Here is a recap of the concerns that several of the parents and teachers expressed to the Indian River School Board at Sussex Central High School during last night’s meeting:

1. The stigma of the school—One parent said ideas should be generated in terms of doing something rewarding for the graduates so that they walk out of graduation with a smile.

2. Prayer— Another spoke and said how prayer should be brought back to the schools. I agree. He said, “If prayer is not brought back, the devil will have his way.” People forget, or just ignore the fact that there is a spiritual realm (demons, angels, etc…) I guess just because they are invisible, demons must not exist. (Well, don’t they have people fooled)? You can see the effects of their work like you can see the effects of wind. Of course the devil is not a cartoon character with a red hood and a pitched fork as he is often portrayed.

3. Open communication —-One suggested open communication between the school board and the administrators of the school on a regular basis.

4. Aggressive action—–A teacher was disgusted with the lack of action taken even though Board members were aware of what was happening. The Board should take action quickly and aggressively if something like this happens again. It was mentioned how this has been “a learning experience” for the School Board.

5. Too much media attention—-One of the parents mentioned that she was not happy with the large media presence and the extensive coverage of the stories surrounding the school, saying that this is threatening and hurting the reputation of Sussex Central High School. She emphasized how one person’s actions should not reflect the integrity of the school as a whole. She went on to praise the staff, students, teachers and other leaders for the hard work that they do.

6. Accountability—”We the community are going to hold you accountable.” That was one statement made to the board.

Indian River School Board president Charles Bireley reassures parents that aggressive action would be taken next time. Bireley stated, “If anyone in the community has a complaint– if they’ll come in and give us facts that we can act on, then we will do it.”

Bireley further adds:

“We are going to do our very best to get a very good leader in this building. We have two acting right now. We couldn’t ask for any better in Sussex County.”

The Board just listened, and for the most part made no comments in return.

More on what was mentioned at last night’s meeting can be found on the WGMD News section of the website.
http://wgmd.com/newspost/fullnews.php?id=8537

A few years back, Dan Gaffney and I started a project with local Rehoboth musician Xavier Alexander. Here’s how it happened… Xavier had been in and out of mental hospitals for the last few years, being involuntarily committed by his family, he began showing up at WGMD radio broadcasts with his guitar and singing songs that has written.

He eventually came on the radio on Dan’s morning show to be interviewed and to tell his story. A year or two later, we decided that I would produce an album for Xavier that included new interview segments, in a way to tell his story.

Though we never finished an entire album, 5 songs were recorded and about 26 minutes of interview audio were captured that spring day at WGMD studios in Rehoboth Beach. Shortly after these sessions were taped, Xavier found himself back in the hospital (after a brief stint of moving some of his possessions including his guitar to the radio station).

Though we haven’t worked with Xavier since, these following recording tell a powerful and haunting, beautiful and scary portrait of a tortured artist at work. I recently unearthed these recordings, and not knowing what to do with them, since the album project is not happening, I’ve decided to post them here and at a few other sites. Although I own these sound recordings, the songs are owned by Xavier and I would not in any way try to make anything from them. I just want you to hear them. Therefore, I’ve uploaded these songs to playlist.com and below you can listen to the complete session the way we envisioned it that day.

Here’s the link to the Playlist.com playlist…

http://www.playlist.com/standalone/34398795

Here’s the direct URLs to the MP3s –

“Backwards Dreams: The Music and Words of Xavier Alexander”
By: Xavier Alexander

Words and Music written by Xavier Alexander
Acoustic Guitar and Vocals by Xavier Alexander
Interview by Dan Gaffney
Recorded and Produced by Jared Morris
Concept: Dan Gaffney/Jared Morris
Recorded at WGMD Studios in Rehoboth Beach, DE 2005

1. Backwards Dream
2. About Backwards Dream
3. About Mother Earth
4. Mother Earth
5. About Cover Your Smiles
6. Cover Your Smiles
7. About Keep Chasing Pretty Face
8. Keep Chasing Pretty Face
9. About On The Right Track
10. On The Right Track
11. About Xavier Alexander

Well, For all of those of you who have been wondering about the message in the bottle from today’s program:

from WGMD News:

A message in a jar was found on the beach Monday in front of the Henlopen Hotel by WGMD’s Maria Evans’s husband. Maria brought the jar to WGMD for its unveiling. It was tossed into the ocean in Rehoboth Beach by someone with a Maryland phone number.

Here’s the youtube video of that portion of today’s program, this is one of those segments that’s kind of funnier to see than to hear, I guess… We all had a great deal of fun with it today… Thanks to all the callers who chimed in and to Maria Evans and to ML for the photos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te7laMlD2qg

For more WGMD videos from my show and misc station vids check out my youtube site at www.youtube.com/jaredmorrisradio

Several people are asking me how they can get involved with the Lee and O’Donnell campaigns. The easiest place to get all the details is the state GOP office.

302-651-0260

Friday Major Andrew DeKever appared on the Bill Colley show to promote his book about Medal of Honor recipients. I include publisher’s details and allow proceeds from sales will benefit the DAV.

http://www.merriam-press.com/hererestsinhonoredglory.aspx

“It was the worst year of my life” said the Dorchester County Maryland school teacher, when describing the time she worked for Dana Goodman, the Sussex Central principal charged with 30 counts of rape. 

Teacher Jane Doe, (my name for her) also explained how Mr. Goodman would allow the middle school girls to refer to him as “husband” and would call themselves “Mrs. Goodman” while they adjusted his tie at lunch. 

Despite pages of complaints against Goodman, he apparently was given a glowing recommendation when seeking his job here in Delaware, because Dorchester wanted to get rid of him!

Click here and listen to my Jane Doe teacher interview audio.

With the help of a generous Court of Common Pleas judge and a good attorney, 38 year old former Sussex Central High School principal, Dana Goodman, is free on bail.  Judge Rosemary Beauregard reduced Goodman’s bond from $331,000 to $125,000 dollars, which he was able to post Thursday. 

 He has been ordered to have no contact with the 17 year old victim,  the Indian River School District or its employees and no contact - direct or indirect - with any children under the age of 18.  Goodman is charged with 30 counts of 4th degree rape and continual sexual abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of a child.  All are felony offenses.

On Goodman’s release the school district has this comment:

Statement concerning the posting of bond by Sussex Central High School Principal Dana Goodman: 

“Mr. Goodman continues to be prohibited from having any contact with Indian River School District students or staff while his case is being adjudicated. The Indian River Board of Education has directed administrative staff to advertise the position of principal of Sussex Central High School, identify qualified applicants to be interviewed by the board and conduct background checks on all such applicants consistent with IRSD procedures.”                                               

                                Susan Bunting, SuperintendentMay 9, 2008

Earlier this week the Indian River School District appointed former IR and Woodbridge School District teacher and administrator, Robert Powell, as the interim principal at Sussex Central High School for the remainder of the school year.  Also Assistant IR Superintendent Gary Brittingham has been assigned to the school for the rest of the school year. 

The school district has now announced a special meeting for parents and members of the community regarding Sussex Central High School: 

For those parents who may be concerned about who the district hires following the recent events that unfolded at Sussex Central High School, here is the process for hiring new employees as outlined to WGMD by School District Superintendent Susan Bunting: 

 1. He/she is fingerprinted either here or at the police station ­or provides a criminal background check that has been completed within the current school year

2. A state and federal background check is conducted by the Delaware State Police.

3. The employee must complete a Child Protection Registry, which is sent to Health/Human Services - A response is received within 1-2 weeks.

4. He/she completes benefit paperwork.

5. He/she signs an affidavit stating that he/she has no criminal convictions, no crime against a child, and no drug or alcohol abuse.

6. He/she signs a sexual harassment policy and telecommunications policy.

7. He/she signs an acknowledgement that if criminal background check shows any of the crimes listed in #5, that he/she will be immediately released.

8. The Department of Personnel or an IRSD representative personally checks all references.

She further adds:

 ”We have followed this procedure with all employees in the past and will continue to do so in the future.”

I do not find it plausible that a 38 year old man suddenly one day decides to become a sex-offender. This is, I believe, the nub of the scandal plaguing the Indian River School District. “We had no idea”, the defense from inside the hallowed halls, is also no more plausible.

This is the disconnect existing between parents and media on one side and administrators and school board members on the other. There is likely a history trailing the accused and the powerful folks at I.R. don’t understand why “We had no idea” isn’t flying. Time and again these people repeat they are bound by laws and cannot discuss pending litigation and personnel matters publicly. Yeah, the public gets it and the public understands. No one outside the hallowed halls can apparently see the public is looking for something else. “We had no idea”, isn’t cutting it.

How inopportune this occurs days before a school board election. Perhaps some memories will be recovered once the polls close.

As for Superintendent Bunting it’s high time some school board members started asking her some tough questions. She works at the pleasure of the board and public the board represents. All too often boards are subservient to the administration. It’s upside down.

Why? In my experience covering school boards when I worked as a reporter I can tell you the board is often a stepping stone for higher office. The public service aspect sounds fine but these offices are for building resumes and with the experience on the personal travelogue what board member seeking higher office would rock the boat. Need more proof? Check out the social club at Cape Henlopen.

Every time I hear educators and politicians blaming problems of their making I’m reminded these people are compounding mistakes. A spokesman for the Indian River School District this week told a WGMD reporter she couldn’t come to the meeting. He wasn’t speaking with a rookie. Then, possibly, he is. Maybe that’s the best $23,500 can buy. Or how about the board member at Indian River last month telling mild mannered Joe Ciccante he wasn’t worth her time because he works for WGMD? And who is this woman? A public servant trying to curry favor with school board employee Susan Bunting? If the buck doesn’t stop at the school board then it stops at the desk of the Superintendent. She must be very well connected in this community that not one member of the board has the “stones” to ask for an explanation and if the good Superintendent has been whitewashing a serious problem. No pun intended as I raise the next point. Was the accused granted a pass because of the color of his skin? I wouldn’t put it past the politically correct social engineers now dominating the education establishment. I would also suggest his departure shouldn’t be the last.

At a special meeting on Tuesday, May 6, the Indian River Board of Education hired Robert Powell to serve as interim principal of Sussex Central High School for the remainder of the 2007-2008 school year. In addition, the board assigned Assistant Superintendent Gary Brittingham to the school for the remainder of the year.
“The Board of Education has put Sussex Central High School in good hands. Mr. Powell and Mr. Brittingham are competent and experienced administrators who will assure that the final six weeks of the school year run smoothly,” Superintendent Susan Bunting said. “We are especially pleased to have Mr. Powell back in our ranks. He is a talented educator who will work extremely hard to keep students and staff focused on instruction as the school year comes to a close.”

Powell spent 26 years as a teacher and administrator in the Indian River School District before retiring from the Woodbridge School District in 2005. He began as a health teacher at Selbyville Middle School in 1975 and received the district’s Teacher of the Year Award in 1980. That same year, he became assistant principal at Sussex Central Middle School and served in that capacity until 1989, when he was named the school’s principal. He was principal of Sussex Middle until 2001 and was named Delaware’s Principal of the Year in 1999. He accepted a principal’s position in the Woodbridge School District in 2001.  

Powell has recently served as a hearing officer for the Indian River School District. He will begin his duties at Sussex Central High School on Thursday, May 8.