Second, there are enough facts available to comment about the crackhead principal. I feel for the guy, but he shouldn’t be near kids. And I feel for the teachers in rehab (especially one I know personally), but they shouldn’t be near kids.

Third, there are enough facts available to comment about the arrest of the assistant principal, given that he is innocent until proven guilty. As far as prejudice, you’re right to suspect the motivations of the accuser; but until the trial is over, the school cannot allow the man to be near kids. Also, Mr. Eason won’t be on trial for being gay (or not), he’ll be on trial for molesting children (people under 17).

Last, I’m an LHS grad and I might be your neighbor.

Mr. Eason is guilty.

It doesn’t matter that he’s black or homosexual in the South.
It doesn’t matter that it’s Lee High School.

They wouldn’t have been able to arrest him if they hadn’t found evidence that the event in question definitely transpired. Although it makes me sad, because Cleavon was a giant help and source of quite a bit of positive energy at Lee (he was one of few substantial positive authorities that held the school together while it underwent a great deal of turmoil over the past 3 years or so), the fact remains that he abused his power to commit a crime and violated more than a decade’s worth of trust and loyalty. This was probably the very last thing Lee High School needed right now, and I’m concerned for its well-being in the immediate future.

On another note, I will say that although Dr. Harry Smith was a big source of controversy, no one but the students who knew him really understand who he is. I was a junior under his one-year period as principal, and I can honestly say that it was the best year Lee High had seen in some time, if not ever.

He and his wife attended every sports event and competition we participated in (even robotics team, choir, drama, and dance competitions). They personally got involved with all the Magnet programs (Lee is a magnet school, consisting of Vocal, Drama, Dance, Engineering, Photo/Video, and Orchestra) in various extents, ranging from sitting in on classes and offering suggestions pertaining to activities (and doing it with the class) to actually staying ’til 1 AM during the production of the annual musical to help sew costumes, or build sets, or even watch rehearsal. The man was extraordinary in several ways, and the best principal Lee’s ever seen, and It’s a tremendous shame that it was over so quickly.

Thanks for stopping by. I’m refraining from passing judgment on Mr. Eason for the time being until I learn more about the allegations. The fact that the police believe multiple students might be involved is a bit damning since an isolated “incident” could plausibly be a vindictive student, although I have a hard time believing that a student would potentially subject himself to considerable ridicule simply to spite an administrator. I have no personal connection or insight into Lee, but from what I’ve heard from those who do there is lots of room for improvement in the school, especially the administration.

If the allegations are true, I’m not so sure that the student body at large would have known a long time ago. Both parties have significant motivation to hide any such activity; the administrator for obvious reasons and the affected student(s) for fear of shame and humiliation. For example, think about how many years sexual abuses occurred in the Catholic church before it became public knowledge about what was happening and people who hid their abuse all that time came out in droves.

I do not, however, believe that taxpayers (including me) and parents (also including me) should “stay out of” scandals affecting public schools. It is incumbent upon citizens to maintain a watchful eye over all public institutions, not just sit back and wait for the media to tell us what they deem important. After all, they spend so much time talking about the celebutards of the day that they don’t do a terribly thorough job keeping the populace informed about important issues.

WHEN BOYS ARE MOLESTED BY TEACHERS AND OTHERS IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY

And these kinds of cases are greatly under-reported. This much is certain. There are thousands of Mr. Cleavon Eason’s in a position of power/supervision in public schools right now. Some of them will be arrested and convicted this year–far too many to keep track of. Once teachers are hired and granted tenure after three years, there’s not much - barring criminal charges - that schools can do to get rid of a teacher who’s considered a risk to children.

The trouble with screening tools is that they only filter out undesirable new hires. Most of the teachers who have found themselves in trouble with the law have been in the classroom for years, sometimes decades, before any hint of trouble reached the public’s attention.

* * * *
C

I’ve commented previously about the DA’s office believing that they had a ‘weak’ case and the boys didn’t want to testify and the guilty plea / sex offender status was the best the DA could get.

BTW, are the wayne who ran for state rep?