Fox's Rigorous Process That You Should Trust for the Latest New Hires!

Nikki McClain, a parent in the Fox C-6 School District and the administrator of the Facebook page NO MORE MONEY OR RESOURCES For the Fox C-6 Superintendent recently received a Sunshine Request response from acting superintendent Tim Crutchley regarding the hiring of administrators that were recently announced at the March 17, 2015 Fox C-6 Board of Education meeting.

Thank you to Nikki McClain for sharing with me the response she received from the district.

I had emailed all of the current Fox C-6 school board members early Tuesday morning March 17, 2015 asking for the same information but never received a response from a single board member.

I had also emailed incoming superintendent Dr. Jim Wipke and Fox C-6 board president John Laughlin on Monday March 16, 2015 asking how Dan Baker was even considered as a candidate for the Seckman Elementary School principal position.

I did not receive an email response from Dr. Wipke or Mr. Laughlin. I did receive a Read Receipt message from Mr. Laughlin's email software at 12:18AM on Monday March 16, 2015. I did not receive a Read Receipt message from Dr. Wipke. However, Dr. Wipke told me he received my email when I spoke to him immediately following the March 17 BOE meeting.

Mrs. McClain submitted a Sunshine Request for the list of candidates for the recent new hires for the Seckman Elementary School, Fox Senior High School and Seckman Senior High School principal positions as well as the new Food Nutrition Director. I believe the district did an excellent job in choosing the new Fox Senior High School principal and the new Food Nutrition Director. I haven't dealt with Todd Scott on any school matters other than the time he stood up for Dan Baker and Dianne Critchlow when I asked Dan Baker about the USDA's August 2011 Final Agency Decision that found the Fox C-6 School District Non-Compliant with Section 504 law and the ADA AA. That conversation occurred after the December 2011 Fox C-6 BOE meeting.

I would think that a rigorous hiring process would do a much better job at filtering out potential candidates who have been linked to online bullying of parents in our district as well as not being able to bring our district into compliance with federal law after more than 5 years. Dan Baker signed a Resolution Agreement to do so with ED OCR on May 1, 2009.

After you read Tim Crutchley's response as to who screened the applications and who served on the committees, you may understand why those concerns were overlooked.

Is the Ms. Kriese that is listed on the Seckman Elementary School principal selection committee related to 2015 board candidate Drew Kriese?

A friend of mine told me that the Kriese's attend Oak Bridge Community Church with Tim Crutchley and Kristen Pelster. This person told me that Drew Kriese was speaking with Tim Crutchley at church the Sunday before the announcement of the new hires. Did that perhaps have any influence on the candidate screening as well? I was told that they are also all friends on Facebook as well. Interesting!

March 2015 BOE Meeting Audio
Some of the Fox C-6 BOE members talked about the new rigorous process that was used to hire our new administrators at the March 2015 BOE meeting. Click on the names to listen to the comments from BOE members Dan Kroupa, Dawn Mullins and John Laughlin about the new process from Fox's YouTube recording of the 2015 BOE meeting.

It was stated during the BOE meeting that the Seckman Elementary School teachers heavily influenced the board's decision to hire Dan Baker as the principal at Seckman Elementary. Mr. Baker was surrounded by his cheering teachers at the March 2015 BOE meeting as you can hear in the audio of the meeting.

Yesterday, I posted some tweets linking to the comments from the March 2015 BOE meeting but they appear to have been deleted by Twitter at someone's request.

I also received another Copyright Infringement notice this morning for the same public records report of the 2004-2010 legal bills paid that was paid with taxpayer money to the district's former law firm.

It's difficult to understand how a printed report from your school district for legal fee payments is a violation of copyright infringement. It just gives the impression that someone doesn't want you to know what Fox has been paying in legal fees.

Mr. Baker may have skills and credentials to be a principal in our district. However, it doesn't negate the black cloud that has been hanging and will be hanging over our school district since his "home" (and cell phone) was linked to online posts.

According to the district's response, the district is also keeping the list of candidates for the positions from the public since Missouri Sunshine Law ALLOWS them to do so but does not require them to do so. You can read about Missouri Sunshine Law that is referenced in Tim Crutchley's email response by using the links below.

Top 10 Things You Should Know About Sunshine Law

Revised Missouri Statutes Section 610.021

The following email was sent to Nikki McClain by acting superintendent Tim Crutchley in response to her Sunshine Request regarding the recent administrative hires that were announced at the March 17, 2015 Fox C-6 BOE meeting:

From: Crutchley, Tim - CO Admin.
Date: March 24, 2015 at 2:44:13 PM CDT
To: Nikki McClain
Subject: response to request 

We are in receipt of your March 19, 2015 email request for records. 

Please be advised the identity of candidates considered for employment is a closed record pursuant to Section 610.021(13) R.S.Mo.  As a result, we are unable to provide names of job applicants. 

The District does not have a list of committee members used in the hiring process for the Assistant Superintendent HR, the SHS, FHS or SES principals or the Director of Nutrition Services to provide in response to your request. Although the District is not obligated to do so, it will provide the following narrative in response to your request. 

The screening of applications for the principals and human resources position were done by a committee of district administrators, specifically Dr. Wipke, Mr. Crutchley, Dr. Rizzi and Mr. Brazeal.  The same committee interviewed first round candidates.  Screening and the first round of interviews for the Dir of Nutrition Services was performed by Mr. Scott and Mr. Brazeal. 

Second round interviews  were conducted by the following committees: Fox High School: Ms. Wucher, Mr. Williams, Ms. Schwalbe, Ms. Seliga, Ms. Greene, Ms. Hoeltzer, Mr. Reese, Mr. Sansoucie, Mr. Meadows, Ms. Weisemann, Ms. Rissi plus two students; Seckman High School:  Ms. Adkins, Mr. Prezzavento, Ms. Scott, Ms. Montegomery, Ms. Hildebrand, Ms. Kraus, Ms. Fritz, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Labelle, Ms. Hill, Ms. Rissi plus two students; Seckman Elementary School consisted of Ms. Randolph, Mr. Werner, Ms. Fisher, Ms. Callahan, Ms. McFerran and Ms. Kriese. 

Second round interviews for the human resources position were conducted by Ms. Werkmeister, Ms. Ferranto, Ms. Bambini, Ms. Fritz, Ms. Waller, Ms. Missey, Mr. Wilken and Ms. Mijangos.

Second and final round interviews for the food service director were conducted by a committee that included Mr. Scott, Mr. Brazeal, Dr. Cardona, Dr. Reese, Dr. Schwalbe and Ms. West plus one student. 

Third and final round interviews of high school principal finalists were interviewed by the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education (Dr. Rizzi) and incoming Superintendent (Dr. Wipke). 

Third and final round interviews of elementary school principal finalists were interviewed by the Interim Superintendent (Mr. Crutchley) and incoming Superintendent (Dr. Wipke). 

Third and final round interviews of the human resources finalists were interviewed by Interim Superintendent (Mr. Crutchley), incoming Superintendent (Dr. Wipke), Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education (Dr. Rizzi) and the Chief Financial Officer (Mr. Brazeal).

Tim Crutchley 

Acting Superintendent 

745 Jeffco Blvd 

Arnold, Mo 63010 

636-296-8000 

636-282-5170 fax

Achievement - Character - Excellence
National District of Character

Dan Baker Probably Doesn't Want the Fox C-6 Community to See the Invoices for Legal Fees!

It was announced that Dan Baker was selected as the new principal at Seckman Elementary at the March 17, 2015 Fox C-6 Board of Education (BOE) meeting.

I voiced my concerns about Dan Baker being selected as a finalist for the Seckman Elementary School principal position to Fox C-6 board president John Laughlin and Dr. Wipke in an email early Monday morning March 16, 2015. Then after not receiving a response I sent another email to all of the Fox C-6 board members at 6:30am Tuesday March 17, 2015.

I also voiced my concerns to the Fox C-6 BOE meeting during Public Comments. Click on the link below to listen to my Public Comments. There were a total of 7 Public Comments made at the BOE meeting. There were two public comments in support of hiring Dan Baker for the principal position at Seckman Elementary which was made by teachers from Seckman Elementary. I wonder if Mr. Baker will give them any special treatment now that he's been selected principal?

My Public Comments Made at the March 17, 2015

Fox C-6 BOE Meeting

Dan Baker's selection reminds me very much of when the community was told that Kelly Nash was the best candidate for Fox's Food Nutrition Director in December 2012 by Todd Scott even though she didn't possess the certification and schooling required for the job as required by board policy.

Dan Baker, possesses the proper certification for the principal job. He was a principal at Hodge Elementary School prior to being promoted to the position of Assistant Superintendent and Section 504 Coordinator for the Fox C-6 School District in the Central Office.

Unlike Kelly Nash, Dan Baker has to face scrutiny from the public for his involvement in the internet scandal that made national headlines at Fox C-6 in 2014 after it was discovered that derogatory posts were linked to the home and cell phone of Dan and Angie Baker as well as to the home of former superintendent Dianne Brown-Critchlow and her husband Jamie Critchlow who was fired by the district in June 2014.

Dan Baker was the Section 504 Coordinator for the district at the time the posts linked to his home were made in 2013. Mr. Baker was also involved in our Section 504 case and had been since May of 2008. Having derogatory comments linked to his home that were made against me could be considered retaliation by the Office for Civil Rights because we had filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (ED OCR) and the USDA's Office for Civil Rights (USDA OCR) back in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Section 504 law prohibits retaliating against any individual who files a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights or advocates for someone's civil rights. Therefore, it's very important that everyone understands what the law says on Section 504. It's also very important to know that it was Mr. Baker's job as the district's 504 Coordinator to ensure that Fox C-6 complied with Section 504 law and the ADA AA.

Had the public been properly informed of the district's run in with ED OCR and USDA OCR six years ago, Dan Baker may not have been considered for the principal position at Seckman Elementary School.

Dan Baker, Dianne Brown-Critchlow and Todd Scott have been working hard for years to keep the district's non-compliance issues out of the news and hidden from the public. Board meeting minutes didn't document my questions or letters about the OCR issues. In fact, the district's former law firm sent me letters telling me that the public had no need to know about the Resolution Agreement that Dan Baker signed on May 1, 2009 with ED OCR or the 2010 District Wide Compliance Review investigation until ED OCR released their findings.

The Resolution Agreement signed by Dan Baker has been open now for nearly 6 years and the District Wide Compliance Review has been open for 5 years. 

How long does it take ED OCR to complete an investigation and report their findings?

That means that for nearly 6 years, Dan Baker and the district were unable to meet the terms of the agreement that Dan Baker agreed to in order for the district to be compliant with Section 504 law and the ADA AA. It certainly doesn't seem that Dan Baker was doing his job as Section 504 Coordinator.

I would think that not being able to meet the terms of an agreement with a federal agency for nearly 6 years would weigh heavily on Mr. Baker's job performance reviews over the years. But, since Dianne Brown-Critchlow and the former law firm kept ED OCR at bay for years as well as the USDA OCR, no one knew that Fox was non-compliant with federal law. The Resolution Agreement and District Wide Compliance Review and Monitoring Letters were never documented in the board meeting minutes or board packets.

I don't believe that Dr. Jim Wipke has been fully informed of all of the non-compliance issues with ED OCR and USDA OCR. I spoke with Dr. Wipke this evening after the board meeting about my concerns of hiring Dan Baker as the principal at Seckman Elementary School and Todd Scott as the new principal at Seckman High School. Dr, Wipke offered to get together and discuss my concerns further regarding this issue and that he would like to work with me on this issue.

I think it's time for the public to get involved and make a Sunshine Law Request and demand that the invoices from the district's former law firm be released to the public. Your taxpayer dollars were used to pay legal fees to keep ED OCR and USDA OCR at bay for years. In fact, one of the training sessions by the district's former law firm was titled, "OCR Is Gaining On You! How to Run Faster!".

It's seems quite obvious that someone in the district doesn't want the legal fee invoices to be made public. I've asked for copies of them for years via Sunshine Law Requests and the district still hasn't provided me a single copy of an invoice. 

As a Fox C-6 taxpayer, wouldn't you want to know why the school board approved paying more than $103,000 in legal fees between the August 2012 and September 2012 board meetings?

By the way, the $103,000 in legal fees corresponds time wise with emails we received from USDA OCR informing us that they were in discussions with the district and their legal counsel regarding the USDA's August 2011 Final Agency Decision that found the district non-compliant with Section 504 law and the ADA AA. It also corresponds with the time I was sent a cease and desist letter by the district to keep me from speaking with the public and school employees and former employees about my concerns with the district.

If Dan Baker and Dianne Brown-Critchlow were responsible for being found non-compliant with Section 504 law and the ADA AA in the USDA's August 2011 Final Agency Decision, shouldn't the public have been told about that?

Spending $103,000 in legal fees in just two months in 2012 was two times more than what the district paid the same law firm for legal fees for the entire year in 2005 from information recently provided to me by Fox's CFO John Brazeal.

It seems to me that paying out that much in legal fees in just two months in 2012 would have raised red flags for our school board members. In fact, we sent a letter to Dave Palmer and other board members back then asking them about the amount of money that the district was spending in legal fees because it appeared that the district wasn't following board policy on legal fees. We never received a response from our letter. You may want to make note of that since Dave Palmer is running for school board again this year.

I've made numerous Sunshine Requests for actual copies of the invoices for legal fees but I've only been given the dollar amounts for the invoices. Why is that?

Transparency is what keeps your school district and school board accountable. If there's a lack of transparency then there will be a lack of trust and lack of accountability in both the district and and the people in charge of running and overseeing the district.

Back in August 2010, the Post Dispatch wrote an article in which Dan Baker was quoted as saying, "the district had spent a lot in legal fees during the dispute, but he did not know an exact amount." What Mr. Baker didn't tell the newspaper was that the district decided to bring their legal counsel to a 504 meeting in August 2008. We asked why an attorney was need for a 504 meeting. The explanation given by the attorney was to ensure that the district was doing things properly. Well, it took from September 2008 when Dan Baker removed a 504 plan until August 2014 to get the 504 plan properly restored by the district. Restoring the 504 would not have occurred if the the district hadn't changed law firms.

Between 2008 and 2014 my wife and I worked to get the district to properly follow Section 504 law and restore what was improperly removed in 2008. However, some of our administrators decided to resort to bullying tactics using the internet as well the media in an attempt to halt our efforts to expose what was going on in the district.

So now, nearly a year after it was discovered that derogatory comments were traced to the home and cell phone of Dan and Angie Baker, Mr. Baker was selected as the principal of Seckman Elementary School despite his being linked to the internet scandal and to large sums of money being spent defying ED OCR and USDA OCR.

What do you think motivated the Bakers to post derogatory comments online?

In order for the community to believe that Dan Baker was the right person for the job, the district needs to release the invoices from the former law firm dating back to 2008 since he worked closely with the former law firm to get around the law.

Who Were the Other Job Candidates?
The district also needs to provide the public with the list of other candidates that applied for the job as well as the members of the selection committee that narrowed down the field of candidates. Without full disclosure of that information, the public is never going to believe that Dan Baker was the best candidate for the job!

Please contact you school board members and request that they release the invoices for legal fees from the Mickes Goldman O'Toole law firm.

Also ask the school board to publish the list of candidates that applied for the Seckman Elementary School principal position and the names of the selection committee members for the job.

Perhaps a community of requests for how your taxpayer dollars were spent on legal fees will finally encourage the district to release the invoice information. Other school districts publish that information, why can't Fox?

My Open Letter to the Fox C-6 BOE Regarding the Hiring of School District Leadership

I emailed the Fox C-6 School Board the following letter this morning regarding the hiring of future leaders in our school district.

I emailed board president John Laughlin and Dr. Wipke very early Monday morning in which I expressed my concerns about the hiring of the next Seckman Elementary School principal. I never received a response to my email.

I decided to send this email after I noticed last night that Angie Burns Baker, the wife of assistant superintendent Dan Baker, was listed as the 2015-2016 Director of Federal Programs in the March 2015 board meeting packet that was posted online Friday March 13, 2015.

The link below contains a copy of the Employment of Certified Employees Report from the March 2015 Fox C-6 school board meeting packet.

March 2015

Fox C-6 Employment of Certified Employees Report

The Fox C-6 Board of Education (BOE) will be meeting tonight in Closed Session at 5:30PM prior to Public Comments. Therefore the board will most likely be making hiring decisions prior to hearing any Public Comments from the community.

Fox's BOE is expected to be making hiring decisions for the Fox High School, Seckman High School and Seckman Elementary School principal positions as well as the Fox C-6 Food Nutrition Director.

Below is the letter I emailed to the Fox C-6 BOE Tuesday morning March 17, 2015.

It is critical that the Fox C-6 school board be completely transparent in the hiring of future leaders of the Fox C-6 School District. This includes the Fox and Seckman High School and Seckman Elementary principals as well as the next Food Nutrition Director.
 The school board failed miserably in December 2012 when it approved the hiring of Kelly Nash as Fox’s Food Nutrition Director over individuals who already possessed the credentials required for the job. That one decision was the straw that broke the camel’s back and the one that led to the public disgrace of our school district and the embarrassment and humiliation of the Fox C-6 community.
 School board policy requires that the superintendent only recommends individuals to the board for hire who already possess the proper certification and education. School board policy was not followed when the board hired Kelly Nash in 2012. It was obvious then and now that she was chosen because she was the daughter in law of former Fox C-6 board member Linda Nash who was the board president at the time of her hiring. The taxpayers paid the price for that decision as well as members of the community who spoke out about that decision.
 Kelly Nash’s hire was very similar to the hiring of Gee Palmer, the wife of current school board member and incumbent school board candidate David Palmer as the Director of Nursing in June 2006.
 David Palmer was the president of the Fox C-6 school board in 2006 when his wife was promoted to Director of Nursing position and given a 75% pay increase ahead of other nurses who were more qualified and who had many more years of service with the district.
 You are now faced with another decision that will forever shape the legacy of the Fox C-6 School District and the Fox C-6 board when you select new leaders for Seckman Elementary, Seckman High School and Fox High School.
 The individuals you choose to lead our teachers and our students should not bring with them any immoral or unethical baggage from the past.
 You are practicing Willful Blindness by even allowing Dan Baker to be a finalist for the position as Seckman Elementary School principal given his past misdeeds and inability to ensure that Fox C-6 was compliant with federal law as assistant superintendent for more than 6 years.
 You will forever be judged by the community by the decisions in choosing new district leadership.
 I am extremely disappointed to learn that you have already given notice in the March 2015 board packet that Angela Burns Baker will be the 2015-2016 Director of Federal Programs.
 Since you are elected officials and represent the taxpayers and patrons of the Fox C-6 School District you are entrusted to make the best choices for our school district.
 How did Mr. Baker become one of 3 finalist for the Seckman Elementary principal position given the fact that derogatory comments were traced to his home and a cell phone owned by the Bakers? Were any Fox school board members part of the screening process for the principal position? Please provide a list to the Public of the candidates for the principal positions in the school district and the members of the committee panels that interviewed the candidates and made recommendations to the selections. It’s imperative that the Fox C-6 school board be transparent and represent the community in an honest and open manner and that all decisions are made aboveboard according to school district policy.
 I am requesting that you please email me a list of all persons that served on the interview/hiring committees and all candidates for the recent job openings in the school district for the Fox and Seckman High school principal positions,  the Seckman Elementary principal position and the Food Nutrition Director position. It’s imperative that this information be published on the school district website in order to rebuild the trust of the community. There are rumblings that individuals that participated on the selection committees were chosen in order to narrow the selection to favor our disgraced assistant superintendents.
 It’s hard to believe that anyone in our community would have considered Dan Baker as a potential candidate for the Seckman Elementary School principal position. Very few people are going to believe that Mr. Baker was ranked above other candidates in terms of integrity and honesty given his past indiscretions. His selection as one of the best candidates gives the impression that our district is still not operating aboveboard.
 In order to maintain any trust with the community everything done by the board needs to be done with full disclosure to the community. If not, all hires will be extremely scrutinized by the public!
 I certainly hope that you can face the public and be proud of your decision after approving the hiring of new leadership in our school district.
  Thank you,
 Rich Simpson

What's considered "Immoral Conduct" with respect to the Teacher Tenure Act?

The past 6+ years have been like writing a thesis in terms of research and documentation development. However, the purpose of my "thesis" has been to uncover and expose the corruption and wrong doing that's been going on in the Fox C-6 School District for nearly a decade and hopefully putting an end to it for a very long time!

It's been a very time consuming project that's finally starting to pay off as more and more people are becoming educated from my articles as to what's been occurring behind the veil of deception in our district for years.

You won't find the same type of in depth research in our local newspapers or media like you will here. There are just too many problems and too much information to put into a newspaper article or a news cast.

One of the comments I hear all of the time is, the Critchlows and the Bakers should have been fired for all of the things they've done to embarrass both our school district and our community.

I completely agree. Educating our school board on how to make that happen has been difficult especially since they needed good hard evidence.

However, it didn't take too long once we got a hold of the credit card statements and were able to document more problems than just the derogatory online comments and Section 504 issues. We started finding out about all of the meals and personal items purchased with school district credit cards as well as the extravagant trips to Florida, Colorado and elsewhere. Then everyone started to wonder what else are we going to find?

District's Commitment to Character Education
I've pointed out the following paragraph from Fox's school board policies several times before on the district's commitment to Character Education . It states what the community expected from Fox administrators and from our school board over the years but didn't happen.

The district recognizes the home as the primary source of moral, ethical, and religious instruction; the role of the school is to support the family by upholding the highest example of morality, ethics, and integrity. A policy on character development is for the benefit of all students and is written with respect and sensitivity to the diversity of religions, cultures, creeds, and beliefs.  

The Critchlows and the Bakers certainly didn't follow the district's policy on Commitment to the Character Education Program as stated above.

Tim Crutchley and Todd Scott demonstrated their own share of extremely poor decisions in their use of credit cards and hotel and meal choices and the appointment of Dan Baker as interim principal at Seckman Elementary School.

Everyone reaches a point when you just have to say enough is enough and people are shown the door!

Unprofessional, unethical and immoral behavior has gone on in our school district far too long. But, due to the Teachers Tenure Act and contracts, our board members have been afraid to stand up for the community and fire tenured administrators/teachers.

It takes an educator 5 years of working in the same school district in order to obtain tenure. Once a teacher or administrator has earned tenure, it's much more difficult for them to be terminated.

One of the reasons that a tenured teacher or administrator can be fired is due to "Immoral Conduct". I've discussed this before in previous articles.

For years I've questioned how things being done in our district were allowed to continue as individuals appeared to be violating the "Immoral Conduct" rule. I took my concerns to our school board informing them of what was going on and nothing was done. Their Willful Blindness allowed the behavior to continue for years. Without the board's leadership and willingness to enforce board policies along with state and federal laws, our administration has been able to take advantage of the school board and our community both financially and emotionally.

Making sure our children receive the best education possible is ultimately what everyone in our community wants. However, the numerous distractions due to financial mismanagement, cyber bullying, nepotism and more has cost the students, teachers and taxpayers a great deal of time and money over the years. That's one of the reasons that we DO NOT need to give failed administrators like Dan Baker a "second chance" as Mr. Crutchley has asked us to do.

As the District’s Section 504 Coordinator from June 2008 until he was put on paid administrative leave on June 4, 2014, Dan Baker was the person responsible for ensuring that the District was compliant with the laws regarding non-discrimination, including Section 504.

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (ED OCR) investigated Fox and determined that the District was non-compliant with several issues pertaining to Section 504. As a result, ED OCR and the Fox C-6 School District entered into a "Resolution Agreement” to bring the District into compliance.

As the person responsible for the District’s Section 504 compliance, Mr. Baker signed the agreement on May 1, 2009 on behalf of the District. Over the course of the next 5 years as Fox’s Section 504 Coordinator, Mr. Baker never fulfilled all the terms of the Resolution Agreement items to which he agreed.

ED OCR corresponded many times with Mr. Baker regarding the District's progress. Mr. Baker received 4 monitoring letters from ED OCR between December 2009 and May 2013 listing the items that he had still not completed along with new deadlines. Mr. Baker never met all the terms in his agreement with the ED OCR. I believe Mr. Baker has been given enough "chances" to do the right thing. He has proven that he is unable to do so.

Similarly, another federal agency conducted a separate independent investigation and also found the District non-compliant with Section 504. As I’ve shared many times before, USDA's Office for Civil Rights (USDA OCR) notified both the Fox C-6 School District and Missouri DESE in August 2011 that they were found non-compliant with Section 504 and the ADA AA. They were told to correct the problem “immediately”; however, it wasn’t until Dr. Rizzi replaced Mr. Baker as the District’s 504 Coordinator in 2014 that the District corrected their mistakes. I think it’s pretty obvious that Mr. Baker has been given enough "chances" to do the right thing, and that he has proven that he is unable to do so.

USDA OCR Letter to US Senator Roy Blunt
Here is one interesting letter of correspondence from USDA OCR Food Nutrition Services to our U.S. Senator, Roy Blunt, from May 2013 updating him regarding Fox’s “refusal” to come into compliance during the time period when Mr. Baker was our District’s 504 Coordinator.

The letter from USDA OCR to Senator Blunt stated that:

"As a result of the Fox C-6 School refusing to come into compliance, FNS is now discussing options with the Department of Justice for enforcement assistance to resolve this matter."

May 2013 Letter from USDA OCR to US Senator Roy Blunt Documenting Fox's Refusal to Comply with August 2011 USDA Final Agency Decision

The letter was sent to Senator Blunt's office shortly after the anonymous online comments were posted on the Topix website that were eventually traced back to the Baker household and cell phone in May 2014.

A derogatory post directed at me only hours after I spoke at the Fox C-6 school board meeting during Public Comments on January 15, 2013 was traced to the Baker household. There were also online comments directed at me earlier that same day that were traced to computers at Fox C-6 as well as to the Critchlows home that night. What an excellent example of Integrity and Respect shown by some of our District's administrators.

You can't ignore the fact that Dan Baker and his wife Angie Baker were caught posting derogatory comments in an online forum while he was the district's Section 504 Coordinator and his wife was the district's Director of Federal Programs, They DID NOT set a good example for our students who are taught not to cyber bully other students.

The Bakers will continue to be a distraction to this district and the community until they are terminated or leave on their own accord.

Knowing the Laws, Policies and Regulations

I've learned that it's impossible to expect school board members to know all of the laws, policies and regulations that a school district must follow. For one, there are relatively few qualifications to run for a position on the board, and two, Missouri Statutes only requires school board members to complete 16 hours of training within one year of their election. We currently have some smart and caring people on our board. There's just too much for them to learn and I don't know if they're getting the full story.

It certainly doesn't seem our board members got the full story from the Bakers as to how many times they posted on Topix. They were allowed to stay because the community and the board was told that only one post was linked to their home computer which wasn't true. Posts were also linked to the cell phones as well.

I can guarantee you that new school board members aren't going to learn enough about Sunshine Law, Board Policies and Regulations and the numerous state and federal laws in just 16 hours of training to know when their not being told the truth. That's why it was so easy for Fox's former superintendent Dianne Brown-Critchlow to take advantage of our school board for years.

MSBA School Board Candidate Information

There are relatively few qualifications necessary to run for a position on a local school board of education in most school districts in the state. A candidate must be a citizen of the United States, a resident taxpayer of the district, a resident of Missouri within one year and at least 24 years old. 

Successfully elected board members are further required to complete sixteen hours of orientation and training for within one year of their election (RSMo.162.203).

Because there are relatively few qualifications and only 16 hours of training required to serve on your local school board, our school board has to rely a lot on its legal counsel. However, as I've also learned, you can't always trust your District's legal counsel to do the right thing either. I've documented way too many examples over the past 6+ years where the District's former legal counsel abused their power, the law and the board blindly trusted them too many times. That's why it's so important to become very well educated in the laws, policies and regulations as a parent/citizen.

Since most people, myself included have wonder why the Bakers and the Critchlows weren't fired in the first place, I've been researching the issue on my own because I've learned not to trust the information given to me until I verify it myself.

Last week, Fox C-6 board president John Laughlin responded to Nikki McClain after she questioned acting superintendent Tim Crutchley's infamous response about why Dan Baker should be give a "second chance". Mr. Laughlin told Nikki that "Due to laws and contracts this is a one year issue that we are half way complete with.".

After being informed of his response, I sent Mr. Laughlin an email asking for the specific statutes and contract language that have kept the board from firing the Bakers. I haven't received a response yet from Mr Laughlin. So, in the meantime, I started searching for answers myself using Google and found some very informative articles from our district's former law firm regarding "Immoral Conduct" and the Teacher Tenure Act. I've posted links to those articles below along with some quotes from the articles as well. The articles cite cases in Missouri.

It's taken thousands of hours of research and study to learn about Section 504 Law, Sunshine Law and review our District's Board Policies and Regulations over the past 6+ years.

Documenting and bringing that information to the masses has been key to opening everyone's eyes in our community and across the state and country as to what's been going on and how to keep it from happening again in the future.

Articles Related to "Immoral Conduct"

Below are some of the really important quotes from the articles that I mentioned and have linked to.

After reading the articles below I recommend contacting our school board members to ask them why they haven't been able to fire the Bakers?

Or, why they weren't able to fire Dianne Brown-Critchlow rather than allow her to take $130,000 with her as a parting gift?

I highly recommend reading each of the articles I've linked to in their entirety. You'll find the information contained in these articles very informative. It will most likely have you asking why Dianne Brown-Critchlow wasn't fired and why the Bakers haven't been fired as well. You should also peruse some of the articles on the firm's website with respect to Sunshine Law and Acceptable Use Policies:

Under the Missouri Teacher Tenure Act, Section 168.114 RSMo, there are six enumerated grounds upon which an indefinite contract with a permanent teacher may be terminated. One of these grounds is “immoral conduct.” Although there is no singular definition for what constitutes “immoral conduct” under the law, “immoral conduct” contemplates behavior “sufficiently contrary to justice, honesty, modesty or good morals, or involving baseness, vileness or depravity…” Youngman v. Doerhoff, 890 S.W.2d 330, 341 (Mo. App. E.D. 1994).

The Court noted that, “it is not the amount of money improperly spent that raises concern, it is the act of using taxpayer funds for an improper purpose that is at issue.” The Court declined “to restrict the Board’s authority to act in such a situation carrying serious negative repercussions.” 

Accordingly, the Court of Appeals found that the Director’s conduct constituted “immoral conduct” under the Teacher Tenure Act and affirmed the District’s courageous decision to stand up for the citizens of its school community.

Missouri Court of Appeals Upholds School District’s Decision to Terminate a Tenured Teacher for her Involvement in the Solicitation of Adoption of a Minor Child

Missouri courts have also held that immoral conduct includes theft of school property. In Cochran v. Board of Education of Mexico Sch. Dist. No. 59, 815 S.W. 2d 551 (Mo. App. 1991), the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the termination of a teacher from the Mexico School District for immoral conduct.

Under the Missouri Teacher Tenure Act, an indefinite contract with a permanent teacher may only be terminated for one of six enumerated reasons. Section 168.114 RSMo. One of the six reasons permitting termination is if the teacher engages in “immoral conduct.”

This Sounds Pretty Bad, But is it Immoral?

Was the Fox C-6 School Board Misled by the Bakers?

Everyone makes mistakes. What’s important is that we recognize when we make a mistake so we learn from it, thereby increasing the likelihood that we won’t repeat it. I'm not really sure that Fox C-6 Assistant Superintendent Dan Baker and his wife Fox C-6 Director of Federal Programs Angie Burns Baker learned much from their mistake.

I question whether or not the Bakers fully disclosed their online activities with the Fox C-6 Board of Education (BOE) in order to keep their jobs. It does not appear that they did.

Also, Mr. Baker didn't apologize for his transgressions as Mr. Crutchley would like you to believe. Mr. Baker didn't apologize to the people that he made derogatory comments about.

Mr. Baker read a very well crafted statement at the August 4, 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting in which he admitted NO wrongdoing or culpability. He apologized for getting caught!

Mr. Baker was not remorseful to his victims. He was checking a box to save his job!

Without honestly taking responsibility for our mistakes, and learning from them, it’s very difficult to genuinely move forward.  I’d say that’s especially true for those who were injured by someone’s “mistake".

Dan and Angie Baker apparently made “a mistake” when they wrote derogatory posts about me and others on a public online forum. At the time the posts were made, Dan Baker was Fox C-6's Section 504 Coordinator. That's an important fact because my wife and I had been advocating for our daughter’s right to have a Section 504 plan in the district for over 4 years when online comments were being made by the Bakers.

Mr. Baker originally provided our daughter with a 504 plan in May 2008, but then revoked it a few months later. For the next 6 years, including the time period during which “the Baker household” made the derogatory posts, we continued to pursue with the District our daughter’s right to have a 504 plan.

We firmly believed the District (i.e. Mr. Baker) was not fulfilling their obligations to our daughter, and we repeatedly sought the help of our school board to rectify this mistake. When the school board refused to help us, we sought the assistance of federal agencies to investigate the District’s management or should I say mismanagement of Section 504. It was Missouri DESE's former Compliance Officer who suggested filing a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights because he believed what the district was doing was wrong.

Missouri DESE's former Compliance Officer was correct. Both the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (ED OCR) and the USDA's Office for Civil Rights (USDA OCR) have been investigating and monitoring Fox C-6 since 2008 and 2009 respectively to determine whether or not the District was fulfilling its legal obligations to our daughter and other students in the district properly.

In August 2011 Fox C-6 and Missouri DESE were notified in a Final Agency Decision from USDA OCR that they were found non-compliant with Section 504 and the ADA AA. They were told to correct the problem immediately. It took 3 years after the notification to immediately reinstate the 504 Plan for the district to properly correct the problem. In the meantime, we continued to email the federal agencies to follow up on the progress of their investigations and the progress with enforcing compliance. We also contacted our U.S. Senators and Congressman in hopes of expediting a resolution. Fox's former legal counsel also emailed our U.S. Senators in an attempt to curtail the investigations.

Persistence Leads To Backlash
Apparently, persisting in one's efforts to get your school district to do the right thing can lead to backlash from administrators who aren't properly doing their job and are being questioned in front of the school board.

What truly stands out is the great amount of effort that Dan Baker and Dianne Brown-Critchlow spent in order to avoid writing a 504 plan for our daughter, not to mention all of the time they spent posting in online forums from their homes, cell phones and school district computers.

Now that Dan Baker is no longer the Section 504 Coordinator for Fox C-6, students who were previously denied 504 Plans are now being found eligible and obtaining them.

This fact seems to document that Dan Baker wasn't properly managing and implementing Section 504 in our district for the 6 years that he was the Section 504 Coordinator, yet he continued to receive very large raises just like Dianne Brown-Critchlow and her husband received.

Did our school board not review Mr. Baker's performance as the district's Section 504 Coordinator given all of the money spent in legal fees related to Section 504 issues in our district battling the federal agencies?

Problems at Seckman Elementary School

That leads us to the next problem which involves the appointing of Dan Baker as the interim principal at Seckman Elementary School despite being named in a lawsuit for posting derogatory comments in a public online forum about myself and others.

Perhaps they posted comments because I had been questioning Mr. Baker's gross mismanagement of Section 504 in the district and had to file complaints with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (ED OCR) as well as the USDA's Office for Civil Rights (USDA OCR) as he tried to subvert Section 504 Law for the past 6+ years.

August 2011 USDA OCR Final Agency Decision
In August 2011, Fox C-6 was sent a Final Agency Decision from USDA OCR directing the District to immediately reinstate our daughter's Section 504 plan that Dan Baker removed in September 2008.

The following paragraph was included on the next to last page of the USDA's Final Agency Decision. The language in the paragraph quoted below clearly spells out in fine detail that Section 504 Law PROHIBITS any form of retaliation against any person who files a civil rights complaint.

This is an extremely important paragraph. Dan Baker and Dianne Brown-Critchlow were very familiar with the USDA's Final Agency Decision and had even forwarded it to our Fox C-6 school board members in 2011. Dianne Brown-Critchlow forwarded me the email that she sent the Fox C-6 school board in December 2011 after I questioned her and Dan Baker as to whether or not the school board was even aware of the Final Agency Decision since Dan Smith and Ruth Ann Newman knew nothing about it when they were asked about it.

Here is the paragraph from the USDA's Final Agency Decision regarding retaliation:

No person shall be subjected to reprisal or harassment because he or she filed a discrimination complaint, participated in or contributed to the identification, investigation, prosecution, or resolution of a civil rights violation in or by a recipient of Federal financial assistance from USDA; or otherwise aided or supported the enforcement of Federal or USDA civil rights laws, rules, regulations, or policies. Any individual alleging such harassment or intimidation may file a complaint with USDA.

The language in the paragraph above didn't deter some of our administrators from participating in the online harassment and posting of derogatory comments on Topix that were directed at me and others. We filed complaints regarding retaliation but without have names and proof, nothing could be done. Now we have names and well documented proof.

I wrote an article about the Dear Colleague Letter that was issued by ED OCR in April 2013 to all school districts in the country regarding Retaliation. Here is a link to that article as well:

Dear Colleague Letter On Retaliation Law from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights

My pursuit to get the Fox C-6 School District to properly comply with Section 504 Law and the ADA AA and simply do the right thing led to an onslaught of online defamatory and derogatory posts that were traced back to the Bakers and the Critchlows.


Misled By the Bakers?
On July 24, the Arnold-Imperial Leader published an article titled, Bakers will keep Fox jobs. The article explained why the Bakers were allowed to keep their jobs based on a press release sent out by the District. The information provided by the District lead everyone to believe that the Bakers only made one comment from their home computer.

(UPDATED: 01/05/2015 - I've been informed that Fox's BOE was aware of the fact that more than one comment was posted and traced to the Bakers contrary to what was published in the Arnold-Imperial Leader. Then you have to question why the information wasn't properly documented by the Arnold-Imperial Leader. Supposedly, the District informed the paper that only one comment traced to the Bakers rose to a derogatory level. What was published in the Arnold-Imperial Leader with regards to the Bakers posting of comments mislead the public.)

The Arnold-Imperial Leader article stated that:

"School officials investigated the claims made in the lawsuit and decided only one comment was posted from the Bakers' home computer and that the two could keep their jobs, following disciplinary measures, Crutchley said."

The Bakers must not have fully informed school officials about all of their online activities related to Topix. Online posts were traced back to their cellular phone's browser as well. They didn't make just a single post from their home computer as stated in the Leader. They made many posts.

Bakers will keep Fox Jobs
Arnold-Imperial Leader

I've published some of the posts traced to the Bakers that are listed as exhibits in the lawsuit. It's interesting to note the language used by our dedicated educators. It's also interesting to note the statements that were made in respect to their children and grandchildren.

I know that Dan Baker's wife's daughter teaches at Seckman Elementary were Dan Baker was recently appointed to be the interim principal.

However, I did not realize that they had grandchildren that were old enough to attend school in our district as stated in one of their online comments.

It should also be noted that the online comments linked to the Bakers spanned nearly two months in time for those comments that were documented in the exhibits. So, the statement from the Leader that "only one comment was posted from the Baker's home computer" was misleading due to the misinformation provided in Fox's Press Release regarding the board's decision that allowed the Bakers to keep their jobs.

So, did the Bakers not tell the board members about all of the online posts that they made?

I documented the derogatory comment that the Bakers made about me in an article I wrote two weeks ago:

Another Extremely Bad Decision at Fox C-6!

Here are some of the online comments posted on Topix that were traced back to a Baker owned cell phone:

Seriously wrote on 01/24/2013 at 7:16AM
The thing is no one says anything about being dissatisfied with any particular situation concerning a student. Because our children are well taken care of! Here is a thought...the main goal of the school district isn't about who did or didn't get the job they wanted. It is are our children able to succeed in the real world upon graduation? I can only speak for mine and mine graduated at the top of their class. And my grandchildren love their school and because of that I am grateful to our district employees from the bottom up.

Seriously wrote on 02/09/2013 at 7:19PM
This is the most stupid thread I have ever read. Not one thing ever gets said about students. It is all about what adult didn't get the job they wanted or who wants to make a jab because they are jealous and bitter. I support our district leaders and teachers. They get a better job done than most districts on a fraction of the cost. If you care so much about kids, step away from the keyboard and go spend some quality time with a child. When's the last time you read to a child, played catch or prayed with one? You want to see a positive change in this world, start with YOURSELF!

Haha wrote on 02/09/2013 at 9:28PM
Imagine "pulling kids into this" you big idiot it should be all about the kids and not what adult was chosen for the job and is all jealous and ticked, or the Hoosier custodian that got fired or the hag ex wife. Imagine, actually thinking about kids in a forum about children's education.

Haha wrote on 03/12/2013 at 9:23PM
If you had something worth real value to say you wouldn't find it on a public, free, anonymous forum. Really, truth be told this is nothing more than thinking out loud. Sorry but even people with screwed up views think a lie is the truth if enough (even anonymous people) agree with them. And just a word of advice to the common posters on here...you could only be backed by 2 or 3 people who are signing on in different names. No offense intended to anyone but really this is like the "National Enquirer" of the Internet.

Haha wrote on 03/12/2013 at 9:54PM
Then send help because I just found out my cousin is an alien.

It appears from one of the post's above, that the Bakers weren't fond of the ex-wife or a custodian at Fox. People are certainly entitled to their opinions. Perhaps I just expect a lot more from individuals who are touted as dedicated professional educators.

Perhaps Fox's Board of Education should have questioned the Bakers and the Critchlows as to why there were making posts on a public internet forum in the first place about school district issues. They were high ranking officials in our school district and were expected to set good example for District employees, students and the community. I think they failed severely in that regard. Especially if you read the comments that were traced back to the Critchlows residence and to school district computers.

It's needless to say that their behavior was completely unacceptable but sometimes you have to state the obvious so people actually get it!

So, should Seckman Elementary School parents and teachers be concerned with the recent appointment of Dan Baker as the interim principal at SES?

Most people in the community I've spoken with want to know why the Bakers and the Critchlows weren't fired from the get go. I've been asked that question numerous times over the last 7 months.

Wow! You need to read this response from Tim Crutchley regarding Dan Baker

First, I have to say thank you to Ms. Nikki McClain for voicing her concerns to Fox C-6 school board president John Laughlin regarding last week's appointment of assistant superintendent Dan Baker as the interim principal at Seckman Elementary School.

Mr. Baker is the assistant superintendent at Fox C-6 that had defamatory posts linked back to his and his wife Angie Burns Baker's household and cell phone.

Next, I want to say thank you to Nikki for granting me permission to share with the community the response she received from acting superintendent Tim Crutchley regarding Mr. Baker's appointment.

Nikki didn't receive a response from school board president John Laughlin to whom she originally wrote. She received a response from Mr. Crutchley via Fox's new Communication Coordinator Sam Rayburn. It's also the same thing that happened for years when I would email the board and received responses from Dianne Brown-Critchlow.

As Nikki noted in her email to me, it was a "choreographed" response from the district.

She shared the response with me a week ago Friday night. Needless to say, my adrenaline was really flowing after I read it. It was such an unbelievable response that it really needed to be shared with the community.

It provides an opportunity for the community to see how a message can be spun to shine a light on all of the good things that can come out of doing really disgraceful things as a school educator/administrator.

I really don't want to put too much of my input in on the first release of this document. I'll just let everyone read it and absorb it!

I do want to mention that Mr. Laughlin did email a personal response to Ms. McClain yesterday after she emailed her take on Mr. Crutchley's response to Mr. Laughlin yesterday.

Mr. Laughlin stated in his response to Nikki that "Due to laws and contracts this is a one year issue that we are half way complete with." There was more to his response but the main thing that I and many others have been concerned with is why the board didn't fire Dianne Critchlow and why they haven't fired Dan and Angie Baker.

Mr. Laughlin's response to Nikki regarding the laws and contracts is why I emailed Mr. Laughlin this morning requesting the Missouri and/or Federal statutes and contracts language that has kept the school board from firing district administrators for their egregious behavior and violations of school board policy and/or federal laws. I'm looking forward to reviewing the statutes and the language protecting those that should have been fired.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, internet posts were traced not only to Dan Baker's household but also to either his or Angie Burns Baker's cell phones. One of the posts made from a Baker cell phone was made at 7:16am on a school day.

Internet posts were also made from school computers during the school day but those posts can't be easily linked to a particular person like those that were made using a cell phone.

Below is a copy of the email from acting superintendent Tim Crutchley sent to Ms. Nikki McClain on Friday December 19, 2014 regarding the appointment of Dan Baker as the interim principal at Seckman Elementary School.

Ms. McClain, 

Thank you for sharing your concern. 

The Board of Education is committed to partnering with parents to help every student become successful at school by reaching their potential. Likewise, the Board of Education is committed to the expectation of a respectful and positive culture in school buildings for both students and staff. 

A review of student performance data is evidence that change is necessary at Seckman Elementary to improve educational outcomes for students. Mr. Baker was successful as a former principal at Hodge Elementary. The goal of appointing him on an interim basis as instructional leader at Seckman Elementary is to begin the improvement process. 

True, the internet post being referenced was unacceptable behavior. Mr. Baker acknowledges that transgression. He has apologized publically and has been duly disciplined by the Board of Education with loss of compensation and rank. Today, Mr. Baker fully understands the performance and code of conduct expectations of the school board, and he has demonstrated his willingness to comply with those expectations. 

Fox School District rightfully promotes good “character” traits among students and staff. At the very least, that internet post failed to show “respect” and possibly other character qualities. It is reasonable to promote all aspects of good character. Another good character trait is “forgiveness,” when the offender is contrite. Anyone who has learned from their mistakes, greatly appreciates being given a second chance and typically works extra hard to demonstrate that forgiveness was not misplaced. 

Mr. Baker is a quality educator. Mr. Baker is prepared to work hard to earn back the trust and respect of the community. His contrition and his commitment to hard work earn him the opportunity to take on the educational challenges at Seckman Elementary. 

Give Mr. Baker a chance. Hopefully you will discover why the District trusts Mr. Baker with this responsibility. 

Sincerely, 

Tim Crutchley
Acting Superintendent

745 Jeffco Blvd
Arnold, Mo 63010
636-296-8000
636-282-5170 fax

Achievement - Character - Excellence
National District of Character

Another Extremely Bad Decision at Fox C-6!

Parents at Seckman Elementary in the Fox C-6 School District were informed in a letter on December 17, 2014 from acting superintendent Tim Crutchley that an interim principal was being assigned to their school mid-year.

Below is the text from that letter:

Wednesday, December 17, 2014 

Dear Parents,

Earlier this month, it was announced that Ms. Simokaitis would be transferring from her role as principal of Seckman Elementary to an assistant principal role at another elementary school within the district. Again, I wish to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Simokaitis for her work with students and staff during her tenure at Seckman Elementary.

Creating a change in leadership can be difficult in the middle of a school year. Originally, the district planned to select an interim principal from current assistant principals in the district. Upon closer examination of the situation and needs of our students, we decided to explore another option that will prevent disruption and stress to the other elementary buildings.

Effective January 5th, 2015, Assistant Superintendent Dan Baker will be appointed as interim principal of Seckman Elementary for the second semester of the 2014-2015 school year.

Mr. Baker has extensive experience and dedication as an educator and as an elementary principal. His eagerness to take on the responsibilities of interim principal, along with his proven track record of achieving high student success as an elementary school principal, demonstrate he is the best option for Seckman Elementary students and families.

A permanent successor for the 2015-2016 school year will be hired through an extensive interview process during Spring 2015. Although his start date as superintendent with the district is not scheduled to begin until July 2015, Dr. Wipke plans to be engaged and involved in the process of selecting and hiring an ideal candidate as the next principal of Seckman Elementary.

As always, student learning is our top priority and expectation. I, along with Mr. Baker, and our talented teachers and staff members, will continue to work hard to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible.

Thank you for your time and understanding.


Sincerely, 

Tim Crutchley
Acting Superintendent

Many people may not know who Dan Baker is. Dan Baker is one of the administrators from the Fox C-6 School District that had online defamatory posts traced back to his home. He and his wife Angela Burns Baker were both put on paid administrative leave by the Fox C-6 school board shortly after it was publicly announced that comments had been linked to their home.

Defamatory Post From the Baker Household

Below is one of the online post that was "associated" with the Baker household on TOPIX.COM. The post below was made just a couple of hours after I spoke at the January 15, 2013 Fox C-6 school board meeting during the Public Comments session.

What's even more impressive about the post below is the fact that I stated during my public comment that night to the Fox C-6 school board and the administrators sitting at the table (which included Dan Baker) that I hoped that no one would post any online defamatory comments after myself and others spoke at the meeting that night.

It's obvious that the Baker "household" didn't respect my request.

01/15/2013 – 9:30PM (local time)
It is amazing how people believe complete nut jobs! Can't believe people would listen to that one crazy guy with the weird eye. I know him from Boy Scouts and he says some really strange things that do not sound right. I am pretty sure he has a closet where he hangs up newspaper clippings of board members and wears clown makeup while cutting up teddy bears. That guy is crazy!

Perhaps educators who are being called out for not properly doing their job and spend numerous hours and legal fees trying to get around Section 504 Law find it therapeutic to post online comments about parents who are calling them out. However, I don't condone posting things online that aren't true and defamatory because they can be traced. 

By the way, Mr. Baker doesn't know me from scouts. He knows me because he was Fox's Section 504 Coordinator. I've never seen him at any scouting events. Although Mr. Baker did make a payment using his school district VISA credit card to a STL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA on April 7, 2011 for $100. Perhaps it was a donation.

Anyway, I would have to say that claiming to know me from scouts is not an honest statement. What does that say about integrity?

It's certainly NOT the type of behavior that I would expect from a dedicated educator.

I'm a parent who has learned a lot about Section 504 Law over the past 6+ years. I've learned what educators are supposed to do and not do with respect to that law. You expect people to do the right thing and follow the law but that doesn't always happen.

I've spent thousands of hours emailing and speaking with parents in our district, school board members, school employees, retired school employees, attorneys, attorneys at ED OCR, attorneys at USDA OCR, attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice, Senators, Congressman, state representatives, state senators and parents across the country on the subject. So, I've gained quite a bit of knowledge on the subject over the years. It took 6 years for the district to properly recognize students that qualify for Section 504.

I've documented and written quite a bit about my experiences on this subject. All of my research led me to discover even more problems occurring in our school district which has been nationally publicized. This is definitely not what I was planning on doing for the past 6+ years. But, it has certainly helped reshape our school district over the last several months. Some of our remaining administrators are simply having a tough time dealing with it all and are twisting things however they can to keep from losing their jobs.

So, I'm sure there are probably many parents in our school district that still aren't aware of all of the problems that have transpired over the last several years in the Fox C-6 School District. They may think that having an assistant superintendent step in as an "interim" principal may seem like a good thing especially with all of the experience that was touted by Mr. Crutchley about Mr. Baker in his letter to Seckman Elementary parents. However, you have to weigh Mr. Baker's experience against the facts of what Mr. Baker's "household" posted online during off hours.

Never mind the fact that Fox C-6 is a National District of Character and there all of those "Character Traits" that our school district employees and school board members have agreed to uphold like Honesty, Integrity and Respect as they set the example for our students and our community.

Baker Did Not Apologize!

I want to point out the fact that Mr. Baker pretended to apologize to the public for being linked to comments made online at the August 4, 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting.

Mr. Baker and his wife didn't really apologize for posting the online defamatory statements. Mr. Baker apologized for the fact that his household was associated with the statements.

Dan Baker more or less said he was sorry for getting caught!

He also sounded nervous for having to read his statement to the public.

Listen to Dan Baker's Public Statement

Below is a transcript of what Mr. Baker read aloud at the August 4 board meeting.

To the Fox school board and the school community

On behalf of my wife and myself, I would like to this opportunity to publicly express my sincere regret that the Baker household was associated with the recent unrest caused by posts to an internet forum. Even a cursory connection to such events is unacceptable to both of us and is outside of our personal and professional standards. 

We appreciate the Board’s willingness to weigh our combined 34 years of service to the Fox school district as they adjudicate this matter. Most regrettable is the time and energy diverted from the business of educating students in order to deal with the issue. We are grateful for this opportunity to continuing serving this community and look forward to focusing our attention on meeting the needs of our students and their families.


Thank you.

I've had the personal experience of having to deal with Mr. Baker in his professional duties as the former Fox C-6 Section 504 Coordinator for the school district for 6+ years. Knowing Mr. Baker and having to interact with him, I certainly don't believe that Mr. Baker should be appointed as the interim principal at Seckman Elementary. That's just my opinion based upon my own experience of dealing with Mr. Baker.

Most people believe that the Bakers should have been fired and so do I. 

I can tell you that Section 504 law states that it is a violation of the law to retaliate against parents for advocating for their children and others. Perhaps ED OCR or USDA OCR don't consider making defamatory comments in online forums about parents is retaliatory in nature because it's considered "freedom of speech". USDA OCR didn't have anything substantial to act on until we were able to send them court documents such as our defamation lawsuit once names were named.

However, if everyone knew everything that's gone on behind the scenes at Fox over the last 6 and a half years as we dealt with the both the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and the USDA's Office for Civil Rights in our efforts to get the Fox C-6 School District to properly follow the law to which Mr. Baker was expected to uphold, you may have a better understanding of things.

Needless to say, I believe the community needs to step up and take action by emailing your current school board members and acting superintendent Tim Crutchley about this recent decision. You need to let them know that this decision is unacceptable.

Mr. Baker should not have even been considered for this position.

Dedication and Perseverance are really good character traits to follow when dealing with these types of issues!

Below is the list of character traits from Guffey Elementary's webpage. 

Perhaps Mr. Baker should have had a framed copy of them hanging in his office or at his house to remind him of what he was expected to follow.

Mr. Baker failed miserably in upholding the Character Education traits that our district has touted for so long. Impressionable students and the community are being taught the wrong thing with all of the incredibly poor decisions in the recent months.

Character Education Words

Cooperation	To work together as a team and allow others to voice their opinion
Responsibility	Being accountable for your own actions
Respect	Demonstrating good manners toward self, others, authority, and property
Peace	Working calmly and cooperatively with others
Caring	Showing kindness, courtesy, and compassion towards others
Dedication	Always working hard to achieve your goals
Integrity	Doing the right thing, even when no one is looking
Honesty	To tell the truth no matter what the outcome may be
Positive Attitude	Always looking for the bright side of any situation
Trustworthy	Taking responsibility for ones choices and commitments
Perseverance	Remaining dedicated to an idea or task and never giving up
Loyalty	To be a reliable and dependable friend

Fox C-6 Announces New Superintendent Dr. James Wipke

Dr. James Wipke was announced as the next superintendent of the Fox C-6 School District at last night's board of education meeting. Dr. Wipke will officially start on July 1, 2015. Dr. Wipke is currently working in the Rockwood School District.

I have received emails and messages from friends and family that are either friends with Dr. Wipke or have had children in school where he was principal. They all spoke very highly of him.

The committee members and Fox C-6 board of education made an excellent choice in choosing Dr. James Wipke.

I introduced myself to Dr. Wipke after the meeting and told him that I had received an email from a mutual friend that spoke very highly of him and that I look forward to working with him. I mentioned that I had been working for many years to improve the transparency in our district and that things had improved.

Dr. Wipke spoke about fear in his presentation. I told him that some of the fear in our district was due to the lack of transparency and not knowing what was going on in the district.

Dr. Wipke also stated during his presentation that he wants the community to hold him accountable.

Everyone in the Fox C-6 community should listen to his presentation that I have posted below:

Watch Dr. Jim Wipke address the community on Fox's YouTube Channel

Listen to Dr. Jim Wipke's Introduction

and Comments to the Fox C-6 Community

Below is a copy of the email that was sent to all of the parents and staff in the Fox C-6 School District announcing Dr. Wipke's selection.

Dear Parents and Families:

The Fox C-6 School District Board of Education is pleased to announce that Dr. James Wipke has been hired as Superintendent for the 2015-2016 school year.  Dr. Wipke currently serves as Executive Director of Secondary Education for Rockwood School District, a position he has held since 2011.

“We are excited to fill the superintendent’s post with a person of Dr. Wipke’s caliber,” stated Board President John Laughlin.  “Our board was favorably impressed with all the candidates we considered, and highly impressed with the candidates we interviewed.  Dr. Wipke’s accomplishments and educational achievements make him the perfect candidate for the job.”

Dr. Wipke received his BS degree from Harris-Stowe State College.  He has a MA degree in Education, and a MA degree in Administration.  His doctorate degree from Maryville University is in Educational Leadership.

During his 22 years in education, Dr. Wipke has served as an elementary and middle school teacher in the Rockwood School District, a middle school assistant principal in the Parkway School District, a middle and high school principal and Executive Director of Secondary Education in the Rockwood School District.

“Dr. Wipke has the education, experience, strength of character, and vision to lead the Fox School District into the future,” said John Laughlin.  “We look forward to a smooth transition and are anxious for Dr. Wipke to meet the students, teachers, parents, staff and the entire Fox Schools community.”

Dr. Wipke will be introduced at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, November 18, 2014.  Please join in welcoming Dr. Wipke to Fox C-6 School District.

John Laughlin,
President, Fox School District Board of Education