Connerton Misconduct Accusations Fly at School Board Meeting

It’s a serious issue, and residents say they want answers and action.

Several community members showed up to Tuesday’s Pasco County School Board meeting to voice their concerns about the incidents they say amount to bullying by the administration.

Former teacher Pam Jones gave an emotional account of her time as a teacher at Connerton, noting that many current teachers are afraid to speak out.

“Bullying happens at Connerton, and it happened to me,” Jones said.

Jones had children with behavior issues in her classroom, and she was working with her team to find solutions. However, she says that Connerton principal Anna Falcone gave her an ultimatum: Jones had two weeks to “fix this” or she would be written up.

A week later, Jones says she was called into Falcone’s office for a “repeat performance.”

Jones also alleged that Falcone would come into her classroom for a few minutes daily, not to help find a solution but to find something that Jones was doing wrong. Students who had difficulty remaining focused would be easily distracted by the interruption, Jones said.

The classroom visits were nothing more than “fishing expeditions,” Jones said. “She didn’t want to help me, she just wanted me gone.” 

Jones said she has moved on with her life and career, but feels strongly enough about the issues at Connerton that it remains important for her to speak out because she does not want her friends who still teach to be subjected to such tactics.

District officials said they would consider the accusations of bully tactics made by Jones and several others at Tuesday's meeting before taking any action. When asked Wednesday if the district has a timeline for reaching a resolution to the conflicts at Connerton, assistant superintendent David Scanga said there isn't one.

"This is a sensitive and important conversation for us to have," Scanga said. "We're going to listen first."

School Nurse 'Pushed Down a Sidewalk?'

Cathy Brown, a former school nurse, also gave an emotional account of her experiences under the current Connerton administration.

Brown attended Tuesday’s meeting to alert the board to an incident that “should have been reported in 2010,” she said.

A school nurse at Sanders Elementary at the time, Brown said she was “physically pushed through a door and down a sidewalk” at the school by assistant principal Wendy Carswell.

The incident was witnessed by a parent, who also was a police officer, she said. Brown filed a report with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office the same day. A copy of the incident report is attached to the story. Brown decided not to press charges.

Brown told the board that she was then put on administrative leave after the incident without an opportunity to address the board, she said.  She also was told at the time that she would not be allowed to make the transition to Connerton, she said.

“I was forced to retire, which I did,” Brown said.

In 26 years of teaching, Brown never had a problem, and had nothing negative in her file, she said during a phone interview Wednesday.  Then the incident with Carswell happened and she was forced out, she said.

'Deep Concern' Over Harassment

Peggy Lopez of Land O’ Lakes also addressed the board about the issues at Connerton.

“It’s a deep concern in this community,” she said.

Lopez told the board she had knowledge with Superintendent Heather Fiorentino said that they had either been harassed or witnessed harassment by Falcone.

“These are adults, they aren’t children,” Lopez said.

Scanga, the assistant superintendent, disputed Lopez's claim.

"My personal take is that that number is not legitimate," Scanga said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Scanga said that the vote Lopez referred to was an informal poll taken during a "very emotionally charged situation," without the entire Connerton staff present.

Multiple official surveys show satisfaction with the school's administration as high as 80 to 85 percent, Scanga said.

The teachers who came forward had to continue working while "exposed" because they had to attend that meeting to voice their concerns. With three weeks remaining in the school year, others knew who had attended the meeting, and that made some staff uncomfortable, Lopez said.

Three weeks later, “we’re still looking for action to happen,” she said.

“This is when we need to model the behavior that we teach our children about bullying,” Lopez said.

Demonstrators Singled Out?

Michelle Grady, a Connerton resident, attended Tuesday's meeting to read excerpts from a letter on behalf of Becky Linares, who could not attend.

In the letter, Linares wrote that, while attending the off-campus demonstration that coincided with the May 29 meeting held by Fiorentino, she believed Falcone's husband showed up wearing a Department of Transportation vest and took pictures of all the demonstrators.

Those pictures, she believed, were used to identify the parents and students involved in the demonstration, the letter stated.

Linares's first-grader was pulled out of class the following day by vice principal Wendy Carswell, who asked the girl what she was doing at the protest, according to Linares' letter.  The girl was scared to return to school the next day, the letter stated.

According to the letter, Linares called the district, and was eventually told that Carswell denied pulling the girl out of class.

According to Grady, both of Linares' children attended , however, it was only the youngest child who was questioned by the administrator.

"Their actions were predatory picking on the youngest child," Grady said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Jerry Cirasuolo of Land O’ Lakes also addressed the board during Tuesday's meeting, thanking Superintendent Heather Fiorentino for the May 29 meeting.

Cirasuolo said Fiorentino noted during that meeting that the teachers and staff were a “dysfunctional family” and that she needed time to sort things out.

“Did you sort things out?” Cirasuolo asked the superintendent.

“We’re working on it, ” Fiorentino said.

District officials will take everyone's position into account, Scanga said, and the answer will come when they have done enough to gather all of the information they need.

"Connerton is an awesome school," Scanga said. "We know we have work to do there and we're going to do that."

The next Pasco County School Board meeting is Tuesday, July 3, at 9:30 a.m.