FSDB Supt Denied Reports on Convicted Felons
“In a Feb. 27 interview, Dillingham said it was “questionable” that the school was subject to the Jessica Lunsford Act, which bars those who have committed crimes of “moral turpitude” from schools.”
Whoa! A superintendent responsible for the safety of the deaf and blind children said this?? According to this article, four incidents of laborers with criminal backgrounds and one incident of laborers without any criminal background examination working on the campus were reported.
The fact that a known sex pedophile was permitted to work in the girl’s dorm in the presence of girls is extremely disturbing. The administrator telling the FSDB police to return an identified sex offender back on campus is also unacceptable.
Historically the deaf children in state run institutions have been highly vulnerable to sex abusers. Mindful of this statistic, the school administration should be more vigilant in ensuring that no convicted felons, especially sex offenders, are permitted on the closed campus.
Naturally the parents of children currently enrolled at FSDB are concerned for the safety of the students, especially when the staff members indicated that the superintendent had been untruthful. MZ
From the newsroom of the St. Augustine Record, St. Augustine, Florida, Wednesday, April 4, 2007 …..
FSDB president challenges report
Dillingham faults The Record, while former officers defend recent articles
By RICHARD PRIOR
A recent story about felons being allowed on the campus of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind contained “errors and omissions (that) shaded the actual truth,” according to the school president.
“The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is unique within the State of Florida, and the procedures in place to control access to campus are second to none,” Elmer Dillingham wrote in a message posted Tuesday on the school’s web site.
A shortened version of Dillingham’s 30-page “guest column” appears on today’s editorial page.
The St. Augustine Record reported on March 25 that, on at least four occasions, FSDB had allowed construction workers and roofers with felony records on the campus.
On a fifth occasion, FSDB could not complete a background check on two foreign nationals. The Hispanic men were told to take an oath, in Spanish, that they had not committed any crimes.
Two of the incidents happened in April and August 2005, according to Howard Jones, a former employee of the FSDB Police Department.
The third was in April 2006, while the fourth incident happened in May 2006, Jones wrote in a letter to the Board of Trustees.
A fifth incident happened in May 2006 after he wrote the letter.
In a Feb. 27 interview, Dillingham said it was “questionable” that the school was subject to the Jessica Lunsford Act, which bars those who have committed crimes of “moral turpitude” from schools.
In an April 2006 audit, however, FSDB asked for additional staff “based on the increased demands mandated by the Jessica Lunsford Act.”
Signed by Gov. Jeb Bush on May 2, 2005, the Act requires school districts to run background checks on staff, vendors, contractors and many visitors before they’re allowed on school grounds.
The law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2005.
The newspaper began calling Dillingham a week ago for comment about his March 26 news release that claimed the Record story contained “inaccuracies, misquotes, and distortions of the facts.”
After eight unanswered phone calls, the school’s director of public information left a voice mail Monday for the editor of the newspaper.
She said she had been told not to return the reporter’s phone messages.
President sets restrictions
In a July 27, 2005, memorandum, Dillingham wrote that the school would be closed to those convicted of seven other felonies, including drug trafficking, domestic violence and weapons charges.
Of the five incidents, four happened after Dillingham wrote his memo. Three took place after the Jessica Lunsford Act went into effect.
“He (Dillingham) either violated the Jessica Lunsford Act, or he was blatantly violating school policy,” Jones said.
The president said that, with the exception of one incident, no felons were on campus while students were there.
Staff members insisted that is not true.
The staff said school was still in session on May 25, 2006, and that Police Chief Jerry Chandlee allowed a man convicted of sexual battery and selling cocaine to work in a girls’ dorm.
Dillingham denied the incident happened, saying that students were gone when the actual work began.
“The school year ended on May 26th, and work on this building did not begin until the following day,” Dillingham wrote.
“That is an absolute lie,” Jones said. “We knew this was a bad dude, and he was in (James Hall) on the 25th, moving furniture so they could get in there and work the next day.
“The girls were on campus, going in and out of the dorm, getting ready to go home. Everybody was upset about that.”
May 11 ‘emergency’ debate
The fourth episode - on May 11, 2006 - has drawn the most attention.
Dillingham said in an interview that a “storm the night before” had torn up the roof of the maintenance building. Six felons were employed by the roofing company called to do emergency repairs, he said.
Dillingham wrote that background checks for those workers were run on May 11, “and the reports came back in a matter of hours.”
The workers were at the school only briefly the first day and were supervised as they set up their equipment, wrote Dillingham.
Actual work began the following morning, he wrote.
“An armed off-duty St. Augustine law enforcement officer was stationed at the work site while the work was being completed, and the workers were under surveillance at all times,” Dillingham wrote.
The staff said the workers were supervised but not the entire time.
According to FSDB records, the background checks were run on May 1, “so they knew these were bad guys when they showed up” nearly two weeks later, Jones said.
Jones said the “emergency” repairs were called for, not because a storm came through, but because one had been forecast. That storm never arrived, he added.
A researcher at the National Weather Service in Jacksonville said the last storm in or around St. Augustine during that period was on May 2.
Administrator defended
Dillingham denied an allegation in the March 25 story that Terri Wiseman, the school’s Business Office administrator, told one FSDB officer to return a sex offender to his roofing job on campus.
However, Jones said he kept a copy of incident report 2006-000-5129 from April 12, 2006, that said Wiseman told the officer over the phone to return the sex offender to his job.
The conversation was made over a recorded police line, said Ed Joyner, a former duty officer/dispatcher with the FSDB Police Department.
Other FSDB police officers also were upset with the way at least two “background checks” were run.
Bert Hernandez, who now runs his own business in Ponte Vedra, had been a federal officer for almost 20 years before he was hired by the FSDB Police Department in late 2005.
“Things immediately started going wrong,” said Hernandez, who started work about the same time as the new police chief, Jerry Chandlee.
“The chief would make policies, then violate his own policies,” said Hernandez, who had been trained to run background checks on applicants.
“There were many instances where I did background checks, and the people who failed were still allowed on campus. The chief would make the exceptions.”
Foreign workers ’swear’
One incident in particular stands out.
“There were some Mexicans trying to come on campus,” he recalled. “I think this was August 2005.
“The chief told me to run them on (the national database). There was no verification they were illegal aliens.
“So we went outside. Under a palm tree. I was the only Spanish-speaking officer. The chief told me to have them raise their right hands and swear to me, in Spanish, that they had never committed a crime.
“Of course, they’re going to swear by it. They needed the work.”
Copyright 2007 St. Augustine Record http://staugustine.com/stories/040407/news_4511428.shtml.
The reporter can be reached at richard.prior@staugustine.com.
The bold fact was done by MZ.
For hourly updates on Daphne Wright’s trial, check http://blogs.argusleadermedia.com/voices/
Wright Trial: Landfill Evidence Linked To Wright’s Home: http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,56038
e mail contact: mishkazena@aol.com
“In a Feb. 27 interview, Dillingham said it was “questionable” that the school was subject to the Jessica Lunsford Act, which bars those who have committed crimes of “moral turpitude” from schools.”
Whoa! A superintendent responsible for the safety of the deaf and blind children said this?? According to this article, four incidents of laborers with criminal backgrounds and one incident of laborers without any criminal background examination working on the campus were reported.
The fact that a known sex pedophile was permitted to work in the girl’s dorm in the presence of girls is extremely disturbing. The administrator telling the FSDB police to return an identified sex offender back on campus is also unacceptable.
Historically the deaf children in state run institutions have been highly vulnerable to sex abusers. Mindful of this statistic, the school administration should be more vigilant in ensuring that no convicted felons, especially sex offenders, are permitted on the closed campus.
Naturally the parents of children currently enrolled at FSDB are concerned for the safety of the students, especially when the staff members indicated that the superintendent had been untruthful. MZ
From the newsroom of the St. Augustine Record, St. Augustine, Florida, Wednesday, April 4, 2007 …..
FSDB president challenges report
Dillingham faults The Record, while former officers defend recent articles
By RICHARD PRIOR
A recent story about felons being allowed on the campus of the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind contained “errors and omissions (that) shaded the actual truth,” according to the school president.
“The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind is unique within the State of Florida, and the procedures in place to control access to campus are second to none,” Elmer Dillingham wrote in a message posted Tuesday on the school’s web site.
A shortened version of Dillingham’s 30-page “guest column” appears on today’s editorial page.
The St. Augustine Record reported on March 25 that, on at least four occasions, FSDB had allowed construction workers and roofers with felony records on the campus.
On a fifth occasion, FSDB could not complete a background check on two foreign nationals. The Hispanic men were told to take an oath, in Spanish, that they had not committed any crimes.
Two of the incidents happened in April and August 2005, according to Howard Jones, a former employee of the FSDB Police Department.
The third was in April 2006, while the fourth incident happened in May 2006, Jones wrote in a letter to the Board of Trustees.
A fifth incident happened in May 2006 after he wrote the letter.
In a Feb. 27 interview, Dillingham said it was “questionable” that the school was subject to the Jessica Lunsford Act, which bars those who have committed crimes of “moral turpitude” from schools.
In an April 2006 audit, however, FSDB asked for additional staff “based on the increased demands mandated by the Jessica Lunsford Act.”
Signed by Gov. Jeb Bush on May 2, 2005, the Act requires school districts to run background checks on staff, vendors, contractors and many visitors before they’re allowed on school grounds.
The law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2005.
The newspaper began calling Dillingham a week ago for comment about his March 26 news release that claimed the Record story contained “inaccuracies, misquotes, and distortions of the facts.”
After eight unanswered phone calls, the school’s director of public information left a voice mail Monday for the editor of the newspaper.
She said she had been told not to return the reporter’s phone messages.
President sets restrictions
In a July 27, 2005, memorandum, Dillingham wrote that the school would be closed to those convicted of seven other felonies, including drug trafficking, domestic violence and weapons charges.
Of the five incidents, four happened after Dillingham wrote his memo. Three took place after the Jessica Lunsford Act went into effect.
“He (Dillingham) either violated the Jessica Lunsford Act, or he was blatantly violating school policy,” Jones said.
The president said that, with the exception of one incident, no felons were on campus while students were there.
Staff members insisted that is not true.
The staff said school was still in session on May 25, 2006, and that Police Chief Jerry Chandlee allowed a man convicted of sexual battery and selling cocaine to work in a girls’ dorm.
Dillingham denied the incident happened, saying that students were gone when the actual work began.
“The school year ended on May 26th, and work on this building did not begin until the following day,” Dillingham wrote.
“That is an absolute lie,” Jones said. “We knew this was a bad dude, and he was in (James Hall) on the 25th, moving furniture so they could get in there and work the next day.
“The girls were on campus, going in and out of the dorm, getting ready to go home. Everybody was upset about that.”
May 11 ‘emergency’ debate
The fourth episode - on May 11, 2006 - has drawn the most attention.
Dillingham said in an interview that a “storm the night before” had torn up the roof of the maintenance building. Six felons were employed by the roofing company called to do emergency repairs, he said.
Dillingham wrote that background checks for those workers were run on May 11, “and the reports came back in a matter of hours.”
The workers were at the school only briefly the first day and were supervised as they set up their equipment, wrote Dillingham.
Actual work began the following morning, he wrote.
“An armed off-duty St. Augustine law enforcement officer was stationed at the work site while the work was being completed, and the workers were under surveillance at all times,” Dillingham wrote.
The staff said the workers were supervised but not the entire time.
According to FSDB records, the background checks were run on May 1, “so they knew these were bad guys when they showed up” nearly two weeks later, Jones said.
Jones said the “emergency” repairs were called for, not because a storm came through, but because one had been forecast. That storm never arrived, he added.
A researcher at the National Weather Service in Jacksonville said the last storm in or around St. Augustine during that period was on May 2.
Administrator defended
Dillingham denied an allegation in the March 25 story that Terri Wiseman, the school’s Business Office administrator, told one FSDB officer to return a sex offender to his roofing job on campus.
However, Jones said he kept a copy of incident report 2006-000-5129 from April 12, 2006, that said Wiseman told the officer over the phone to return the sex offender to his job.
The conversation was made over a recorded police line, said Ed Joyner, a former duty officer/dispatcher with the FSDB Police Department.
Other FSDB police officers also were upset with the way at least two “background checks” were run.
Bert Hernandez, who now runs his own business in Ponte Vedra, had been a federal officer for almost 20 years before he was hired by the FSDB Police Department in late 2005.
“Things immediately started going wrong,” said Hernandez, who started work about the same time as the new police chief, Jerry Chandlee.
“The chief would make policies, then violate his own policies,” said Hernandez, who had been trained to run background checks on applicants.
“There were many instances where I did background checks, and the people who failed were still allowed on campus. The chief would make the exceptions.”
Foreign workers ’swear’
One incident in particular stands out.
“There were some Mexicans trying to come on campus,” he recalled. “I think this was August 2005.
“The chief told me to run them on (the national database). There was no verification they were illegal aliens.
“So we went outside. Under a palm tree. I was the only Spanish-speaking officer. The chief told me to have them raise their right hands and swear to me, in Spanish, that they had never committed a crime.
“Of course, they’re going to swear by it. They needed the work.”
Copyright 2007 St. Augustine Record http://staugustine.com/stories/040407/news_4511428.shtml.
The reporter can be reached at richard.prior@staugustine.com.
The bold fact was done by MZ.
For hourly updates on Daphne Wright’s trial, check http://blogs.argusleadermedia.com/voices/
Wright Trial: Landfill Evidence Linked To Wright’s Home: http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,56038
e mail contact: mishkazena@aol.com
April 5th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Very informative. An eye opener. Yipes. Folks are aware now.
April 5th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
The national database on sexual predators aren’t perfect at all.
Many district schools and other places reclutantly report sexual predators to the law enforcement officials and save themselves real embrassment for hiring a particular individual. They usually let the individual go and wipe off their hands.
The school authorities tend to cover up many incidents and sweep them under rug.
My former alta mater, WV School of the Deaf Secondary School Principal gave Donald Lurwick, deaf science teacher an option - resign or get fired in late 70s. Lurwick tied up the 12 years old deaf male student’s gential in his car during the Boy Scouts camping trip.
I told Mr. West, WVSD Secondary School principal as nobody was brave enough to report to him or the adminstrative officials or Supt. Jack Brady.
I also reported on another deaf individual, Dean of Student Living at the Seaton Hall for having frequent sex with low-functioned female teenager. This individual got demoted and employed with the school for awhile before got the job with the U.S. Post Office. He eventually married the Gally Social Work professor
Almost everybody was not courageous or believe in doing something right to report any wrongdoings on the school campus except me. I had to do the reportings and prodded the school officials into real action.
I would be not surprised that Ridor will jump on me and say “See that! I always write comments related to sex”.
Most important of all is to fight the evil of humanity like sexual predators on vulernable children.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
April 5th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
There seems extensive cover ups in state schools for the deaf. Unfortunately this only protects the perpetuators, permitting them to victimize more children. At the same time, the victims don’t get the help they need.
In the long run, these cover ups actually destroy the schools themselves. It’s really too bad that they don’t see the long term price.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
“FSDB Police Department” appears several times in the references. Did this school for the deaf have a fully fledged police department? Why is this? Most schools have just one or two security officers.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
I have heard more and more sexual predators in residenital schools for the deaf, including one in State
Washington and Maine. I would not be surprised that sooner or later parents will transfer their children to mainstream schools. I would not blame the parents, for I would have done the same thing if I had a deaf child.
Very scary.
April 5th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Maryland School for the Deaf included. Many there are sexual predators that haven’t been caught.
April 5th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
State residential schools of the deaf are not only having severe problems with sexual abuses of students.
I would be not surprised about other educational facilities of the deaf - usual underreportings of sexual abuses against deaf students.
I was appalled when I learned about several former Governor Baxter School of the Deaf (Maine) students got $$$ which they never had been sexually abused. The state of Maine paid off those people without any kind of verification.
State residential schools of the deaf ought to be more closely monitored from outsiders, ex. law enforcement officers and parents of deaf students and alumnus with screenings.
The deaf victim of Donald Lurwick ended up in the maxium security state prison in Virginia for committing the violent crime against hearing lady. See that there were the endless cycles against deaf youngsters!
Donald Lurwick requested for the living accomodation - small apartment unit next to the 4-5th deaf male graders’ dormitory. I warned one of the deaf houseparent every time after I caught him peeking thru the center of door (old-fashioned door with cut across the middle for the door to be opened only on the lower end of door or upper end of the door.
Lurwick sometimes waltzed into the boys’ shower area in the evening. He got another job at the Pennsyvlania School of the Deaf.
Donald Lurwick always signed near his groin area for us, students to look at his bugle (gential) inside the pant. He was an obese person himself.
Lurwick tried to demean me all the way as he tried to break down my spirits in the classroom. I stood up to him. I finally got Lurwick after he sodomized the deaf male youngster.
Many people couldn’t believe that Lurwick would do such things like that. The deaf student’s foster mother marched in Lurwick’s campus apartment and yelled pretty hard at him.
My wrestling coach at the WVSD grabbed my crotch area during the wrestling drill as everybody left the wrestling room. I turned immediately to this wrestling coach - “What were you doing/” He was in some kind of trance and told me going to the shower. I undressed myself in real hurry for the Xmas dinner. He also came in the shower booth. The coach tried to have a conversation with me. I simply ignored him with disgusts from my eyes.
I got dressed up quickly as I can. The coach walked in with the towel on his back for his gential swung back and forth for me looking at me.
I got there before the coach manhandled me or something like that. I zoomed to the Xmas banquet.
Guess what? Nobody believe me! I was the SBG president myself at that time. Everybody said “Impossible! He is married! He is very handsome guy!”
The coach became the secondary school principal nowaday. That is really frightening! He also hired another sexual predator (deaf).
RLM
April 5th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Jeez…this whole thing makes me sick.
Do you realize how much the porn industry makes a year - especially with young teens?
It corrupts the sick minds so badly, in my opinion (no, I’m not a psychologist, but it is no brainer to figure this out).
It worries me deeply as a mother of four children and next year is going to be quite stressful for me because by then I will have kids in three schools - elementary, middle, and high school.
Today’s time is where I’m always wondering in the back of my head when drivers drive by my children walking to school/home and looking at them. How are they looking at them?
How dare I even think of that? Because I was a victim, that’s why. I’m forever ruined and want to protect my children.
That said, I’d have taken my children out of FSDB until they get rid of the people, especially Dillingham!
April 5th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
If none of the staff do anything, then they are enablers, permitting pedophiles to continue abusing deaf children. What about the deaf workers? Where are the protection for deaf students?
April 5th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Seriously these schools need to clean up their act, instead of looking the other way and not doing anything.
I feel sick to hear these abuses still going on in 2007.
We need to do something to stop this.
Jean, you got it right. This may be another reason why many kids are mainstreamed because parents don’t trust deaf schools to keep their kids safe. Why cannot the schools see that?
Iam, I am so sorry you were victimized. My feeling is mutual. I would have taken my kids out of FSDB if I am aware of these conditions.
April 6th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
That’s not very good of Elmer’s decision on allowing the felons on the campus. Once the felons are familiar with the buildilings and campus access, they would definitely come back to haunt the students. I would withdraw my child from that school right away for the child’s saftey.
April 15th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
FSDB defends security steps -
Board members disagree with newspaper story concerning issue of felons on campus - read this:
http://staugustine.com/stories/041507/news_4533761.shtml