge ?? [/b]How could a school principal miss this one ?

2) Giving rides in his car to under age girls ?? What is this the 70's ? Duh...

3) The pages and pages of obscene sexting....and the to/ from his house in Burleith .  Where are the parents in this and what kinda void have you left in your kid that they would be so desperate for what feels like attention- and how could you not equip them to know what exploitation is ??[/quote]

This is a very good point. The rides could be explained as him simply providing a convenient transport for busy students, but the bolded part is key.[/quote]

In our school (not Whitman), I reported a teacher to MCPS for all of the above except sexting.  My child had texts that were personal and creepy but hadn’t crossed the line into sexual content. The texts explain how this teacher/coached used his position to get individual students in his car. He supervised students in overnight trips in his capacity as coach and sponsor of another after school activity. He would have students hang out in his classroom at lunch to listen to music. He gave specific athletes extra attention and gifts that made them feel special. He gave individual athletes rides alone in his car. He was checking off all the boxes of grooming.

What did MCPS do? Nothing that got him away from students. My child was even retaliated by the coach and athletic department for bringing what we knew forward. This individual is still in place in the same capacity at the same school.

MCPS has a child predator problem because they do not enforce the Employee Code of Conduct. They keep violators in place till a child is sexually abused.

From my perspective, grooming is a gradual buildup of trust and manipulation. Parents are groomed as well as children. I was absolutely floored when I read my child’s text messages and started putting the pieces together. I had child abuse training. I didn’t pickup right away what was happening. As rules one by one were broken, I thought, that’s odd. Teachers aren’t supposed to do that but he is a nice guy who cares about the kids. He is going to make my child a better athlete. The one the that protected my child was when I saw the content of the texts.

Parents - ask your child if any adult is texting them. If the answer is yes, read the messages. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics