I've worked at Central Middle School as a substitute teacher starting from Fall 2005 to Fall 2006. During the 2005-2006 school year, the principal was Ms Trew and the VP was Mr Ogawa. I got along with them, and they were very helpful.
However, they got replaced by Brian Mizuguchi and Cindy Yun-Kim, and things went sour in Fall 2006.
Last week, on July 19, 2007, I talked to the Hawaii Board of Education (BOE) about what goes on there. Ms Fisher was also there to talk about the corruption at CMS.
I know there's a risk in putting stuff on the Internet, but since I already testified in front of the BOE, it's already a matter of public record, so I might as well mention it on the blog.
Here's an outline of what I said. It's NOT word-for-word, just an outline
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I am a substitute teacher working in the Honolulu District.
While working at Central Middle School during the fall 2006 semester, the principal told me that I was blocked from working at the school and he claimed that I "call sceurity too much".
Call security too much?
If a student is disruptive, disrespectful, and commiting repeat offenses, I have them sent to the office. (which is what I was told to do by substitute training course, and various school officials) If they refuse to go to the office, what am I supposed to. I can't drag them to the office. So I call security to get them out.
Teachers don't have time to counsel misbehaving students during classtime. We have to help the rest of students understand their lessons.
If an argument breaks out, I call security because it could turn violent. Even if I get the students to settle down temporarily, that won't stop them from retaliation after-school or off-campus. To prevent those things, I call security to get them out of class and send them to the counselor or vice-principal. It's their jobs to settle disputes.
I was told in substitute training course, that if I suspect a fight could occur, (even later in the day), I need to notify the office.
Yet the principal of Central Middle School says I "call security too much." His philosophy is dnagerous, in that it let problems fester until it gets worse.
Even when i question the principal on the issue, his reply was "want me to block you from the district?" That's not his job!
While the complex supervisor listened respectfully when I talked to her, she seemed to indirectly defend the principal's thought process on the security issue, and I should've been more clear on it with her.
The irony of all this was that the former vice-principal of Central Middle School (Mr Ogawa, in 2005-2006 year) told me to call security if a student is defiant. (Ogawa was no longer VP when CMS principal Mizuguchi said I "call security too much")
Other substitutes and former school officials thought what Mizuguchi said was "ridiculous"
I decide to talk the Board of Education, not so much for myself, but for the other teachers, the students and anyone else involved in Hawaii's public school system.
This isn't just about Central Middle School, it's about how all schools deal with student crisis.
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After me and Ms Fisher testified, BOE member Mr Pennebacker asked DOE superintendent Ms Hamamoto (who was McKinley's principal when I was a student) to investigate this matter.
