IN - Elwood school superintendent paid for student’s medical treatment with her insurance, 2019

[IceIce9]

Elwood superintendent paid for student’s medical treatment with her insurance

School superintendent picked up a 15 year old student at home and took him to a clinic for medical care without notifying guardian. She signed him in under her son’s name and used his insurance to pay for the visit and a prescription.

 

[Penny Parker]

Elwood superintendent paid for student’s medical treatment with her insurance

School superintendent picked up a 15 year old student at home and took him to a clinic for medical care without notifying guardian. She signed him in under her son’s name and used his insurance to pay for the visit and a prescription.

There are things in this article that concern me. My personal opinion is that there's too much involvement in this kid's life, however well intentioned it may be.

 

[bwt42]

According to one article I read, if she stays clean for one year, her record will be cleansed. I would fire her.

 

[IceIce9]

I live very close to this district and there is a huge public outcry to terminate her.

However, some people are supporting her, saying she was helping a child in need.

I was very interested to see what other WS members thought about this.

The crazy thing is that there is a medical clinic connected to the school. She could have taken him there.

I happened to be working at the medical clinic in a different school district not far from here the day this story broke. It was a big topic of discussion with the patients and clinic staff too. Nearly every patient that came in that day asked if we had heard about it.

Something about the story doesn’t pass the smell test to me. IMO.

 

[Curiousobserver]

My wife is a teacher and we both volunteer for a school affiliated club with about 100 kids in it. I can't even count all the times we have brought in clothes, or food, or paid for a kids fee for such and such. I have even paid for a family in line at the urgent care with a sick 2 year old who couldn't pay and were being turned away.

But-
I would never ever take a kid to the Dr without his parents knowing and fake the insurance info. She could have just brought a parent and paid in cash. This is I think a red flag for their overall relationship that should be looked into.

 

[IceIce9]

My wife is a teacher and we both volunteer for a school affiliated club with about 100 kids in it. I can't even count all the times we have brought in clothes, or food, or paid for a kids fee for such and such. I have even paid for a family in line at the urgent care with a sick 2 year old who couldn't pay and were being turned away.

But-
I would never ever take a kid to the Dr without his parents knowing and fake the insurance info. She could have just brought a parent and paid in cash. This is I think a red flag for their overall relationship that should be looked into.

Agreed. I know teachers who work at inner city schools who regularly take in clothes, coats, food, etc. for their students in need.

If she wanted to help a sick student she could have gotten permission from the parent or guardian, and then paid for the visit.

You can’t authorize medical care for someone else’s child without permission from parent or guardian. Not to mention the insurance fraud, signing in the boy under her son’s name and using his insurance. And what if the boy had been allergic to the medication that was prescribed?

 

[IceIce9]

Elwood residents, staff say superintendent should go

Another article.

 

[TaylorJ4]

It's insurance fraud, and she showed very poor judgement. She should be fired

 

[meanmaryjean]

You have to ask yourself - if a MALE superintendent was 'cleaning the bedroom' of a female student, purchasing clothing for a female student, and taking a female student for medical.care without the knowledge or consent of the student's legal guardian - would the proposed slap on the wrist suffice?

Court documents: Elwood Schools superintendent used her insurance to pay for student's medical treatment

 

[BrownRice]

I assume the reason she committed insurance fraud was because she couldn’t just take him to a dr for medical care without parental authorization. Therefore say he’s your kid and no questions asked.

Not sure if it was just good intentions or more. Definitely sounds like she overstepped boundaries and had some type of inappropriate relationship with this student. At minimum, very bad judgment

 

[enelram]

Since when does a "Superintendent" have close contact with a
student?
I've been a teacher and substitute, parent of students, and I could
understand better if she was a teacher and had daily contact, but
I have NEVER seen a case where a Superintendent gets involved.
Something is missing here.

 

[IceIce9]

Since when does a "Superintendent" have close contact with a
student?
I've been a teacher and substitute, parent of students, and I could
understand better if she was a teacher and had daily contact, but
I have NEVER seen a case where a Superintendent gets involved.
Something is missing here.

Would a school employee be permitted to transport a student in a personal vehicle? That seems like poor judgement even if it isn’t forbidden.

 

[MarziPanda]

For me, it sort of depends what the medical visit was for. If it was something small, then yeah, this sounds pretty suspicious - why not tell the parents? However, it's possible that the parents are less than stellar, and maybe refused to get the child seen by a doctor for something he really needed to be seen for. I've seen threads on reddit recently, of teenagers who got caught in the early years of anti-vax, and are trying to find ways to get vaccinated without their parents permission. Since the child was given a prescription it sounds like it wasn't a case of vaccination, but it could be for anything. I'd rather hold off judgement until we know more - if we ever do, which seems unlikely.

Regardless of the reason, she shouldn't have done it. Poor judgement at the least.

 

[meanmaryjean]

For me, it sort of depends what the medical visit was for. If it was something small, then yeah, this sounds pretty suspicious - why not tell the parents? However, it's possible that the parents are less than stellar, and maybe refused to get the child seen by a doctor for something he really needed to be seen for. I've seen threads on reddit recently, of teenagers who got caught in the early years of anti-vax, and are trying to find ways to get vaccinated without their parents permission. Since the child was given a prescription it sounds like it wasn't a case of vaccination, but it could be for anything. I'd rather hold off judgement until we know more - if we ever do, which seems unlikely.

Regardless of the reason, she shouldn't have done it. Poor judgement at the least.

There is a free clinic inside the school- the school nurse attended the meeting to express her outrage at this situation. It was for a sore throat. And as for knowing more- there is a board meeting tonight and half the citizens of Elwood plan to attend.

 

[IceIce9]

Besides taking him for medical care, she had previously cleaned his home, taken him to get a haircut, to McDonalds, and purchased clothing.

If she wanted to help him there are resources available that would have been more appropriate.

 

[IceIce9]

Elwood superintendent finds no support at board meeting to determine her fate


Her supporters say she tried to help a student with little support from home. But the school nurse Stacy Buck told the board Tuesday night, "You must feel embarrassed, helpless, betrayed. Or at least I hope so. But you know what? Suck it up."

Barb Abernathy, an ex-teacher, asked the board "Would you have been as forgiving if this situation had been a male superintendent?"

John Henderson, a retired police officer said, "Every newspaper says she made a mistake, she made a mistake. She didn't. She made an illegal choice.”

The school nurse said the district's state of the art telemedicine system is equipped to handle the 15-year-old's medical needs. She asked what was the superintendent thinking.

"What other past illegal decisions has she made?" Buck asked.

For the first time, the 15-year-old student's cousin, Audra Rich, told the board, "This did not need to happen. There are no heroes here saving a dying child."

 

[meanmaryjean]

She has resigned but my phone will not let me paste the link......

 

[Medstudies]

Embattled Elwood Schools superintendent resigns

PUBLISHED: 44 MINUTES AGO
UPDATED: 40 MINUTES AGO
ELWOOD, Ind. (WTHR) — An embattled school superintendent has resigned her position.

The announcement was made at a Friday school board meeting that Casey Smitherman had stepped down...”



Previous report indicates the family intends to sue

 

[mickey2942]

Personally, I think she should be charged with a criminal case, this was insurance fraud.

I am also concerned about the boundary issues, I taught school for many years, and never, ever did anything without a parent consent. There are some real issues here. She should not be around children, I wouldn't want her around my child. What if she decided to take my child from school without my permission?

This is very scary.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Expect action against her educator license next.