Undoubtedly. Didn't say you were implying anything. Just don't really know anything much about the school's culpability at this stage? They have protocol in place for dealing with any given situation i'm sure, but don't know what those protocols are?
Found Safe TN - MCET, 15, Abducted by Teacher, in Maury County, 13 March 2017 #16 *ARREST*
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Undoubtedly. Didn't say you were implying anything. Just don't really know anything much about the school's culpability at this stage? They have protocol in place for dealing with any given situation i'm sure, but don't know what those protocols are?
Irishboy
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http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/...but-reported-seeing-him-kiss-elizabeth-thomas
“There was an ongoing investigation,” Rowland said. “One was by the school and one by us. They’re two separate things. The school has a policy for dealing with this. School policy and criminal investigations are two different things.”
Thomas went around the school telling students that the girl had reported Cummins. Within a week to 10 days, word of the investigation had spread around Culleoka Unit School.
“Beth stared at her at breakfast,” the family member said. “Every morning, Beth looked at her with a glare. In the hallway, when the two were next to each other, Beth would growl at her. It was a low dog’s growl.”
Cummins allowed students to come into his classroom nearly every day, with the most coming on Wednesdays and Thursdays. He seemed to take a special interest in Thomas. Authorities now say he was grooming Thomas for a sexual relationship.
In retrospect, the witness’ family wondered if Cummins was trying to groom her, too. She had known Cummins for two years. She did not share her phone number with the teacher and was not Facebook friends. He occasionally would comment on her Instagram posts.
“Every day that goes by, it gets more serious,” Rowland said. “There’s going to be a point where the thrill is gone for this 15-year-old girl. She is going to want her life back. That’s what concerns me. That’s why people need to call us with tips, no matter how big or small, so we can find them.”
The girl fears the worst. Cummins has a convincing, narcissistic personality, family members of the witness say.
“She thinks he talked Beth into getting in that car and running away. She thinks it is not going to end well. He will persuade her to do the wrong thing again.”
“There was an ongoing investigation,” Rowland said. “One was by the school and one by us. They’re two separate things. The school has a policy for dealing with this. School policy and criminal investigations are two different things.”
Thomas went around the school telling students that the girl had reported Cummins. Within a week to 10 days, word of the investigation had spread around Culleoka Unit School.
“Beth stared at her at breakfast,” the family member said. “Every morning, Beth looked at her with a glare. In the hallway, when the two were next to each other, Beth would growl at her. It was a low dog’s growl.”
Cummins allowed students to come into his classroom nearly every day, with the most coming on Wednesdays and Thursdays. He seemed to take a special interest in Thomas. Authorities now say he was grooming Thomas for a sexual relationship.
In retrospect, the witness’ family wondered if Cummins was trying to groom her, too. She had known Cummins for two years. She did not share her phone number with the teacher and was not Facebook friends. He occasionally would comment on her Instagram posts.
“Every day that goes by, it gets more serious,” Rowland said. “There’s going to be a point where the thrill is gone for this 15-year-old girl. She is going to want her life back. That’s what concerns me. That’s why people need to call us with tips, no matter how big or small, so we can find them.”
The girl fears the worst. Cummins has a convincing, narcissistic personality, family members of the witness say.
“She thinks he talked Beth into getting in that car and running away. She thinks it is not going to end well. He will persuade her to do the wrong thing again.”
Good. Perhaps their policies per Dept. of Education was obviously lacking if they need to now change that?
But again, we don't know if the school in question followed policy accurately regarding this situation?
In an earlier thread, I think some folks from TN said that the state caps a settlement on something like this to $300,000.
Me too... I just rethink it to read "#strong #unbreakable #cellbars".
I totally understand your point of view.
I personally think they have a ton of culpability as they didn't inform the father ON THE DAY they were notified of "the kiss" it was days after.
All I'm saying is that if it were me and my child I'd be PO'd that I wasn't informed on the exact day of the report of the kiss1/24 I believe.
BIC
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Exactly. That would mean your sending your child to school where she may have been molested, and you have no clue. That's just wrong. IMO
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Yes i agree.
I remember when my son was going to HS in FL. and he had to catch his school bus home. One of the teachers kept him back and he missed his bus. He had no other way of getting home and the school was quite a ways from home. His cousin had to pick him up. I called the school the next day and let them know and was very angry about it all. So yes at times schools do need to be held to account.
gitana1
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Yes they can be sued. And ET's family can win. He was not suspended or fired until too long after the incident and he wasn't monitored either.
I don't care what their protocols are. What they did or didn't do
is what matters. Most schools suspend while they investigate, or sometimes move to a non-teaching position. They didn't do that. They left her in his class. They didn't monitor him. They didn't notify the father.
If they veered from their policy, that's another layer of negligence. If they followed their policy, they are still negligent.
They're in trouble.
gitana1
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That's right! I forgot that. So the lawyer might get about a third.
Kapua
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Exactly, I have been saying this from day one; I would be absolutely livid and I don't even have kids. I just think it's completely reasonable to expect that if the school launches any kind of investigation involving your child, that the custodial parent, or both parents get a phone call from the school the very same day that the investigation is launched and not a full WEEK later. I was shocked to find out that this was not the case. AT absolutely had a right to know what had allegedly happened whether or not there was any truth to the matter. School policy needs to change, and the school needs to be held accountable for dropping the ball, IMHO. AND I think some of the teachers might benefit from sensitivity training. I think there might have been a sense of "it can't happen in our lovely small town" mentality going on. But it can happen anywhere.
Kapua
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At my high school, we had a "late bus" for such times.
Lori_belle
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Tennessee law does not distinguish between "minors" and "children" in that way. A "child" under Tennessee law is any person under 18 years of age. See TCA 36-1-102(13), TCA 37-1-102(b)(4), etc. Since we are talking about legalities here and all...
I just posted up what i found legally, but TN. must be different from the Statutes you posted obviously.
I wish my son's school had that at the time.
Mountain_Kat
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Mountain_Kat
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You make a very important point here, Bestill. I think that , as adults who see this whole thing for exactly what it is, it may be difficult for some of us to wrap our heads around the fact that ET may have a very different perspective right now. She may not see Cummins the same way that an adult with a wealth of life experience to draw on sees him. And it may take her awhile to come to that point in her journey. But in that space of LE descending on them, it may actually have been better for ET emotionally to have calm and comfort in going their separate ways. (Hope my meaning isn't misconstrued here...I'm trying to tread carefully.)
I pray that her family continues to find the strength and patience they will need to help her become happy and whole again.
antechinusRAWR
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Not flaming, I thought this would come up at some point & I just want to give you all the perspective of a kid who grew up in similar dynamics.
My dad worked long hours & had no clue what was going on in our house. Since we were toddlers (at least) we were manipulated into believing that he was "worse" than she was, that we should be thankful it was only her meting out the violent punishments & that we should also be grateful that she was "kind" enough to keep our "misbehaviour" secret from him so that he didn't get angry & punish us far worse.
We actively worked to hide the abuse from him because she had us convinced that he condoned it. He didn't.
I was an older teen before it began to dawn on me that my supposedly threatening & violent father had NEVER so much as raised a hand to me in anger much less whipped me with the leather belts he had hanging in his cupboard (I only knew about the belts because my mother would drag me into their room by the hair to threaten me & show me what I was in for if I didn't pull myself together & stop crying before he got home). The belief that he was "the bad one" had been so ingrained that realising it was all lies felt like the earth had just tipped off it's axis.
Despite that huge realisation though, the years of conditioning to keep secrets were impossible to overcome.
Sometimes she even claimed he had instructed her to punish us in particular ways if we did xy or z, so there was no point going crying to him - he'd told her to do it anyway. She had him playing a game of good cop/bad cop with us, but he alone had no idea the game existed. In doing so she placed herself in the position of the "nicer" parent while she simultaneously handed out all the violent punishments & daily psychological abuse.
He only found out what was going on when she completely lost it in front of him one day. I was 18 by then, but even decades after that I was never able to tell him the full extent of what would happen when he was at work, because that rule of silence was just so ingrained - it stopped me telling the school counsellors the truth too. Back then it was like I'd been rendered mute, but at the same time it felt like everyone should be able to tell just by looking at me - like every assault & insult was scrawled across my skin for all to read. & after so many years, the incidents all flowed into each other so I could barely formulate it all into recognisable thoughts for myself, much less express it verbally to others. On top of all that there's also the implanted belief that you're just a bad child who forces people to treat you harshly - so throw some guilt & shame into that mix for good measure. Shame is a great silencer.
Short version : My dad never had a clue because our abuser manipulated us so successfully that we actively & voluntarily worked to hide the truth from him & anyone else who might've helped us. By the time I was 7 or 8 we were so conditioned that we didn't even have to be told to lie & hide the truth, it was just an automatic reaction.
So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't assume that this dad knew but sat by & did nothing. It absolutely IS possible for one parent to be completely unaware the other is abusing their kids. As someone who's been through similar (albeit far milder) circumstances re abuse from a female parent & the inappropriate attentions of a teacher, I have nothing but respect & admiration for this dad & the way he's trying to help his daughter & her siblings through all of this. It sure as hell can't be easy
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