Refocus On Education in Columbia County, GA

Transcript: Remarks-14JUN2022 Last month I found out about Scott Hooker, a teacher that you employed in this school district. I heard from one of his victims, who said that her report fell on deaf ears. I did an open records request, only to find that not only did he admit to touching her in 2017, he was previously reprimanded in writing for a similar incident in 2015. And instead of firing him, you put him in an administrative position away from children. Then you let him be hired by another school district and do it to another child there. I’ve been speaking for over a year now to fix your library issues, and now this battle is fixing to get personal. When I was stationed in Germany, my daughter went to a Blue Ribbon elementary school. It was the best school there and everyone raved about the teachers-especially my daughter’s first grade teacher. After we moved away, I received a phone call that her teacher was under investigation for touching a girl in her class that year and they wanted my daughter to make a witness statement. I learned that they found pictures of little girls at recess on his phone. I also learned that a student from his past spoke up and said he had touched her as well when she was young. I never heard the final result of that investigation, and I can only hope he never has access to children again. But then I hear about Scott Hooker, and read how he was allowed to continue working in our schools under your watch, despite multiple documented offenses. In February 2021, Open Records show a principal emailing herself notes from a principal’s conference stating “We’re going to continue to allow transgender students certain “rights” (restrooms, pronouns, etc) Do not discuss this with staff.” And then we have allegations from August, where a transgender student was reported for peeping at a girl in the bathroom – following a previous report of trying to touch a classmate’s breasts – under your watch. Yet you still have created no policy on who can access which bathrooms and refuse to even have a conversation with the public. You bury the incident as if it never happened. So at this point you know children are being violated in your schools, and you refuse to do anything about it, other than hide it. You provide sexual books in your libraries and encourage educators to have conversations with students about sexuality (I have open records for that too). By now you should know that pedophiles target professions that give them access to children, and you have turned our schools into a pedophile’s wet dream by giving them ample opportunities to have these conversations with children. You call yourselves Christians, but you conveniently forget the parts of the Bible about the consequences for sexual sins and harming children. In both Matthew and 1st Corinthians we are told that Christians are expected to keep each other in check. You forgive the sinner, but you never accept sexual sin. First you educate members about their sin. Then you warn them with the help of others if they don’t fix it. But if they refuse, then you kick them out of the church so that their behavior doesn’t spread like a sickness. I’m fixing to go Biblical on you now. You have been educated, you have been warned, and now you need to go. It takes a special kind of person to allow a child abuser to continue working with children, all while providing ample opportunities to talk about sex. But I realize now that you are all very special kind of people.

Transcript: Given the false statement made by the CCBOE, let’s take a look at the facts from the June 14th meeting remarks On June 14th, I referenced an e mail by the Harlem Elementary School Principal stating “’Navigating the Transgender Landscape’ Resource Guide. The guide states that we don’t have to do all that we are doing for transgender students. However, we’re going to continue to allow transgender students certain “rights” (restrooms, pronouns, etc”) Do not discuss this with staff. We are taking situations as they arise.” Please see attached email. I also reference the Augusta Press Article stating, “On August 26, 2021, some time after the principal’s conference the Augusta Press reported allegations of a biological boy in a girl’s restroom peeping, no charges were filed because of conflicting statements. ***Please see Augusta Press Article*** I stated that School Boards set policy. See attached CCBOE Policy BBBA stating just that. I also inquired as to why the GTHS WrapAround Counselor was offering group LGBTQ+ Resiliency classes during academic class time? I asked how many other non academic groups were meeting during academic class time? (See list of questions below) I followed up with an e mail to Chairman Dekle, Mr. Alalof and Dr. Flynt. Please see attached. Note: Chairman Dekle’s response was “Thank you for your email. Your concerns are noted. We take seriously our responsibility to address the social and emotional needs of our students. Grovetown does an excellent job in this regard. Have a great day. Dr. Flynt stated “This is not and will not be typical practice in this school district. In addition, Mr. *** is no longer an employee of the school district. Thank you. I also inquired as to why the GTHS Wraparound Counselor was promoting the use of preferred pronouns and have evidence of this as well. On June 15th, I e mailed the CCBOE and Superintendent asking for 2 examples of evidence where any information that I have shared publicly is factually incorrect. The CCBOE is unable to provide any evidence that statements made by me are not factual or that they actually demonstrated any interest in adding “appropriate context” to the information that I have shared publicly. The CCBOE is making blatant statements to discredit concerned parents, all while being unwilling and unable to validate their own statements, simply because the CCBOE is attempting to control the narrative with propoganda, something that we have seen in the nation in the past year, hitting home in Columbia County. Another example of national trends making its way to our school system. I encourage interested individuals to go to the FB group, Columbia County Schools Getting Informed and the website www.refocusoneducation.com to obtain additional information and then make your own informed decisions. Please note that this is not the first time the CCBOE has attempted to publicly discredit legitimate concerns. In January they attempted the same with their FAQ section which also communicates blatantly false information. Of interest, one of the board members verified the circumstances around Panorama and the Peach State Summit Speaker, Ken Shelton, indeed acknowledging, CRT components. A clear written policy is necessary because it protects students, teachers, administrators, and taxpayers. Policy sets a standard and an expectation. Policy protects from lawsuits. The CCSD and the CCBOE have chosen for some time to ignore the need for a written policy on the use of bathrooms in respect to biological sex and the use of (preferred) pronouns (despite being asked multiple times). REMARKS FROM June 14, 2022 On February 27th, 2021 the Harlem Elementary School Principal reported via email to another leader information from the Principal’s Conference on February 21st, 2021. Associate Superintendent Update: “’Navigating the Transgender Landscape’ Resource Guide. The guide states that we don’t have to do all that we are doing for transgender students. However, we’re going to continue to allow transgender students certain “rights” (restrooms, pronouns, etc”) Do not discuss this with staff. We are taking situations as they arise.” On August 26, 2021, some time after the principal’s conference the Augusta Press reported allegations of a biological boy in a girl’s restroom peeping, no charges were filed because of conflicting statements. School Board’s set policy. What is the reason that there is no current policy or specific detail outlined in the code of conduct regarding bathroom use and biological sex? Could it be because the CCSD allows transgender boys in the girl’s bathroom? Could it be that the CCSD turns a blind eye to transgender boys in girl’s bathrooms? On February 2, 2021, the GTHS WrapAround Counselor invited students to participate in a LGBTQ+Resiliency Group, students were going to be automatically included in this group unless teachers opted their students out. No response from a teacher was permission to attend and miss academic learning. Why would the wraparound counselor offer this group during academic class time? How many other groups are meeting during academic class time? How many students are missing out on academic learning to participate in the various groups? Although some groups have merit, offering these groups during class time is not warranted. Are our students at GTHS doing so well in academics that they can be excused from an academic class to participate in a non academic group? Is there any written documentation of parental consent to have their child excused from the academic learning? Is there any written documentation of parental consent to participate in a school lead LGBTQ group? You have a Wraparound Counselor encouraging staff to use certain pronouns. Also known as compelled speech, some would argue this is a violation of one first amendment rights. Again, why it is important to have a policy in place. A clear written policy is necessary because it protects students, teachers, administrators, and taxpayers. Policy sets a standard and an expectation. Policy protects from lawsuits. The CCSD and the CCBOE have chosen for some time to ignore the need for a written policy on the use of bathrooms in respect to biological sex and the use of (preferred) pronouns (despite being asked multiple times).

Transcript: At the last board meeting I spoke about how you allowed a teacher, Scott Hooker, to remain employed even after two documented incidents of inappropriate behavior with a student. He was then allowed to resign, where he once again had inappropriate behavior with a student at another school. Your response to my comments was to issue a public statement that reads “During the public participation portion of the Regular Session of the Board of Education meeting, on June 14, 2022, misleading and factually incorrect statements were made. This has been an ongoing occurrence, from specific individuals, who have continued to inaccurately state the facts when presenting their concerns, despite repeated responses from the school district.” So given that this statement references me as a speaker, I emailed you some questions, and Dr. Flynt, saying, "Please provide verbatim what I said that was misleading or inaccurate, please provide sources why you believe they were inaccurate, provide an explanation why my sources are inaccurate, provide at least two examples prior to then justifying the ongoing occurrence portion of your statement", etc. I received one response from Dr Flynt stating: “I certainly appreciate you wanting to be involved in our great school district. If you are interested in productive dialogue, I would be more than happy to personally meet to discuss your concerns and suggestions.” I sent some follow up questions, saying "who directed this statement be issued? Who drafted this statement, who approved the statement?" To which I received no response. Since you have doubt of my statements about Scott Hooker, let me read one of my sources to prove my statement were factual. Here’s a letter from Michael Johnson, the principal at Evans High School (the same Michael Johnson who was just promoted here tonight). It says: “Dear Mr. Scott Hooker, On February 14, 2017, I received a complaint from a student. She alleged that you gave her a “side hug” and that your hand moved down and touched her “lower back/butt.” This made the female student feel very uncomfortable and she left your classroom crying and very distraught as a result of this incident. On 08/13/2015 a written Notice of Concern was given to you by the assistant principal and you were strongly advised to refrain from behavior that could be deemed unprofessional. There was an incident where a student referred to you as “Daddy.” You were encouraged to keep all relationships professional.” So there’s factual evidence. I also have a letter from Ms.Carroway with four of the five current members of the Board of Education on it, as well as Ms. Penny Jackson and Ms. Michele Sherman stating: “Dr. Mr. Hooker, I have received a copy of a letter to you from the Evans High School Principal Michael Johnson…” So again, that proves the two incidents, the man was not fired, he was put somewhere else, and that y’all knew about it. So my point to all this is I posted the sources of my information and our email chain dialogue to my website www.refocusoneducation.com as well as on the Refocus on Education Facebook page. I encourage the public to look at my sources. Dr. Flynt, no offense but I don’t want to meet with you about this, I’ve had meetings with y’all and I feel that they are not productive. I want cited examples verifying the accuracy of your statement in full, or a public apology for slandering me as a concerned parent. Thank you.

Remarks-09AUG2022 I would like to start out with a big thank you to our police officers in our schools and for CPT Owens’ remarks last meeting about keeping our kids safe. We appreciate y’all so very much. And also want to say thank you to our department of education. When y’all say “we get out of our desks and go drive buses” I think that’s just amazing to get the job done. So I just wanted to say some quick thank yous to people working hard. I recently reviewed documents about a Teen Mental Health First Aid program during a high school literature class. I’m curious about this and had a few questions about the mental health programs being offered outside of the state regulated health requirements. Particularly of interest to me was that $180,000 of materials were potentially ordered for this program, and counselors were required to be present to help students deal with sensitive content in the class, if need be. Additionally, this class was coordinated by the same administrator who attempted to hold an LGBT support course, also during literature class. As you know, the school board last month voted to raise property taxes by keeping the millage rate well above the rollback rate. In light of this, I wanted to do a business analysis on how my taxes were being spent, particularly with mental health being such a focus in our school district. To be clear, I’m not referring to linking students and families with county resources for food, shelter, etc. I understand students don’t learn optimally when they are hungry or homeless. What I am referring to are programs that use academic time to teach emotions and social norms as defined by various entities outside the student’s home. The standard of success I am measuring these programs by is whether or not they improve the percentage of students operating at or above grade level in academic skills. With that said, here are the questions I would like to have answered, and don’t worry-I’ll email them to you because I know there are a lot of them. - Which policy details how mental health or Social Emotional Learning will be conducted in the classroom? Please provide me this policy. Please provide me the policy. - How much class time is allowed to be spent on mental health/SEL lessons? Please provide a chart by grade level. - Are these lessons always provided during literature class or also during math, science, etc? - What are all the mental health/SEL programs provided throughout the CCSD? Please provide me a list of programs and which schools they are provided. - Are parents offered the opportunity to opt their children out of each lesson? - Are children whose parents have opted out removed from class in front of their peers? - Where are lesson materials posted for parents and taxpayers to review? - If a student was affected by sensitive content and wanted to speak with a counselor, would the parent be notified in advance of the conversation? - How much money does each program or collection of lessons cost? Please provide a detailed list of all costs per program, to include the cost of materials and faculty hired for facilitation. - Are contracts procured to facilitate these trainings or materials? If so, please provide a copy of the contracts. - What are the published criteria that each program uses to measure success in a standardized, quantifiable way?

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