Parents and teachers publicly confronted the Indian River Board of Education for the first time since the arrest of former Sussex Central principal Dana Goodman on rape charges earlier this month. A special meeting on Monday gave the public a chance to be heard on issues of safety, restoring school spirit and moving on, and they voiced their message, loud and clear.
Many comments at Monday’s special meeting centered on filling the principal position next year, and what things should be taken into account in the hiring process.
David Peterson, an instructor at Del Tech, and previously at another high school, also has a daughter at Sussex Central. “Any school is subject to scandal,” he said, “and my sympathy goes out to the staff at Sussex Central.”
He referenced graduating from his Baltimore high school in the late 1970’s.
“We didn’t have the drugs and sexual advancements we’re dealing with today. Unfortunately, I think we’re in an environment where there the standards have dropped significantly.”
He stressed the importance of the board to seek out someone with integrity and responsibility when accepting applications for the principal at the school next year.
Parent Beth Miller approached the board, saying, “I don’t think this school, the staff or the students can be defined by one individual.” She voiced her concern with supporting the graduating class, making sure the school is not labeled with a stigma of “that school.”
David Marvel, a teacher at Sussex Central and a member within the district for nearly 30 years, recommended gathering parents’, teachers’ and students’ opinions of the next candidates for principal.
“You, the board, will be faced with one of the most important decisions that you’ll make for quite some time,” he stated. “We need to establish communication between all of us. We need to create a friendly atmosphere for the school. You need compatibility between employer and employee. Different teachers at different levels should be considered. We need to get this school back from a place that’s not so good to a place that is.”
“The students are great, the parents are great, and the teachers are great,” he added. “Give us a qualified leader, and we’ll do the rest.”
Several speakers shared their support, commending the board for their swift action in appointing interim Principal Robert Powell and Assistant Superintendent Gary W. Brittingham as supervisors over the school throughout the remainder of the year.
“Their capability is beyond question,” noted Marvel. “This community needs to know that through this time, someone had our back, and Mr. Brittingham and Mr. Powell did. I’ll tell you what. When I saw those two gentlemen in the building, I felt a whole lot better.”
There were a number of people present at Monday’s meeting, however, who were critical of the board for how they handled previous comments made by the staff concerning Goodman’s behavior.
Adele Jones, another Sussex Central teacher, approached the board, professing that her previous concerns to the board had gone unanswered. She said continual reports of Goodman’s inappropriate behavior toward students and female employees were made.
“What concerns me is that board members are saying they had no idea what was going on in the building, they didn’t know there was an issue,” she said. “I know for a fact that several members were contacted personally on about these matters. I find it tragic that they are distancing themselves from this situation. As board members, you had to have seen the number of people who left this school last year.”
Likewise, Sussex Central teacher Jeff Gartman said he was discouraged with the inhibited response the board made after previous reports of Goodman’s behavior.
“I don’t understand why the board wasn’t aggressively dealing with the situation until the arrest was made,” he said. “I’m not going to let anyone’s decisions take away from my self worth as a teacher and as a member of the community. I know I work very hard, I know my colleagues work very hard, and I know the students work very hard every day, and we’re proud to be part of this community, but there is a lot that bothers me about what’s been going on in this district.”
He, too, had heard of the former principal’s unwelcome behavior at the school.
“I was disgusted and appalled,” he said, “to find out how many official complaints there had been of this man towards students, towards subordinates, sexually harassing female employees — official complaints that went through the board and the state.”
“Why did it have to take this long?” asked Darnell Hall, a parent and a husband to a school employee. “Families have been destroyed over this matter.”
Many questions have arisen since the case was made public, on a wide range of topics, not the least of which is the fact that the charges against Goodman were the result of alleged consensual sexual acts with the 17-year-old victim, a female student at the school.
According to board attorney David Williams, the answer lies within a state law, established in 1998.
“If there is a relationship of trust,” he noted, “which involves teachers, school administrators or volunteers with a student 18 years of age or younger, and sexual conduct takes place, be it consensual or not, it is classified as fourth-degree rape, a federal offense.”
Others had commented on the hiring of a principal (i.e. Goodman) who resided and had been employed outside the district, rather than a district resident or employee. Indian River Superintendent Susan Bunting noted that, at the time of Goodman’s hiring, there had been no qualified candidates from within the district who had applied for the position.