Post by lilly on Sept 10, 2012 15:10:43 GMT -5
In case you aren’t aware of Mel, Mel is a fixture within Wantagh and a long-term district employee up until days ago. I believe he worked in the custodial dept. Mel is a person with a disability. Kids and parents as well as many adults who no longer have kids in school, know Mel. You constantly see him around and about town, at BOE meetings and other school functions. He is homegrown, raised in Wantagh. Reportedly, he remembers the kids’ birthdays. I personally have never seen inappropriate behavior in Mel. I don’t know one person in Wantagh who isn’t fond of Mel with the exception of our mean kids.
Apparently, tormenting Mel has become a sport for some of Wantagh’s finest kids and from what I understand, constant taunting and tormenting Mel is a trigger for him, not that it wouldn’t be for ANY “normal” (of there is such a thing as "normal") teen or adult. From what I understand, Mel was tormented, had an “episode”, the kids who were tormenting him filmed Mel’s meltdown (not their taunting) and showed it to the powers that be. That is one story, corroborated by a few.
A BOE trustee has already said that the tormenting meltdown was not the reason for Mel’s dismissal but since it was a “personnel matter”, it couldn’t be commented upon.
IMO, the entire situation is a blight, a major embarrassment to Wantagh. Wantagh School District has an obligation like most employers in NYS and certainly one that is a public school district to provide a safe, discrimination- and hostility-free work environment. Now, where would Mel meet kids who would turn out to be his tormentors, whether that tormenting was done on campus or off campus? AT WORK, which happens to be the Wantagh School District.
Second, if the reason for Mel's dismissal was a “performance” related issue… Remember, the Wantagh school district is not a fan of job performance evaluations lately so if the reason for Mel’s dismissal is performance, it is even more ludicrous. If this was a performance issue, the Wantagh School District has a disabilities expert in its employ who could have counseled Mel’s direct superiors long before Mel’s “performance” supposedly became problem if that is the case. I’m sure all they had to do was ask the PPS Director, even if employees aren’t in his realm of responsibility, and unless I am a bad judge of character I’m fairly certain the PPS Director would have willingly helped. For example, if distractability is an issue for Mel, how to dole out Mel’s work assignments to eliminate distractions to his focus. If they knew he was subject to ridicule and harassment, then make sure he is carrying out his duties in situations where there are other adult employees nearby to prevent and stop the harassment of Mel by kids. Separate from his job, did Mel need adult-related disability services - surely the PPS Director would know or find an agency for help in whatever areas Mel needed or anyone in the district could have made that investigative phone call.
Third, this is a community issue. While it is certainly a parent’s prerogative to raise mean kids and a school district to shrug its shoulders in response or, there are good kids who can be mean in their teens (always a possibility with the teen species), the community should have zero tolerance for shenanigans such as taunting a disabled person to the point of meltdown. The school district is an integral part of this community, therefore should take a lead role in an aggressive zero tolerance policy and anti-bullying awareness and programs from Kindergarten on up. Heck, aren’t there new state mandates now that say we must have programs like this in place? Instead of the district constantly complaining about state mandates, why don’t they do something PRODUCTIVE about them? And I can already hear the refrain now ‘but we already do that’. Really? Well, the Mel situation happened whether it prompted his dismissal or not, therefore the awareness programs and policies can’t be all that EFFECTIVE.
It is a sad day in Wantagh when a district that is supposed to be successfully guiding along kids with special needs cannot even manage the successful employ of an adult with a disability. It’s not that friggin’ hard.
Apparently, tormenting Mel has become a sport for some of Wantagh’s finest kids and from what I understand, constant taunting and tormenting Mel is a trigger for him, not that it wouldn’t be for ANY “normal” (of there is such a thing as "normal") teen or adult. From what I understand, Mel was tormented, had an “episode”, the kids who were tormenting him filmed Mel’s meltdown (not their taunting) and showed it to the powers that be. That is one story, corroborated by a few.
A BOE trustee has already said that the tormenting meltdown was not the reason for Mel’s dismissal but since it was a “personnel matter”, it couldn’t be commented upon.
IMO, the entire situation is a blight, a major embarrassment to Wantagh. Wantagh School District has an obligation like most employers in NYS and certainly one that is a public school district to provide a safe, discrimination- and hostility-free work environment. Now, where would Mel meet kids who would turn out to be his tormentors, whether that tormenting was done on campus or off campus? AT WORK, which happens to be the Wantagh School District.
Second, if the reason for Mel's dismissal was a “performance” related issue… Remember, the Wantagh school district is not a fan of job performance evaluations lately so if the reason for Mel’s dismissal is performance, it is even more ludicrous. If this was a performance issue, the Wantagh School District has a disabilities expert in its employ who could have counseled Mel’s direct superiors long before Mel’s “performance” supposedly became problem if that is the case. I’m sure all they had to do was ask the PPS Director, even if employees aren’t in his realm of responsibility, and unless I am a bad judge of character I’m fairly certain the PPS Director would have willingly helped. For example, if distractability is an issue for Mel, how to dole out Mel’s work assignments to eliminate distractions to his focus. If they knew he was subject to ridicule and harassment, then make sure he is carrying out his duties in situations where there are other adult employees nearby to prevent and stop the harassment of Mel by kids. Separate from his job, did Mel need adult-related disability services - surely the PPS Director would know or find an agency for help in whatever areas Mel needed or anyone in the district could have made that investigative phone call.
Third, this is a community issue. While it is certainly a parent’s prerogative to raise mean kids and a school district to shrug its shoulders in response or, there are good kids who can be mean in their teens (always a possibility with the teen species), the community should have zero tolerance for shenanigans such as taunting a disabled person to the point of meltdown. The school district is an integral part of this community, therefore should take a lead role in an aggressive zero tolerance policy and anti-bullying awareness and programs from Kindergarten on up. Heck, aren’t there new state mandates now that say we must have programs like this in place? Instead of the district constantly complaining about state mandates, why don’t they do something PRODUCTIVE about them? And I can already hear the refrain now ‘but we already do that’. Really? Well, the Mel situation happened whether it prompted his dismissal or not, therefore the awareness programs and policies can’t be all that EFFECTIVE.
It is a sad day in Wantagh when a district that is supposed to be successfully guiding along kids with special needs cannot even manage the successful employ of an adult with a disability. It’s not that friggin’ hard.