Terror In Talihina – Part 2
That report quoted Julie Owens as stating:
They stated in the first meeting that all the complaints would be investigated. That didn’t happen.
The referenced article also stated that Owens attended the school board meeting Monday night May 1st and none of the concerned parents present were given any indication as to a decision or what if any action was taken.
Owens told the Poteau Daily News that her family was not happy with the way the school district handled the matter and referred further comments to her attorney.
Tulsa attorney Steve Novick was quoted in the report as stating:
I am representing the Owens family and the boys. Our information is that the boys were damaged by this incident. We are conducting an investigation to determine all the details and when that is completed we will take the appropriate action.
The referenced report indicated that Novick stated that since both the Talihina Police Department and school district are state political subdivisions that the next step would be to file notice of a tort claim to the specific political subdivisions. He said the subdivisions would then have up to 90 days to respond. The family would then have 180 days to file a lawsuit.
Commentary and Opinion
The handling or more accurately the mishandling of this scandal by the Talihina School Board gives one cause to search the dictionary for a word to describe the board’s actions. The word which in my opinion best describes the school board’s actions is “whitewash”.
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary offers multiple definitions for whitewash, definitions which seem rather fitting:
to gloss over or cover up (as vices or crimes) and to exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data
In the annals of whitewashing, the Talihina School Board should qualify for some type of award for glossing over the vices and arguably the crimes of Angela Weaver/Rogers with what some are calling a very biased ‘independent investigation’ conducted by an associate of the school superintendent.
When Talihina School Superintendent Ray Henson was quoted in the state’s largest newspaper as saying, “We feel like we’ve got a good plan laid out for it.” he should have been much more specific regarding the “it” to which he was referring.
The “it” to which Henson refers appears to be a public relations nightmare and the likelihood of a massive lawsuit that may force the town into bankruptcy. Clearly the board’s actions do not indicate that “it” refers to Angela Weaver/Rogers’ mishandling of what should have been a disciplinary scenario left to the boys’ parents.
The school board although well within its legal authority to do nothing regarding Julie Owens’ complaint against Angela Weaver/Rogers, regardless of the merits of her complaint, failed miserably by not conducting a fair and complete investigation into all allegations against the principal.
The board’s ‘independent investigator’ focused upon one and only one allegation in spite of numerous allegations from the parents of several children. Yet, the board permitted the principal in an ‘executive session’ overheard by the general public to verbally ‘tar and feather’ the children of all parents that had the audacity to complain against her. The board did so without conducting any investigation what-so-ever into their allegations.
Since the board was focused only on the Owens complaint it should have restricted the principal’s comments to that specific issue rather than let her attempt ‘pay backs’ using the children of those parents who had complained against her but whose complaints the board was not interested in investigating.
That the handling of this scandal on the part of the Talihina School Board makes it members appear to be a bunch of bumbling and biased rednecks with no comprehension of the moral and legal issues at hand is a given.
That the board of education of Talihina, Oklahoma is on the verge of getting an ‘education’ itself and in the courts is a strong possibility.
That the citizens of Talihina are stuck with this board is reality. Only one member of the board is up for re-election in any given year, meaning it would take voters years to replace the lot of them. Years during which this scandal will likely move from the confines of a small Oklahoma town into the courts where small-town bias, whitewashes and ‘pay backs’ do not hold sway but the rule of law does.
Some say ignorance is bliss.
In some cases it is also very expensive.
This may well be one such case…
Good grief! And people actually ask us why we want to move out of LeFlore County? (Additionally, we no longer do business with the “other half” of this terribly misguided woman.)
To be fair, I do not think that LeFlore County is representative of the state of Oklahoma. While we look forward to leaving LeFlore County for many reasons, we do know that LeFlore County is “unique” in the ignorance of its citizens and malfeasance of public officials.
My children attend school at Indianola. Our schoolboard hired Angela Weaver and I, as well as many other parents, would really appreciate having more detail as to Ms. Weaver’s long history in Leflore County. Please help as I am concerned our children’s safety and well being.
Contact me at [email protected] and I can share with you some facts about her being employed at schools in Oklahoma. You can also go to your local library and research her name….Angela Faulkenberry/Ramsey/Rogers/Weaver. She was employed at Howe Schools..and several others. Her record speaks for itself….she leaves a dirty trail at every school she is employed at.
If you’re interested there may also be a record of the Talihina court case in Muscogee District court. It was settled before it went to trial, but there should be a record.
o believe me, if the teachers cant fire her, then the students will help!, cause we want her gone as well.
What’s the current situation with Mrs. Weaver? I heard something about the district not renewing her contract. Is this true? What are the details?
I can’t believe this ignorance is still going on. And what I mean by that, is you people need to get a life. I taught in a system where the terrior was my boss and I have to say she was one of the best. I know first hand about the situation in Talihina. I can tell you all right now this site is a bunch of lies. I recognize who some of you are having been in Talihina at the time this was all going on. I know of situations and children that most of you who are commenting would not want to be mentioned due to the fact of direct involvement. The facts have never been posted and could it be because Ms. Ramsey/Rogers/Weaver had better scense than you and have not commented to save your children harm.You have played on your childrens lives by exploiting your own children all over the internet and news papers.She in fact tried to make them abide by rules. We as teachers could actually teach back then. As for the young lady who states she is a senior..good grief girl get a date, a life and leave the business end of school to the adults. I have read several site comments just tonight as I was looking for the annual Easter egg hunt info for my kids and ran into this junk. Let me tell you something..if IEPS are missing…why in the heck would a superintendent want them unless there was a reason. That is not part of their job.Goes to show you what you know about what a supt. actually does and what her job title actually consist of. Then let me tell you I as teacher never…did you hear me…never see our superintendent. It is not the job of the superintendent to be out being chummy with kids. That, if it is a responsibility of anyones would belong to your principal. The job of a superintendent is to do the financial business of your school. I find it very interesting that you say she was rehired. Sounds like the board thinks she is doing a good job and someone said they are allowing her to work from home. Once again I find that an interesting fact and a strange twist. She must be very capable of running things from home for what ever reason she has and the board must think so. Another thing if I think I can figure out who some of you people are I do believe Ms. Ramsey/Rogers/Weaver can to. If I were you I would be afraid of her hiring a lawyer and shutting you people up with a defamation of character law suit. You people who keep this thing going for years are lacking in the intellegence departments. I have seen on one site where you call yourselves Christians. I can tell you I would never want to attent a church with you and I have sympathy for your pastor. He and God have a huge job ahead of them. You people need a life. Remember what goes around comes around and that is a promise from God. You people who call yourselves Christians and if you are who I think you are, your entire families claimed to be Christians, should read your Bibles and see that God will take care of the problems if there is one. I can’t see that this woman has harmed you or your children. Your obsession with her is strange to say the least. It has been years. This is too weird that you still have such a fixation on her. She truly has a hold on your lives. She is not suffering you are. You can tell that by what you write and have written in the past. This would be funny if it weren’t so sad. I hope the rest of the readers can see this and that there are two sides to every story and I don’t see hers do you??…maybe she is an intellegent person who sees no value or future for your children in anything she would have to say in this. Now that’s a true educator that cares about kids. NO Comment by her is probably the best comment. She has nothing to say because she has nothing to hide. And by the way..get the facts about Howe School. Everything you have printed about that is lies. You say look her up i think you should do that and just see what Howe school was all about. The truth has not been printed on either subject yet. I know that due to the class of persons that post to these things,(of which I am ashamed that I have stooped to your level) this probably won’t make a bid of difference but I think it is high time that someone gave you people something to think about.
Diane,
I don’t know who or what you are, but you are obviously lying, no teacher would ever write an illegible mess like what you wrote.
One has to wonder, why someone who is not a teacher would write such a virulent defense of Ms. Rogers?
I am not a resident of Oklahoma, and have no direct interest in this case. I do however suffer from excessive curiosity, and your screed screams of a wish to hide something. What is it you wish to hide?