Elementary 4&5 graders strip searched in Texas

[criveraville]

Hello PA family. As you know (I think) I do BOM contest with the help of Jordan. I don't post much on here, but I'm still here if that makes sense.

Some of you may have heard on the news about a "partial" strip search of students in Gustine, TX. That's about forty minutes from where I've and about 25 minutes from where I teach.

I would like to share this with ya'll in the hopes that it will make you aware of the unfortunate mindset in many schools and that we all need to always be diligent with our school aged kids.

I would also please ask that this NOT TURN POLITICAL so we could share and discuss. This is my world. Day in and day out and I want to share that with ya'll.

Below are the news stories and links:

http://www.fox4news.com/story/27963960/texas-children-had-to-drop-pants-over-feces-at-school-gym

GUSTINE, Texas -Two people in a North Texas school district were placed on administrative leave for forcing elementary school students to pull their pants down for an inspection.
Administrators at the school in Gustine were trying to find the child responsible for repeatedly leaving feces on the gym floor.

About 25 to 30 students in the fourth and fifth grade were checked individually. The boys were reportedly taken to one room and the girls another.

Many parents including Maria Medina were furious. She said her young daughter didn't feel comfortable exposing her underwear, but was told she had to.

Superintendent Ken Baugh said he does not condone the search and that partially strip-searching students went too far.

The district is investigating and has already placed two people on administrative leave.

Gustine is a small town located 90 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/education/2015/01/27/elementary-students-in-gustine-texas-forced-to-lower-their-pants-for-inspection-after-feces-found-on-floor/22435367/

Students forced to expose underwear for inspection

Elementary school students in Gustine, TX were forced to lower their pants for inspection after feces were found on the school gym floor.

GUSTINE, TX — In Gustine, population 457, what happens at the schoolhouse affects nearly everyone. And something happened Monday that is causing a big controversy in this small town.

"I felt uncomfortable, and I didn't want to do it," said 11-year-old Eliza Medina. "I felt like they violated my privacy."

 Parents in Gustine, Texas want answers after elementary students were ordered to pull down their pants.

She was one of about two dozen elementary students who were rounded up in the small town 90 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Eliza's mother, Maria Medina, said boys were taken to one room, girls to another, and they were ordered "to pull down their pants to check them to see if they could find anything."

Eliza Medina, 11, said she was one of the Gustine ISD students forced to pull down her pants for an inspection. (Photo: WFAA)

Eliza's mom explained that educators "have been finding poop on the gym floor." She can imagine the frustration, but said even for feces on the floor you don't partially strip search a group of students to find the culprit.

"I was furious... I mean, I was furious," Medina said. "If you can't do your job or you don't know what you're doing, you need to be fired. You shouldn't be here."

Eliza said she tried to protest. "I said I didn't want to, but I was told I had to because all the kids had to," she said.

Gustine Independent School District Superintendent Ken Baugh acknowledged that making kids drop their drawers goes too far. "That's not appropriate, and we do not condone that. So you would take disciplinary action.

Gustine ISD Superintendent Ken Baugh said he is investigating an incident in which elementary students were forced to pull down their pants. (Photo: WFAA)

But Baugh said early into the investigation, his understanding is that the children were told to lower their pants just a little.

Eliza Medina insists it was more than that. "Like... to where your butt is," is how she put it. And her mother contends that even if it were just a little (which she doesn't think it was), having kids line up and expose their underwear for inspection is simply unacceptable.

"Wrong is wrong," Medina said. The superintendent is hoping to have his investigation into this incident wrapped up by Wednesday, after he has heard from all parties involved.

He may yet get an earful on Thursday night, though. Some angry parents are already planning to show up at the school board meeting to demand that someone be held accountable.

"Maybe we can find a much better way to solve this," Superintendent Baugh said.

[criveraville]

On Facebook, I was contacted by the Medina family to speak on there behalf.

Below are the comments I made at the Gustine ISD board meeting on Thursday, January 29, 2015.

Cesar Chavez wrote, "Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the pewho are not afraid anymore."

Good evening. My name is Cipriano Rivera. First and foremost I am a parent and what occurred here in Gustine should concern all parents near and far. It certainly concerns me as a parent and as a fellow teacher. I am a kindergarten teacher and my wife teaches 2nd grade. This is my son, Diego Rivera who is learning to participate in the democratic process. I have been asked by Marie Medina to speak on behalf of her daughter, Eliza Medina. I am here as an advocate for Eliza.

There are so many adjectives that a young child should not ever experience at school which include: fear, humiliation, coercion, shame, violation and many more. Unfortunately, those adjectives are now a part of Eliza's school experience. A deplorable experience that never should have occurred.

Eliza didn't want to pull her pants down in school when directed by her teacher. She felt uncomfortable being in a room alone with her teacher and being asked to unbutton her pants, asked to unzip her pants and ultimately to pull her pants down. Every fiber of her being told her that wasn't right. We teach our children to never do things like this at home and at school. However, we also teach our children to be respectful and to obey their teachers. This blanket strip search of students under duress has communicated a very confusing message to the children violated. This strip search has profoundly punished these children when they committed no wrong. I am also in disbelief that children were instructed to pull their pants down when alone in a room with an educator. That should never happen. 

In Safford Unified School District #1 v. Redding, on June 16, 2009, the United States Supreme Court Ruled that Arizona school officials Strip Search of a 13-year-old girl violated the Constitution's protections against unreasonable search or seizure.
The girl was strip searched on the suspicion she might be hiding ibuprofen in her underwear.

In that case school officials were looking for drugs. Here in Gustine, TX, what were school officials looking for?

The search that occurred here in Gustine violates the Fourth Amendment right to be secure against "unreasonable searches and seizures" as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of the laws".

Every child that was searched had their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution violated. Every child. That is something that never should happen to any child within the borders of this great nation.

Tragically, Eliza has now been subjected to retaliation, bullying and harassment for standing up for her God given rights.  Last night high school aged girls drove by her house screaming obscenities at her and her family. At school she has also been subjected to retaliation and harassment to the point that she doesn't want to return to school. Eliza did what she's been taught to do. Report the incident to her parents.

Have professional counsellors been brought in to counsel the students and parents? If not, why not? Given the treatment Eliza has been subjected to I ask that anti-bullying lessons be given to all grade levels as well as tolerance lessons. There should never be social and peer punishment when our children do what is right.

These children are hurting and need to be cared for. Their parents and families are hurting and also may be in need of counseling.

Under the Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators the following may have been violated:

Enforceable Standards.

  (1) Professional Ethical Conduct, Practices and Performance.
    (G) Standard 1.7. The educator shall comply with state regulations, written local school board policies, and other state and federal laws.
    (3) Ethical Conduct Toward Students.
    Standard 3.2. The educator shall not intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly treat a student or minor in a manner that adversely affects or endangers the learning, physical health, mental health, or safety of the student or minor.

Yesterday on Comanche County Breaking News a lady added the following to this discussion, "And in case all think if Gustine is stupid we all pretty much know where this or who this came from to stir up the trouble in the world! Yes Gustine is famous not just in Texas but nationally! You will get what is coming to you and you will not be happy! But you asked for it!"

The next comment was from a lady endorsing the above stating, "Well said...!"

Is that what our communities, our state and our nation have come to? Ostracizing people and threatening them for performing their parental duties and exercising their rights?

Thank you. 
CIpriano Rivera
Kindergarten Bilingual Education Teacher

[criveraville]

On Friday, January 30, 2015, at school I was asked by several of my colleagues about speaking at the Gustine ISD board meeting on behalf of Eliza Medina. A question that I keep getting asked is why I would go speak.

Thursday night at the board meeting was the first time I met Marie and Eliza Medina. I did not know them. They contacted me via Facebook and I let Mrs. Median know I would be at the meeting as an advocate for her daughter.

Last week I taught my kindergarteners about Martin Luther King, Jr., and his contributions. Last week I also saw the movie, "American Sniper" about the life of Chris Kyle. Both of these great American men fought for our freedoms and our democratic way of life. It would be a dishonor to their service, their sacrifices and their legacies to not exercise the rights they so bravely fought to preserve for us all. What good are our Constitutional Rights if we don't exercise them?

[criveraville]

February 3, 2015
My hope and prayer for the children and families affected by the strip search was for their emotional needs to be met.

To the parents and children I have spoken to, it was a strip search. Calling it a "partial" strip search would negate it's severity and turn it into a euphemism. The definition of a euphemism is a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. I can assure you that the children whose families I have been in contact with were strip searched.

There were a total of twenty-four students searched. One young lady had to pull her pants down even though according to a parent "they made her do the same thing and she was on her monthly thing."

I spoke out specifically about the harassment, bullying and retaliation the Medina family was facing for exercising their parental and Constitutional Rights. I hoped that brining it to light would put an end to it. Unfortunately, those three evils were only perpetuated with more vigor and intensity. Some of the families have withdrawn their children from school. Some families are relocating altogether.

In Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
safety, love/belonging and esteem are at the core of the needs each person must have. Without those needs being met people will feel anxious and tense. The families I'm in communication with are certainly feeling anxious and tense and do not feel safe.

As I stated on Thursday at the Gustine ISD board meeting, my role is being an advocate for Eliza and the Medina family.

At the meeting a Hispanic lady walked in to speak. She didn't know a word of English. Someone asked for an interpreter. I volunteered and this is what she had to say, "I've had two graduate from this school and I have two more to graduate. I am here because I do not agree at all with what happened. I have been questioning things for three years now that I do not agree with, but nothing gets done."

It took a lot of courage for that mom to walk into that crowded board room and say, "This was not right. Things haven't been right. I've asked for things to change and it's taken this severity. All this attention to bring about change? That is all I have to say. Thank you."

That's why I was there. That's been my sole purpose to provide a voice for those that do not have one

I have received many messages from people thanking me for being an advocate for the Medina family, but I'm just an ordinary person. My children can attest to that. The heroes are the Medina family, Eliza Medina, the mom I interpreted for and those yet to come forward.

In our society many would muzzle us all and prevent us from exercising our fundamental rights, principally our First Amendment Right to Freedom of Speech, ratified on December 15, 1791. That is why it's imperative to exercise your rights and to defend those freedoms especially for those that don't know they have them.

[criveraville]

Good evening. My name is Cipriano Rivera. My day job is being a kindergarten teacher. My always job is being a parent.

I have been asked by several families to speak on their behalf about the strip search their children were subjected to. There has been much talk about a mistake. They want me to make it clear that this wasn't a mistake or one mistake. This was a calculated plan of action involving many many decisions leading to their children's Constitution Rights being violated. The children's sense of safety and security while at school has been shattered. They were humiliated in a manner beyond words I could use to describe their feelings.

Child after child was marched into a room and asked to expose their bottoms while and educator stood behind them inspecting their underwear. A mistake this was not. This was a calculated plan carried out methodically on over twenty four children. The girls I am speaking for told the educator they didn't want to pull their pants down to no avail. The girls were told they had to pull them down.

In the study of literature there's a point of no return when the protagonists actions determine the outcome. On January 26th, that point of no return was carried out over and over.

Quoting a mom, "My daughter was on her monthly thing. She told the teacher that. The teacher said she still had to pull her pants down. Crying she told the teacher  again she didn't want to pull her pants. She was forced to pull them down."

As an advocate for these families they want to make sure this never happens again to any child in any district. They also do not believe any part of this situation was handled appropriately. They believe their concerns after the fact were dismissed. It took the media descending on Gustine for these families concerns to be taken into account. It should not have taken that.

Families have withdrawn their children with plans of relocating all together. The families that brought this to light have faced bullying and harassment at school and within the community. They are blameless in this, yet they are the targets of anger. Their children are the targets of anger. The families desperately want the bullying to stop especially for their children's sake. These families have been accused of sensationalism for calling the media. This needs to be cleared up. They didn't create this situation and they called the media only after their concerns were dismissed.

My hope and prayer for these families is for them to return to their normal lives void of bullying.

Thank you, 

[criveraville]

That's about it. What would you do as parents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, grandparents or cousins?

The majority of the town, teachers, parents and community leaders say let's forgive them, put this behind us, they made a mistak, this is a Gustine problem, it's the kids fault, it's the parents faults and it's especially the fault of the parents that called the media and Dublin (me).

We call that sweeping it under the rug around here.

On Thursday, February 5, the board after meeting in executive season decided, "to keep the two administrators on paid leave while they continued their investigation. No further action will be taken at this time."

[criveraville]

To me as a parent and as a teacher, this was a BIG wake up call. Our kids need to know that at now time does ANYONE have the authority to make them do something like that.


Please keep it NONE POLITICAL. Admin- if there's something problematic please just edit it for me. I really feel that people need to be made aware of this. I've spread the word on Facebook and shared the videos. It's made me rather unpopular in some circles.


Diego was with me. I'm trying to teaching him to be a leader and speak out against injustice. I want him to be a voice for those that don't have one. He was awestruck. At the last meeting the media wasn't there. The packed board room wasn't on their best behavior since no one from the outside was watching. When Diego and I walked in they moaned and grunted. There was laughter and giggling during the most traumatic parts of my comments.

I guess that's it.

[bubby]

Sad bit of news cip, saying it was a partial strip search is like saying your just a little pregnant, it either is or is not, man i hope there is no retaliation aimed at you and yours, this is what happens when someone is put in a position  of authority without the capacity to handle it just like the bully who becomes a cop, these people would probably be fired here as this almost amounts to sexual abuse but it sounds  like admin is already making excuses

[JoJoDapyro]

Sounds like someone is going to be in some trouble. As well as the district. It is very sad to see people act badly, and then not do the right thing. As an adult we do know better, and should act on that knowledge. I had a few bad teachers as a kid growing up, but I also had some really good ones, ones that made a very positive impact on my life. We have sort of a same poop situation here at my work. Close to 100 men and women work in my building. As well as Police that come in at night for break and lunch. Someone has an issue leaving poop on the toilet seat. We have never been strip searched. Wrong on so many different levels. Poor kids. They are really lucky that a parent hasn't flown off the handle, I would have been super hot.

[sleek]

Hard not to turn this political.  I really think this is just part of a wave to teach the youth they are subservient to those in power and they are powerless to act. This mindset of course spreads through generations untill those in power have all the power because we have been taught from youth we have none and will be severely punished should we resist. Its all leading to the end... ( this is also a religious conversation ). I hope I didnt break any rules but if so, delete my comment at will.

[Fred Arnold]

Sounds like a mess and I hope it can be thought out and straightened up. In reality I wouldn't construe it as sexual abuse. Definitely abuse of power and stupidity.  Undoubtedly these two teachers   have somewhere along the line crossed over the deep end. If I was in the position to judge and issue verdict, I'd have all the kids poop in a bag at home, go empty it on the gymnasium floor, and make those two idiots get down on their hands and knees to clean it up while being viewed on candid camera. 

[mullet]

That would be where our School Board would be settling out of court for a couple of hundred thousand.

[Fred Arnold]

Mullet that's true and a crying shame. Frivolous lawsuits are rampant and nothing bares my rath worse than greedy lawyers, ignorant jurors,  and judges that allow the taxpayers to pay for claims that should be settled by the guilty party.

Our insurance and taxes would be far less if our diligent citizens would hold our elected  officials responsible for reasonable and necessary action.

Dumb as it may seem I'm old school and hope to have my ashes drifting in the wind when my time comes.

I'm an old obstinate SOB and plan on staying that. You all belong to PA, I am a PA.

[mullet]

Fred,
Sometimes that is the only way for a change, and I hate to say that, also. Especially in small towns where you have Nepotism and the "good 'ol boy" well in trenched. The only way to get rid of the "we've always done it this way" and incompetent family members is to hit the other good ol' boys that hired them in the wallet so they they will get rid of the ones that make these poor decisions.

[JW_Halverson]

What shocks me, as I read news reports of this and see the fallout in the community, is that many parents are saying "this is no big deal".  My answer for each of them, is to please drop trou', bend over, and spread your cheeks on demand of your employer.  No legal representation, no evidence, no right to refuse.  And they think it is ok to do this to children? 

I have spoken to law enforcement here and even a assistant district attorney.  ADA says this is sexual assault of a minor, simple because it involves stripping off their clothing and revealing body parts that we deem to be necessarily covered in public.  Sexual assault does not require the violator to obtain sexual stimulation from the attack. 

Unreasonable search and seizure is based on a reasonable expectation of privacy.  It is reasonable to say these children woke up that morning expecting to not show their private parts to people without the guidance and approval of their parents. Doctors don't even examine children without a parent or guardian in attendance!  Law enforcement cannot question a child without a parent, guardian, or legal representation present! 

As far as I am concerned, Gustine, TX school district is Gitmo for kids.