As far back as February, when I first wrote about the School District’s over-the-top reaction to a teacher-versus-student altercation at Sebastian River High School, I was already suspicious of the administration’s motives.
Why did Schools Superintendent Mark Rendell engage in an unnecessary rush to judgment, relying too heavily on an incomplete, student-recorded video – and ignoring the findings of a law-enforcement investigation – to recommend that criminal justice teacher Joe Nathaniel be fired?
Why did Rendell, despite Nathaniel’s previously unblemished record and plenty of evidence to suggest the teacher used only the force necessary to subdue an angry and out-of-control student, bypass the district’s progressive discipline policy and go directly to termination?
Why was the district, which is still trying to fend off NAACP complaints about a lack of minority teachers, so eager to get rid of an award-winning black educator who was generally considered to be among the most respected and admired members of Sebastian River’s faculty?
None of it made sense.
Until now.
Several sources came forward last week and said opportunistic district administrators are using Nathaniel’s classroom tussle with 18-year-old Isaiah Speights in November to remove a teacher they fear – because he’s “too outspoken” and they “can’t control him.”
These sources said the administrators, along with some members of the School Board, have seized upon this incident to retaliate against Nathaniel, who embarrassed the district by going public with his 2013 complaint about a racial moniker that was commonly used on campus.
The sources said Nathaniel, whose case has been sent to the state Division of Administrative Hearings, has remained in the crosshairs of Sebastian River and district administrators since that controversy.
One of them, Tony Brown, president of the county’s NAACP chapter, said the district is “run through fear and intimidation.” He was among those who believe frustrated administrators want to make an example of a popular teacher who won’t back down.
“Joe was giving other people strength, and not just to black teachers but to teachers in general,” he said. “Joe was starting to give them a voice, and the district couldn’t allow it.”
Jorge Lugo, a former Sebastian River teacher and wrestling coach who served on the executive committee of the local teachers union for four years, said the district is punishing Nathaniel, affectionately known as “Coach Joe” on campus, for his unwillingness to cower.
Lugo, now a teacher with the Florida Virtual School, said: “This has been a witch hunt from the very beginning. This whole thing goes back to the BBC issue. Coach Joe didn’t accept the outcome of the district’s investigation. He called it a sham, and he was right.”
For those who don’t remember: Nathaniel complained to Sebastian River principal Todd Racine about staff members on campus referring to the school’s black assistant football coaches as the “BBC” – Big Black Coaches club.
His complaint sparked a two-month investigation by the district, which, after interviewing more than a dozen people, refused to identify the guilty parties and concluded that BBC was used as a “term of endearment.”
Nathaniel wasn’t satisfied and took his concerns to the news media, prompting three other black assistant coaches to corroborate his claim. He also threatened legal action if the district didn’t punish or correct those who used the term.
The district, humiliated by the negative publicity, then claimed it had new information and reopened its investigation. Ultimately, Racine wrote a letter to the Sebastian River staff, warning it that using racially derogative language was prohibited.
The damage, though, had been done – and, apparently, the district suits haven’t forgotten.
Not long after the Nov. 17 incident, which resulted in criminal charges being filed against Speights, Brown joined former Sebastian River parent Calvin Moment in trying to “heal” the situation by bringing together the student’s mother, Olaundra Pryor, and Nathaniel to discuss what had happened.
Both Moment and Brown, who also attended the mall gathering, said Pryor told them at the meeting that Assistant Schools Superintendent William Fritz offered to intervene in the legal process and forgive the cost of replacing a water fountain Speights kicked off the wall on the way to the principal’s office after the run-in with Nathaniel, but only if she and her son cooperated with the district’s case against Nathaniel.
“She said Fritz told her . . . they were going after Joe’s teaching certificate and they wanted her cooperation,” Moment said. “She said Fritz told her he knows people in law enforcement and could help and that they wouldn’t have to pay for the water fountain.”
“They were trying to manipulate Isaiah’s mom,” Brown said, adding that Rendell “met personally with Isaiah at the Alternative Center” where Speights attended school after the incident.
According to Brown and Moment, Pryor also said Fritz told her it was Nathaniel who filed the criminal charges against Speights – something that wasn’t true.
Fritz denied the allegations in an email statement.
“The district never agreed or offered to intervene in the criminal case involving the water fountain in exchange for Ms. Pryor or Isaiah cooperating with the district’s case against Joe Nathaniel.”
Rendell has steadfastly refused to comment on the case, and repeatedly referred any questions to the Dec. 18 charging letter in which he presented his reasons for his recommendation that Nathaniel be fired.
Pryor did not respond to an interview request made through Moment, who said, “I haven’t talked to her in a while, so I don’t know if she’s cooperating or not.”
In his charging letter, Rendell accused the 6-foot-4, 300-pound teacher of escalating the incident by taunting Speights, continuing to move toward the teen in an aggressive manner, and physically abusing and yelling at him.
But classroom teacher Cathy Bradshaw and teacher’s assistant Chris Jefferson both told investigators Speights provoked the confrontation and initiated physical contact, and that Nathaniel did only what was necessary to control a hostile situation.
Sheriff’s Office reports supported Nathaniel’s version of the incident. Assistant State Attorney Nikki Robinson examined those reports and, in a powerful letter to detectives, wrote that Nathaniel should be praised for taking control of a potentially dangerous situation and that it would have been “negligent” for him to have left the classroom.
Despite that letter, Rendell recommended Nathaniel’s employment be terminated, a position supported by chairman Dale Simchick and board member Claudia Jimenez at the School Board’s Jan. 12 meeting, where the panel gutlessly punted the case to the DOAH.
The DOAH hearing was originally set for March 1, but, given the need for extensive discovery, attorneys for both sides agreed on a continuance until June 27.
Earlier this month, however, the district requested – and was granted – a second continuance that pushed the hearing back to Oct. 17, which means Nathaniel’s suspension-with-pay will carry into the new school year.
In the meantime, Rendell’s charging letter has been sent to the state Department of Education, which has the power to suspend or permanently revoke Nathaniel’s teaching certification.
“This is very stressful,” Nathaniel said. “I miss my students and Sebastian River. I miss teaching criminal justice. I believe I make a difference in my students’ lives. I’m also very concerned about my teaching certificate.”
According to the district’s request for a second continuance, more time was needed to prepare for the hearing.
But if Rendell had enough evidence to go to the School Board and publicly recommend Nathaniel’s termination in January, why did the district need to request a second continuance six months later?
While much is unclear in this matter, one thing is certain: If Rendell’s recommendation to fire Nathaniel was based on anything other than the facts of the case and a genuine desire to protect students, then we need to take a hard look at the people running our schools.
