Tuesday, November 09, 2010

The Dirty Linen Turns Up

I have about an eight-inch stack of documents on this case--mostly trials. As soon as my new scanner comes in a few days, I will scan them onto the blog. This is the behind-the-scenes behavior of the moral midgets who run the schools--both administration and board.

lee


Ms. Cobbe, the schools do indeed have a file on  Renee Anderson. Her father sent me enough information on the case for me to determine that fact.

Among other things, this record involves court cases and hearings on Ms. Anderson with Mr. Gonzalez's participation in them. The public pays Mr. Gonzalez's bloated fees--the highest among Florida school board attorneys, so it is entitled to his work product. If he is keeping these files in his office, he needs to transport them to ROSSAC because they are school property.
 
This request involves public information. These files present a damaging case for the school board's negligent handling of such students as Renee despite its public-relations podium harping on how concerned it is about the safety of the students.
 
Another major issue, racism, came to light in the Renee White case. An appellate brief on Renee's case says this: "The requirement that Anderson meet the hearing committee for the sole purpose of admitting the violation is the well-established practice of the Hillsborough County School Board.  It is an  unconstitutional practice and procedure because it is too little, too late."
 
I want to see all the school data available on Renee Anderson relevant to this case. I especially want to see the schools' files on Anderson in which Tom Gonzalez had a major role .
 
The NAACP's "School Discipline Fact Sheet" says that "[The (Hillsborough County Schools'] racial disparities in school discipline are matched by the racial disparities in other key educational indicators in the 2003-2004… For example, black students in 2003 2004 were over three times as likely as their white peers to be suspended out of school, and black elementary schools students were over 5 times as likely to be suspended out of the school."
 
Surely the school board reviewed and set up procedures to deal with this problem. I want in addition to the Renee Anderson file to see records of any efforts the board has made to deal with the the racism of school discipline. I want to see the results of any efforts by the board following this case to determine whether chief witness Mr. Kevin Messina, who restrained Renee in his office against her will,  has a history of racist comments as one of the hearing's proceedings suggests.
 
This is my 3rd request for data on the Anderson case. The state is about to get a new attorney general.  She may be interested in knowing about the dilatory fashion that the Hillsborough County school system deals with citizen requests for public information. She also may be concerned with the institutional racism cited by the NAACP study of the Hillsborough County school system.
 
Please send a copy of this email to Stacy White if he still has no board email address.
 
 
 
lee drury de cesare
15316 Gulf Boulevard 802
Madeira Beach, FL 33709
tdecesar@tampabay.rr.com
leedrurydecesarescasting-roomcouch.blogspot.com
 
mail copy sent to Hillsborough County NAACP Empowerment Center