Emotions ran high when parents, students, and teachers met in the Tecumseh High School auditorium for the Tecumseh Board of Education (BOE) meeting on Feb. 23. Discussion centered on the procedures used for dealing with sex offenders and bullying, with attendees often breaking out into applause.

The meeting opened with community member and parent, Renick Brown,  speaking to the full auditorium about the outrage of parents regarding the “culture” at Tecumseh Local schools that “supports a sexual predator and makes them feel welcome.” Brown and community member, Kevin Becker, also expressed parents’ concerns that bullying is not being dealt with appropriately.

Brown said he spoke on behalf of members of the “TLS Parents Group” Facebook page.

Parents are up in arms because tier 3 sex offender and former Tecumseh guidance counselor, Kristin Mastin, has been allowed to volunteer with a Tecumseh parents’ group by preparing team meals.

Mastin was convicted in 2011 of having an inappropriate relationship with a male 16 year-old Tecumseh student. The father of the victim was in attendance.

The victim’s father says he “...fully supports Mastin getting her life together and being a mom to her kids and going to the games to support her kids” and that he only expressed concern when he learned she was volunteering around kids after school. He also stated he felt that, in allowing Mastin to volunteer, the school district, “...isn’t supporting my family like they said they would.” 

An angry high student stood up and said he didn’t understand why Mastin was allowed to volunteer “...if I was a sex offender there’s no way I would be allowed to volunteer because I’m a guy. So what if she’s a woman? Why should she be any different?”

A volunteer with the group  Mastin worked with informed the audience that Mastin did not “volunteer to help with the meals” but was, in fact, “asked to volunteer because no one else would step up to help.” She also said Mastin has always been supervised.

According to BOE president, Kurt Lewis, volunteering with parent groups for athletic teams is governed differently because, according to district policy, they are not considered “afterschool programming.”

Mastin stepped down from volunteering with the group at the end of January after her probation officer suggested that “(Mastin) may want to consider her thoughts on volunteering due to the outcry from the parents.”

Bullying was another hot button topic discussed at the emotionally-fraught BOE meeting.

After Brown described his experience when his son was bullied, Kevin Becker took the podium to discuss the many alleged incidences he has heard and read online of “student-to-student and staff-to-student” bullying.

Becker stated that it is a “troubling issue” when victims of bullying feel they have no safe place to go to and make complaints, especially against staff members, “without fear of reprisal or repercussions.”

Becker says a group of concerned parents created an online forum to open up dialogue with elected officials to address issues like bullying in order to affect change in the district. Becker claims the group was immediately “attacked” when they began raising complaints.

Becker referenced a letter he claimed was written by the Tecumseh Education Association warning its members about parents in the group who are “disgruntled about teacher bullying” at the school. Becker emphatically stated, “Parents have every right to be worried about the safety of their children” and that he was sure the BOE was concerned as well.

Earlier in the meeting, Brown claimed to possess a similar letter written by the Teachers’ union addressing bullying at Tecumseh. When the president of the Teachers’ union requested to take a look at the letter in order to address any possible discrepancies, Brown refused, saying he would provide a copy to her “later.” Brown did, however, openly provide copies to the BOE. The president of the Teacher’s union later admitted that the letter was true.

In addition to the bullying concerns raised by Becker and earlier in the meeting by Brown, other parents and several students angrily demanded to know why bullying is not being properly addressed in the schools.

One young man said he has made many reports since middle school about being bullied, even about being bullied by a teacher, but nothing was ever done about it. Another student asked, “Why should I have to avoid the bullies? Why isn’t something being done to make them stop instead?  I have a right to feel safe!”

A parent complained, “My child has come home with bruises because of a teacher, but when we complained, no one ever called us back or tried to help the situation in any way. My child shouldn’t be scared of her teachers or to go to school.”

Many of the teachers in attendance addressed students and parents, emphasizing that all parents and students could, and should, always feel free to contact them whenever a student felt unsafe. One teacher stated she “felt extremely sad” that any of her former students should feel “scared and alone because of bullying.”

Becker suggested to BOE members that creating some kind of anonymous hotline to supplement the current reporting avenues already available, might offer victims a place where they know for sure they will be safe when reporting bullying episodes.    

Lewis closed the open communication portion of the BOE meeting, saying he “appreciates everyone’s passion” and that both concerns were “touchy subjects.” Lewis also promised the BOE would look at the current procedures and policies to see where improvements could be made. Lewis invited concerned students, parents, and teachers to meet with BOE members soon in order that the issues discussed could be addressed as quickly as possible.