Wicomico County’s Board of Education Kingdom Is Collapsing

Although Stephanie Moses has mastered malfeasance herself, apparently she caught the short end on this one! On your January 3, 2012 article I read all of the post responses ad nauseam. Several respondents were concerned about the lawsuits pending against the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE). As a person that is knowledgeable of the legal profession, I submit to you that Larry F. Williams (former Social Studies teacher) does have a “viable” case pending against the BOE that includes five defendants: Stephanie Moses, Dr. Fredericksen, William Cain, Tom Field and the WCBOE. Sovereign Immunity does protect the BOE in part but Mr. Williams can also sue the individual defendants as well. “His case has not been adjudicated.” Since the case has been “Ripe for Adjudication” since last July, a “Scheduling Order” has been produced and his case should be heard sometime this year. The current schism at the BOE and Moses’ termination boosts his case because all five defendants have now exposed a credibility issue of past improprieties as they covered up Civil Rights and Maryland Public Information Act issues.

Larry Williams’ case (Civil Action WMN-10-3582) will be heard by the Honorable William M. Nickerson. He really goes by the book and he will allow the court to ferret-out relevant information that is germane to this case. This case has the potential to go national because Mr. Williams is an African American honorably retired U.S. Air Force veteran with a 70% service connected disability. Mr. Williams was arguably the best teacher they had at the alternative school with measurable results. All of his observations were commendable with no non compliance issues at the school and he was very committed to student achievement. Moreover, his lack of “Due Process” really captured Judge Nickerson’s attention and he obviously saw a lot of malfeasance in this case. WCBOE tried their best to get his case dismissed to no avail. It’s now pending adjudication at the Federal District Court in Baltimore.

Mr. Williams was threatened by a knife carrying alternative school student with a lot of priors. I’ve found out that the BOE knew of the aberrations of the student and covered up the fact that the student was in fact suspended and came on school property and threatened Mr. Williams. The student wasn’t arrested for trespassing by the principal Ike Humphrey and Mr. Williams was charged with assault for having to restrain the student in an afterschool altercation when the student threatened to punch Mr. Williams in the face. The following week the student was disarmed with a knife on the premises after getting into an altercation with another student. The Department of Social Services (DSS) “Indicated” Mr. Williams of physical child abuse. Although he wasn’t arrested, he did receive a criminal summons from Davis Ruark for assault.

According to the original complaint, Mr. Williams was “Recommended for Termination” by Robin Holloway (president of the BOE) on September 11, 2007. Additionally, on September 17, 2007, before any appeal could even occur, before the criminal court date and without any type of hearing or official finding by the WCBOE, Mr. Tom Field wrote a letter to Dr. John Smilie, the Assistant State Superintendent with the Maryland State Department of Education, requesting that Mr. Williams’ teaching certificate be revoked. On October 8, 2007, without a hearing and in violation of the standard contract, Defendant Field issued a letter to Mr. Williams’ that changed his employment status from administrative leave with pay to suspension without pay. WCBOE’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in 2007 stated: “Any suspension of a teacher by the Superintendent, pending a proper initial hearing by the Board, shall be with pay and shall continue until the date of the hearing of same shall be scheduled by the Board according to law.” Apparently three of the five months that Williams was suspended “without pay” was after the case was tried in Wicomico County District Court by the Honorable L. Bruce Wade. “It must be therefore emphasized that Mr. Williams was suspended three months without pay by WCBOE after he went to court and was found Not Guilty.” In those three months Mr. Field or Mr. Mark Thompson (president of the BOE 08-09) didn’t bother to find the time to schedule and conduct a hearing to restore this teacher’s pay. Moreover, Stephanie Moses endorsed the actions of the superintendent and the BOE. Irrespective of who signed the change of status letters to Mr. Williams, the guidance and endorsement came from the Director of Human Resources (HR) Stephanie Moses.

On December 3, 2007, Williams was found “Not Guilty” and DSS “Ruled Out” any physical child abuse. All of his court and DSS records were expunged in 2008. After the five month suspension, WCBOE did restore his pay retroactively to November 2007 in March of 2008. He was then placed back on “Administrative Leave with Pay” for the remainder of the school year without given a reason why and later terminated without given the opportunity to have a hearing in accordance with his contract as a certified teacher. Mr. Williams’ counsel alleges that the HR office and the BOE knowingly disclosed expunged information to prospective employers concerning his assault charge. He obviously has proof! Although Dr. Fredericksen wasn’t the superintendent when this initiated, Mr. Williams did write him a letter informing him of the impropriety and requested a meeting with him and Dr. Margo Handy to no avail. Dr. Fredericksen had two full years to straighten out this debacle. He could’ve ensured that this fine veteran that had his day in court be left alone by his HR office and given a neutral reference. Now that he and Moses are at odds, I don’t envision those five defendants agreeing to the same story at this point once they go to court. A lot of lies had to transpire to hide four years of job verifications accusing Mr. Williams as a physical child abuser.

Your blog has mentioned several teachers that WCBOE has terminated for “Sexual Improprieties” in the past. I have zero tolerance for sexually abusing children and if this was Mr. Williams’ outcome I wouldn’t waste my time in the research and the writing of this article. All of them but Nettles were white. If Robert Alan Borrello, Candice Renee Pianka and Steven Mark Kiggins were all placed on administrative leave with pay and not suspended without pay in accordance with their CBA, WCBOE has a serious discrimination hurdle to overcome. The news paper did say that Pianka’s employment disposition wouldn’t change until her case was adjudicated. If this is true then she wasn’t suspended without pay. Borello was arrested in 2006 and was criminally sentenced in 2007. May of 2007 was when Williams’ incident occurred. His counsel needs to know if Robert Alan Borello was ever suspended without pay. This is of the timeframe of Mr. Williams’ incident. Moreover, his original complaint emphasized that he applied to 14 different school systems since his termination to no avail. Although he has incontrovertible evidence in a letter that one school district has his expunged information, WCBOE’s HR knows that they didn’t just start disclosing his expunged record in 2009. This is where Stephanie Moses comes in and anyone else in her office that responded to job verifications. It is highly unlikely that an African American male with a Master of Education degree in School Administration couldn’t find a job in a school system teaching anywhere for five years. I didn’t say “Black Balled” You did!

If you bold BOE employees have relevant information about any of the five defendants you may want to contact his lawyer: Neil R. Lebowitz. I can understand that persons in the HR office may be concerned about their own careers. They know how things were run under Moses. His case will be tried in Baltimore long before anyone else’s. Moreover, you helping Mr. Williams through his very fine lawyer may ferret- out many other improprieties that need to be exposed that may help you in the near future. WCBOE’s insurance will have to pay for Mr. Williams astronomical legal fees in addition to any settlement that the jury may award Mr. Williams if he proves discrimination in his treatment. The days of “Secret Meetings” and the culture of corruption is being exposed by this site. Although Mr. Williams’ case may not be a “Slam Dunk,” the current schism may turn around and “Bite the Board in the Butt.” I wouldn’t want this case to meet the Honorable Judge William M. Nickerson if I were WCBOE! Lastly, their insurance has spent a lot of money too. Hodes, Pessin & Katz don’t come cheap. This law firm is arguably the “Top Dog” in Maryland as it relates to Educational Law. WCBOE’s insurance will definitely go up if this case continues and they were to lose in court. “In my profession, I want right to win and WCBOE don’t do things right.” As I mentioned in paragraph one, Moses appears to have been wronged by Dr. Fredericksen. But for years a lot of WCBOE employees have been eviscerated by her. Another Moses said…, “Be sure your sins don’t find you out!

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