Written by GARY MCLENDON Staff writer

Vallerie Yarn

On the heels of recent revelations about alleged teacher misconduct in city schools, a parent group is asking officials to overhaul the way the district deals with difficult employees.
Citing the ongoing case of physical education teacher Valerie Yarn, Rochester Parents United, led by former school board candidate Ernest Flagler-Mitchell, said parents should be made aware of allegations against teachers sooner.
“We are asking you to make swift changes in your policies where our teachers, staff and administrators are held accountable for their actions toward our youth,” Flagler-Mitchell said during a news conference Tuesday at Rochester’s Freedom School.
Proposed changes include, the creation of a Board personnel committee: “Board members need that type of office so allegations come straight to them and not filter through the district,” Flagler-Mitchell said.
The group wants an Office of the Inspector General that answers to the Board of Education, and deals with improving the handling of allegations of misconduct and manages the investigation of new cases, moving forward.
The groups also wants an independent third-party audit to investigate all cases of alleged staff misconduct in the past five years.
The audit would include the date, location, and nature of the alleged misconduct and describe any and all district action taken, including any costs associated with investigations or litigation.
“We are asking for you do this swiftly. If you don’t do this swiftly we will go to the next level and that is the state,” Flagler-Mitchell said.
The requests come after the recent separate incidents involving teacher Valerie Yarn, and student Jada Williams.
Yarn was jailed after allegedly sending unwanted sexually suggestive messages to a high school’s principal. According to court documents, she ordered female students in her class to remove their shirts and bras for medical examinations. The district has so far been unable to fire Yarn, and the matter remains in litigation.
And Jada Williams, a former eighth-grade student at School 3, has transferred to School 58 after what her family says was retaliation by teachers for writing an essay on Frederick Douglass which expressed a negative opinion on the effectiveness of white teachers and their teaching methods with regard to black students.
“She’s a little bit afraid because she doesn’t know who’s who, she doesn’t know who’s against her or who’s for her,” her mother Carla Williams, said Tuesday. “She’s at school. She’s happy to be at school, but again, she’s in an environment she’s unsure of at this time.”
A letter seeking the changes will be sent to Rochester Board of Education President Malik Evans, Flagler-Mitchell said.
Evans on Tuesday said he hasn’t heard from the parents organization yet, but said: “I’d be glad to meet with them. My door is open.”
He emphasized that the details of the Williams and Yarn cases are different. He added the district follows the protocols of disciplining and terminating employees that are established by the New York State Department of Education in Albany, and said the City School District already has an Office of Auditor General.
RPU is planning a public rally at 5 p.m. March 19 at the Freedom School 630 N. Goodman St.

GMCLENDN
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120306/NEWS01/303060049/valerie-yarn-rochester-parents-united

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