Friday, May 11, 2012
Bad Experiences at The Galloway School
As a former parent, I would like to hear about what other parents expereinced at the Galloway School. While most of the teachers are good and genuinely interested in the students, some of them engage in bullying tactics that I consider abuse. The self esteem of a developing child is extremely delicate and has an influence on how the child learns, as well as, interacts with others. I know many parents who conveyed that this type of bullying by teachers and administrators has been expereinced by many children and is part of the reason a mass exodus is developing. It is a shame that people we entrusted with the care and development of our children have hurt them in this way.
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My child has also experienced bullying by the teacher, and administration. I think the board should conduct a formal inquiry to find out who
ReplyDeleteneeds to be fired. One way the board can do this is to listen to the parents and all the complainants that are written on all the blogs. I can't believe that THIS SCHOOL has such poor values and ethics. Apparently they hold Christian values. I beg to differ. BOARD PLEASE
PLEASE DO YOUR JOB.............GIVE JUSTICE TO THE KIDS............
Um, all inquiries must begin with a meeting with Cerace. If she doesn't throw up the brick wall there, you get an audience with the committee you need (education or finance). If you ever get past that, you get a meeting with select board members (handpicked folks that fully support Cerace). It stops there. NEVER will you get a meeting with the full board. It includes Mrs. Galloway. They will never let her hear the truth.
ReplyDeleteThe bullying isn't just with the teachers. Administrators do it, too. No one is ever held accountable for it. Bullying seems to be tolerated at Galloway and it is an absolute shame. I am even aware of one even of bullying where a child needed medical attention and the event was covered up. The mother of the child wasn't called until another family went in to complain. And those two board members that quit abruptly last week, they were active participants in the cover up. When a parent asked if student safety should be a priority, that parent told me that he could not get a board of Woodfin, Cerace, Morris, and Aycock to agree that it should be. What does that tell you about the "professionals" running the school? Makes you wonder what the priorities are.
On another note, the two women that left the board asked to see the school's financial records before they quit. They were told they could not. How did they vote on budget, raises, and spending if they didn't have access to the financials? Someone please explain THAT to me.
What was once a thriving little private school has taken the cross of the school's logo. With that, the ethics have been in a downward spiral. Best of luck to the new League City school! Take notes! Transparency is the key to happy parents Cover-ups will destroy.
What was the medical emergency about? If it could have potentially compromised the health and safety of the student body, then there could be some serious liability on their part.
DeleteA child was struck in the head with a rock. She sought medical attention from the nurse. While that was occurring, Mrs. Teaff "investigated" by asking the children to write down what they saw on a post-it note. When nothing "valuable" was obtained, the investigation ended. This was on a Friday. The following Monday, we went in to speak with Ms. Cerace about the events and were told that no one would own up to the situation, so they would probably never know who did it. She was planning on no further investigation. She also said she had to wait for the classroom teacher to return from a trip before she could really do anything. This is absurdity at its finest. I have never heard of a situation this serious delaying an investigation because the chief investigator had to wait for an employee to return and discuss an event for which she wasn't even present!
DeleteBut, I digress. Several days later, we were told that no one saw anything, after a nearly 3-day investigation process. I asked my child if he was questioned. He said yes and proceeded to tell me he told the administrators that he saw the rock falling to the ground right after the child screamed. He was able to describe the rock in rather specific detail. No one asked him to take them outside to show them this rock.
We were dissatisfied and asked to speak with the education committee, as we did not think this was sufficient. We were given contact information from the student handbook regarding how to reach these people. After sending numerous e-mails and never receiving responses, I saw one of the committee members, Dot Woodfin, at the school. She apologized for not responding, but said she "never checks the school e-mail. She uses her personal e-mail for all correspondence," an e-mail which was NOT published in the handbook. She went on to explain that the other committee member had left the board and been replaced. The new member's information was not sent to the parents. (Great! One member doesn't bother with her official e-mail and the other no longer serves! I had no way to contact the new person as I had no idea who it was!)
We got our meeting. In its course, we asked for our child to come explain to the committee what he told the administrators. That was met with a resounding, "No!" They were fearful that he would be intimidated by a room full of adults. (Obviously they don't know my child.) One of us went to talk to him in the hallway while the other stayed in the meeting asking more questions. Upon return of my spouse, I asked Mrs. Teaff, who had the notes they had taken in the discussions with the children, to read back my son's testimony. She sort of stammered for a few seconds, and I asserted my request. At that time, she began to describe what my son had told us numerous times: how he heard the scream, saw the rock fall to the ground, and the size and shape of the rock. We were furious. We had been told multiple times that no one saw the rock. We knew that was untrue. And the proof was right there, in Mrs. Teaff's own handwriting! We were lied to. Only one committee member had a problem with it. The others said the investigation was complete and they were finished. One committee member said bullying was a problem in schools everywhere and violence should not be tolerated. But she was one against the rest.
Dissatisfied, we asked to meet with Ms. Cerace again. Instead, my husband got an audience with select board members: Cerace, Woodfin, Janine Morris, and Lynda Aycock (the last two being the board members that recently resigned their positions). After an exhausting discussion, he asked the members of this meeting if they could at least agree that student safety was a high priority at The Galloway School. Not a single one of the board members in attendance would agree with that simple statement. It was towards the end of this meeting that my husband was told that if we were that dissatisfied with the school, we would perhaps be happier elsewhere.
DeleteIt was at that time we made the decision to put our house on the market and move into a school district where we felt the students were truly the top priority. We were so committed to our children that we purchased a new home without having sold the old one and ended up carrying two mortgages for nearly a year. THAT is how much we value the safety of our children!
You wanted my story, there it is. I am not only concerned about my children. I am concerned about them all. If one child is not safe in his school, NONE OF THEM ARE SAFE! I feel that passionately about this! I agree, it takes a village to raise our children. We are all responsible to make sure they are safe. I believe that most parents, if placed in a situation where they saw the safety of a child threatened, would come to the aid of the child and protect him or her, no matter the bloodline. Obviously, members of TGS's board do not feel the same way. I just wish they had so strongly defended the child in my situation as they are defending themselves in the lawsuit they got themselves into.
Maybe they're not in it for the children, after all. I guess since a gun wasn't involved, Bonnie Cerace didn't feel it was a serious event. Given Bonnie Cerace's history, she probably wouldn't think it was a serious event even with a gun involved. How incredibly sad and pathetic.
I guess the only way to voice your concern is to leave the school. Hit them where it hurts, right in the pocket book. I will not be returning next year. I can't believe the amount of suffering we have had to deal with. I hope no other family goes through this again. This school needs to shut down or they need to clean house, either way this school is done.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Leaving will send a more powerful message than anything we can say or write. I am sure those orgnizing the new school would love to hear from you. I just found out about their email address: thenewtonschool.tx@gmail.com
DeleteI was told the new website will be up soon.
We won't be back next year either but there is much more that can be done than just leave. Everyone who has knowledge of, or experienced harassment, bullying, or inappropriate behavior/advances at Galloway or by Bonnie Cerace should contact Ryan Cantrell of Chamberlain Hrdicka Attorneys at law at 713-658-2536. He is already handling a major case against The Galloway School, it's board, and Bonnie Cerace. It doesn't cost anything to tell him your story. He can correlate everyone's info and use it appropriately to remove the cancer that is ruining The Galloway School. Much has been gotten away with so far because we did not have one place to band together to relate our stories to someone who can do something about them. It's Bonnie Cerace's worst nightmare: Everyone telling the truth to someone who knows what to do with it. Cerace has always counted on keeping everyone separated so they can't compare personal experiences and the stories she told them. All that has to happen for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing.
DeleteGood idea. A chat with Ryan might be productive. I heard Bonnie Cerace is planning to sue the Blogs and the parents trying to form the new school in League City. You would think that she had more pressing matters to attend to than engaging in additional legal action.
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DeleteI am one of the former Galloway parents that Bonnie Cerace will apparently be suing. All I can say is bring it on Bonnie. I know I can afford to pay my attorneys. Can you pay yours? Especially since enrollment is dropping? It is a shame that the Galloway shcool has to waste tuition money on defending Bonnie Cerace's actions.
DeleteI agree transparency is the way to go. We should all unite behind this new school and get involved and help these parents to achieve the goal for higher education. After all is this not the reason why we pay the big bucks to send our kids to private school. Go Newton School, I wish you the best. Your curriculum looks very interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt remains to be seen whether she will try to sue anyone or not. Good luck with that Bonnie - you'll need it, especially after the current litigation (that she's up to her eyeballs in) is wrapped up. I believe she is desperate to try and continue her dillusion that she has been wronged in some way, and to try and keep all the lies straight. Doesn't she understand that no one believes anything she says now? The story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf comes to mind. Also it seems apparent that she doesn't understand the First Amendment about free speech either. In my opinion, there is really NO chance for her to come out of her unfortunate situation with anything positive for herself or the school. The damage is done. And she has herself to thank for it.
ReplyDeleteAnd when she tries to blame everything on the Solt lawsuit, which started this domino effect of sorts, as the reason for her current situation... just remember, she had the opportunity to follow the proper and correct course of action, BUT SHE CHOSE NOT TO. She LIED. The Solt lawsuit - and everything else that has happened since then, many things not even remotely related to that lawsuit - is a direct result of her inappropriate choices and blatant dishonesty. So... teachers who are without jobs next year because of dwindling enrollment, don't even think of blaming ANYONE besides Bonnie Cerace and her do-nothing board.
Where's she going to get the money to sue? The insurance the school has is liability insurance. It doesn't cover litigation that the school instigates. She'll have to dip into the school's savings, if there are any. The new addition to the school was not cheap. If she doesn't dip into savings, she'll have to divert next year's tuition towards any lawsuits. She'll have to cut staff if that happens and parents will not be happy with fewer services. They already lost a librarian and have no qualified person to assist the students in the library. (The aide they have in there isn't close to qualified to teach the kids about the library system.) What other services will she cut? Can she afford to keep art, music, computer science, foreign language, PE, and classroom aides? Are you willing to lose any more vital services?
DeleteSome teachers are realizing this is a sinking ship. I have discovered that at least 7 have decided not to return. Certainly Cerace has a few she'll decide not to renew. Last year's turnover rate was around 30% and it's approaching that for this year. Parents, there is something critically wrong when your turnover rate is repeatedly that high.
Parents need to come together and support one another. They need to stop being so afraid and step up the plate. Please do it for the kids.
ReplyDeleteI saw the agenda for the PTO meeting tomorrow night. It does not seem like they will officially discuss any "difficult" topics. I wonder if any of the parents will have the courage to ask the difficult questions? It is obvious that the problems are not isolated, or limited to a select few. I keep hearing from Bonnie's proxies that a lawsuit against the blogs and me is being prepared. Bonnie, and Jay Aldis, what is taking so long? Do it now. As quickly as you can. I have been ready to respond for quite some time now. I am at least one person you will never successfully bully. I have full time attorneys working for me, my sister is an attorney, and I have very good personal attorneys. I know the law well enough to say that you have more to fear from me than I do of you. I have truth on my side. Also, Bonnie thank you for making defamatory statements about me, my wife, and my son to several parents. He continues to suffer the consequences of that in public. How pitiful that you and some of your teachers would do such things to a child. You know who I am. Come after me instead. I could care less about what you say about me or my wife, but I will make you pay for what you have done to my son. You will find out what I mean when we lock horns in court. This will definitely not be a good Summer for you.
ReplyDeleteTo all teachers at the Galloway School who truly care about children and have a conscience, contact me with your stories. I am ready and prepared to take the steps necessary to advocate for all of the children. Your communications will be completely confidential and my intentions should be obvious based on my public comments and ongoing mission. Email me at ekram@cieos.com
ReplyDeleteDo not be afraid and stand up for the truth.