New Evidence Vindicates 12-year-old Accused of Bomb Threat!

Did the School Board Rush to Judgment?

On January 23, 2006 a 12-year-old little girl was expelled from school for writing a bomb threat.  State Police filed charges soon there after.

Last week the child's family announced that handwriting evidence conclusively shows that she did not write the note.  The family also claims that the school board dismissed evidence presented at the hearing and the police coerced the little girl into admissions under extreme duress.

I viewed a DVD of the hearing this week and have to say- if I were on the Board I would have voted no to the expulsion!  I just can't understand, given the evidence presented at the hearing, how on earth these people could come to the decision they did- of the 8 members voting, only one, Randy Long, voted to not expel.

I think the School Board made a terrible mistake! This rush to judgment has caused this little girl and here family untold anguish. Anguish that may last a lifetime.

This little girl's family and friends are mad. And who could blame them. All they want is to try and make this thing right. They need our support.  I'm asking everyone reading this to go to the Message Board and read their compelling posts.

Below is a letter (posted with the permission of the writer) which a supporter wrote to our Board Members. Read it.  And if you are just as outraged with our board's decision as I am give your board member a call.

I edited out the girl's name and replaced it with "student X".

Robert Pratt

February 22, 2006

John Youngman

141 Fisher Road

Portersville, PA  16051

724-368-3706

Dear Mr. Youngman,

This letter is in reference to the school board's decision to expel student X.  I attended the meeting held on Monday, January 23, 2006 and heard the case that was presented against her first hand.  Let me first say that I do not agree with the board's decision, considering the evidence presented that evening.

In review, here is what we learned that evening about the case:

-         The 'admission' statement written by student X, states the following:  "I wrote a bom note that says a bom will go off tomorrow about two weeks ago.  I gave it to a friend just as a joke though.  Someone put it in the bathroom but it wasn't me.  When I went to the bathroom, I saw a note on the toilet that said that but I didn't know it was mine so I told the teacher.  I didn't know it was mine cause I did not recognize it."

According to student X, the investigators told her basically what to write.  As you can see, this is not a clear admission of the crime as alleged.   

-         Criminal Investigator Birckbichler, admitted freely to encouraging her father, Officer Bennett, not be present while the 2 PA State Police criminal investigators interrogated student X for at least two hours.  For the duration of this time, she was positioned in the room with her chair in the corner as the two men questioned her.  According to his testimony, this was so he could get the truth without the threat of the parent being present.  He assured Officer Bennett that 'he would take care of it', from one police officer to another.

-         Criminal Investigator Birckbichler admitted to telling student X 'we know that you did it, it will be easier if you just admit to it.'  This was not and is not true, since they did not know.

-         When Mr. Vouga asked Principal Raykie while he was on the stand "Where did you obtain the evidence regarding this case?"  His response "From the State Police".  Later in the hearing, Mr. Vouga asked the same question of Investigator Birckbichler and his response was "From Principle Raykie."

                                                                                                                                    Continued….

-         The evidence that the state and in turn, the school board have against student X is sketchy, at best.  Seemingly, the basis for the case against this little girl is the 'admission'.  However, as one can plainly read, you can see that this is not a clear admission to the act of placing the note, as she is accused of.  She admits to writing a note about a bomb, which, if the investigators were concerned about seeking the truth and the actual perpetrator, they would have listened and reported that she wrote a note to one of her friends about a bomb threat that occurred in the high school in the previous month and that she did not PLACE any note in the bathroom.  According to student X, she was told to write the words 'I wrote a bomb threat'.  Despite that, even under duress, she states that "I did not place it in the bathroom" and "I did not recognize it as mine."  Somehow, the fact that she spelled bomb 'bom' on her admission twice and on the actual note it was spelled correctly, has been grossly dismissed in this whole process.

Hopefully, this sheds light on a third party's perspective.  As I mentioned, I am not pleased with the board's decision.  I thought it was a reasonable plea that Mr. Vouga made in asking the board to wait until substantial evidence was presented before a decision was made.  In the meantime, Jason and Cindy have paid for a polygraph exam and expert hand writing analysis.  Even this was not taken into consideration. 

Briefly, has anyone on the board thought about the message this sends to the rest of the students?  I know as a parent, I would be hesitant to encourage my child to turn a similar note into this staff.  I hope that rings as appalling to you as you read this as it does to me as I write this.  This is not the direction that the majority of our citizens want to see the school system take.

As I write this, the results of an official analysis by a handwriting expert has come back that is conclusive that it is NOT student X's handwriting.  Yet, still student X is in a state of guilty until proven innocent.

Please know that as a native to the Slippery Rock area, and a student of both the middle school and a graduate of Slippery Rock Area High School, I will be ever diligent in the next school board election process.  If negligence and apathy prove to be ever present, as they have been thus far in this case, I will do everything in my power to be sure that faces change on the school board, for the good of our children and the community.

If you wish to discuss this matter with me, I encourage you to contact me anytime at kirbycovert@yahoo.com or by calling 301-367-6651.

Respectfully,

Kirby Covert

"I asked around and found that it's not uncommon for teachers to give hall passes for this sort of thing.  I'm confused and shocked. First bomb threats in the High School and now this, all during the Christmas season. I definitely believe the janitors need a raise! Umh, umh, umh!"

Comment by a shocked and confused  community member 

"First they make me poke around looking for a device that might blow my    f * * *ing head off, now they want me to clean up this little idiots S * * t.    I don't get paid enough for this!"

Comment by a Janitor

"My wife has to lock the doors now.  I pay my taxes. The least we should expect is to feel safe in our own homes. I'm going to the school board and demand they put up a fence to keep dem kids from scaping!  Geez. Somebody needs to do something!"

Comment by an Applewood resident

Last year we hired cops because the kids were smoking and cussing.  Now they are threating to blow us up and craping outside our classroom doors! For Gods sake, what's next?

Comment by a teacher

Slippery Rock Childish Pranks Lead To Arrests
12-26-2005

From: insidebutlercounty.com

Well, the PSSA scores have been officially released to the public (visit www.paayp.com for detailed information).  The good news is that Slippery Rock Area School District has met all of the Academic Year Progress (AYP) targets: attendance, academic performance, and test participation.  They have met all of the targets for student proficiency in Reading and Math. So according to the State's criteria, the District is doing fine.

64.3% of 5^th graders are proficient in Reading. 71.5% of 8^th graders are proficient in Reading.  64.7% of 11^th graders are proficient in Reading.

In Math, 74.5% of 5^th graders are proficient, 78.4% of 8^th graders are proficient, and 48.7% of 11^th graders are proficient. (I guess the State thinks having 51.3% of 11^th graders who NOT proficient in math is adequate, and surely they know best!)

 It seems that most of the District's high school graduates can read, but less than half of the high school graduates can do math.  The students seem to be pretty good in math when they're in 8^th grade, but what in the world is happening between 8^th grade and 11^th grade?  Why are the proficiency scores dropping from 78.4% in 8^th grade to 48.7% in 11^th grade?   Maybe it's the test. After all, the PSSA tests are becoming more difficult.  Maybe it's dropped like this in other districts, too. 

I wonder how Slippery Rock's scores compare with Grove City's scores? Let's see. 

In Grove City, 78.1% of 5^th graders are proficient in Reading.  77.3 % of 8^th graders are proficient in Reading. 81.5% of 11^th graders are proficient in Reading.

 The Math scores in Grove City show that 79.3% of 5^th graders are proficient, 82.1% of 8^th graders are proficient, and 72.8% of 11^th graders are proficient.

Ok, ok. So all of their test scores in Grove City are higher. No big deal. Slippery Rock still met the State requirements.  No big deal?  How is it possible that only 48.7% of Slippery Rock's 11^th graders are proficient in Math while 72.8% of 11^th graders in Grove City are proficient in Math?  Why such a huge difference?

The scores may be alarming for some in Slippery Rock, but notice what happens between 8^th grade and 11^th grade in terms of Math.  In 8^th grade, 78.4% of the students are proficient, but by the time they reach 11^th grade, only 48.7% are proficient in Math.  That's a mighty big decline, and it's a decline that you don't see in Grove City where it only drops from 82.1% in 8^th grade to 72.8% in 11^th grade Math.

What's responsible for the dismal math performance?  It must be the students, the Board and Superintendent might say.  The students just don't care and don't try.  Why not make proficient PSSA scores a graduation requirement, they have suggested?  (Wonder what this would do to graduation rates? Drop out rates?)

It could be the curriculum, I guess.  If my memory serves me right, Dr. Beaton and Dr. Nogay began to map the curriculum when they were first hired.  Their next step was to align the curriculum to the State's Academic Standards.  This was accomplished, apparently, because the curriculum is now on a CD, the administration proudly claimed.  Let's see.  The curriculum matches the standards and the standards match the PSSA test.  Dr. Nogay has apparently received some training from the State and the IU regarding curriculum mapping, presumably the same training that was available to administrators in the Grove City district. 

I'm sure the next group to be blamed will be the High School staff and administration. Surely they have some responsibility.  Of course they do, but they aren't the ones getting paid the big bucks to develop a curriculum that will help prepare students to be proficient in Math and Reading.  They aren't the ones with the ultimate responsibility for what is taught.  They aren't the ones in charge.  The Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent are. 

Where is the oversight from the School Board, our elected officials?  Why aren't they holding these administrators responsible for doing their jobs?  Instead, they just offer them pay raises, new contracts, and praise for meeting the State Standards.  If it looks good on the surface, no problem.

And to be fair, the Board is supporting the High School.  They're getting a new gym after all.  Even though the school is bursting at the seams, and there aren't enough desks or books for each student, maybe we should just be grateful that we have police in the school to direct traffic and give tickets for smoking and cussing.  It's easy to tell what's important in this District.  All that matters is that it looks good on the surface – but don't look too closely or you'll see the real problems – problems that our Board, Superintendent, and Assistant Superintendent are eager to ignore.

The only things I've seen implemented in the name of test scores have nothing to do with the real problem.  Instead, the district's response has been to cut time from recess, art and music in the elementary schools.  Homework at the middle school is discouraged.  High school teachers are being told not to give so many grades for homework.  These are not answers.  They are just band-aids for bigger, systemic problems.

But hey, maybe there is a solution! Instead of hiring so many folks from Hermitage, maybe we ought to see if we can hire someone who knows what they're doing – someone from, say, Grove City???  Comments?

Why were the Slippery Rock School Board members "quiet" during the recent public meeting concerning the proposed Taxpayer Relief Act? Are they really against the citizens paying lower taxes?

Maybe. They didn't seem to have an opinion one way or another during the meeting.

Not only does the Taxpayer Relief Act provide the average property owner a reduction $192 in taxes, it also requires the districts who approves it; to put tax increases on the ballot for approval.

This is the real reason our Board and hundreds of others across the state don't want it. Without the power to raise taxes as they see fit, what power do they have? I would guess that not many of the "community leaders", the lawyers, doctors, pastors, business owners and university administrators, would even bother to run for the office if the taxpayers were given the power of making taxation decisions.

The superintendents don't want it because they fear accountability.  Well, not all of the superintendents.  Some are travelling around the Commonwealth to speak in support of Act 72.  Not our superintendent, though.  I guess she's content with having the Board make all of the financial decisions.

This year in the Slippery Rock Area School District our board decided to build a new gym at a cost to the taxpayers of over 6 million dollars. This money wasn't in this year's budget-they borrowed most of it.The rest will be funded by the 3.5 mill tax increase and taking some from the Capital Reserve Fund (savings account). It seems the board waited just long enough that the costs have gone up 10-15%.  Speaking of the Capital reserve, most districts should have between 5% and 10% of the operating budget in reserve. We have less than 5%, but they are taking from it anyway, hoping the sale of property will replenish it. Hummm.

How many people really believe that the district would be getting a second gym at the High School if the voters had to approve it?   Especially since some of our students in overcrowded classrooms don't even have desks.  Are the taxpayers' priorities be the same as the Board's?  I don't think so. 

The Slippery Rock Area School District Board of Directors better hope Act 72 is found to be unconstitutional.

If the Taxpayer Relief Act becomes a reality and provides real tax relief in the districts that approve it, what excuse will the Slippery Rock Board have? Probably none. They will already have been voted out of office!

Robert Pratt

 Our administrators, according to local newspapers, say our district is "insane" because our PSSA scores are low and not meeting the standards. They have also claimed 5th graders don't have the skills to read the "bigger words" in their Social Studies book.  According to the superintendent we even graduate high school students who can't read!

Funny how some district administrators  have figured out how to have good test scores (65% proficient in math and reading) without limiting Art, PE, and Music, even when 33.8 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged! 

What! 65% proficient in math and reading!  What school district?  What Administrator?

Northgate School District and Superintendent Reggie Bonfield!

 According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review our previous Superintendent was quoted as saying:

"I think too many people use socioeconomic status or other variables, which we can't do anything about, as excuses," Northgate Superintendent Reggie Bonfield said. "I think what kids achieve has more to do with how they're approached and how the staff works with them."

Go figure!