Problems Continue with Principal George Forster at Franklin High School

Franklin High School Principal George Forster (pictured at left) was alleged to be a primary source of the racist and homophobic climate that terrorized so many students and their families during the making of "Out In The Silence," a documentary film chronicling the efforts of several Venango County residents to make the area more inclusive and welcoming for LGBT people.

According to this court document, problems persist at the high school under Forster's leadership. Sad ...

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

LEAH BILLINGSLEY, a minor, (by and through her parents and natural guardians, KEVIN BILLINGSLEY and JENNIFER BILLINGSLEY) - Plaintiff

v.

FRANKLIN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al. - Defendants.

C.A. No. 11-160 Erie - Magistrate Judge Baxter

INTRODUCTION
A. Relevant Procedural and Factual History

On August 8, 2011, this civil action was commenced pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, by Plaintiff Leah Billingsley, a minor, by and through her parents and natural guardians Kevin Billingsley and Jennifer Billingsley. Named as Defendants are: Franklin Area School District (Franklin); Ronald A Paranick, Superintendent of Franklin (Paranick); George Forster, Jr., Principal of the Franklin Area High School (Forster); and Peter Wygant, a teacher at the Franklin Area High School (AWygant@). For convenience, Defendants Paranick, Forster and Wygant will hereafter be referred to collectively as Aindividual Defendants.

The claims in this case arise from the sexual assault of Plaintiff by a fellow student at Franklin Area High School, which occurred on January 14, 2011.

At the time, Plaintiff was in the ninth grade and her primary special education teacher was Defendant Wygant. (Id. at & 9). On the date of the incident, Plaintiff was given a hall pass by Defendant Wygant, which allowed Plaintiff to leave her special education classroom without supervision. (Id. at & 10). Shortly after Plaintiff left the classroom, Defendant Wygant gave a hall pass to another student, a male identified as AJ.R.@ (Id. at & 11). After leaving the classroom, J.R. found Plaintiff and Aviciously assaulted and raped@ her. (Id. at & 16).

Plaintiff alleges that J.R. had sexually assaulted another female student at Franklin Area High School prior to January 14, 2011, and that the individual Defendants were all aware of the prior incident. (Id. at & 12). Plaintiff alleges further that the individual Defendants were also aware that J.R. Ahad aggressive tendencies and had repeatedly made sexual advances to female students,@ which behavior Awas flagrant, obvious, rampant and of a continuous duration.@ (Id. at & 13).

Plaintiff claims that Defendants violated her due process right to bodily integrity under the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution. In particular, Plaintiff claims that the individual Defendants Acreated the danger that caused harm to [Plaintiff] and deprived her of her liberty interest in bodily integrity,@ and that the deprivation of her liberty interest was the result of the official policy, custom or practice of Defendant Franklin. As relief for her claims, Plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss [ECF No. 7] arguing that Plaintiff=s claims against the individual Defendants are barred by the doctrine of qualified immunity and/or that Plaintiff has failed to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted against any of the Defendants. Plaintiff has since filed a brief in opposition to Defendants= motion [ECF Nos. 10]. This matter is now ripe for consideration.

Download or Read The Full Court Opinion HERE.

Teachers (And Principals) Who Bully

"Out In The Silence" is a documentary film about the brutal bullying of a gay teen in Venango County's Franklin High School and the courageous battle the teen and his mother wage against anti-LGBT bigotry, harassment, violence, and discrimination in this conservative rural area.


While the film deals most directly with peer-to-peer bullying, the making of the film revealed that the root of this violence grows from the biggest and most cowardly bullies in the high school, Principal George Forster (pictured at far left) and his protectors on the Franklin Area School District Board.

These problems in Franklin and throughout Venango County will only end when a concerned public addresses them head-on and seeks true accountability and justice.

Addressing Teacher Bullies

by Teaching Tolerance:

When schools implement anti-bullying programs, the focus is usually centered on student-to-student bullying. However, students aren’t the only bullies in school. Teachers sometimes earn the label when they employ questionable disciplinary and management practices. Addressing Teacher Bullies is a presentation intended to help educators assess and reflect on their classroom management style and learn more about how inappropriate displays of teacher power can impact student learning.

Teaching Tolerance designed this presentation for teacher leaders, professional learning groups, staff development coordinators and other educators interested in engaging their colleagues around issues of teacher behavior and classroom climate.

Using the presentation in a small group setting allows participants to learn from each other through discussion and collaboration. The included audio narration assumes a small group environment. However, educators working independently may choose to turn off the audio component.

The presentation can be played directly from the Teaching Tolerance site or can be downloaded for use offline. Please be sure to move your mouse over the slide window to advance the animation and video.

An Urgent Message for the Franklin Area School District - Franklin, PA

Franklin High School Principal George Forster and the Franklin Area School District Board should be forced to watch this video every morning until they adequately address the bullying and discrimination that has plagued the area for far too long.

The Bullying of Seth Walsh: Requiem for a Small-Town Boy
By Bryan Alexander / Tehachapi

Time Magazine:

Eleven-year-old Shawn Walsh paid a poignant tribute to the brother, just two years older, he had lost. Gripping a microphone as he stood at the altar of the First Baptist Church in Tehachapi, Calif., Shawn joshed that his brother could be "a pain in the butt" at times but that Seth was "the best big brother in the world — no, the galaxy." Wearing a yellow (Seth's favorite color) plaid shirt, Shawn then, without mentioning the word, made a heartbreaking reference to bullying, the specter at the heart of his family's mourning for his openly gay brother. "I always wanted to protect him," said Shawn, as sobs broke out in the church. "I just wish people could have been nice to him like my mom taught me."


People were not always nice to 13-year-old Seth Walsh. Neither his valiant younger brother Shawn nor the rest of his family could protect him from what they insist was chronic teasing. Even before Seth came out as gay, family and friends say, he was perpetually picked on for his mannerisms and his style of dressing. The bullying turned Seth Walsh to suicide, one of a spate of such deaths across the U.S. in the past two weeks. (See what happens when bullying goes criminal.)

On Sept. 19, his single mother Wendy found him unconscious; he had tried to hang himself from a tree in his backyard after another apparent bullying incident. He lingered on life support for more than a week. His death has since shattered emotions in this rural community 120 miles (190 km) north of Los Angeles. Close to 600 townspeople crammed into First Baptist on Friday, Oct. 1, to remember the teen who loved Pokémon, adored french fries above all other food and had an obsession with disco music. The church was so crowded that Pastor Ron Barker had mourners sit on the floor along the entire length of the middle aisle so everyone could find room inside the church. Still, many mourners gave up trying to enter. "Seth had friends that even this building could not contain," Barker said, smiling even as he knew the crowds in the church were a clear building violation. "My prayer for today is that the fire people don't show up."

Seth's beautician mother Wendy, 44, did not speak at the service. ("It's hard," she told TIME afterward. "It's hard for everyone.") Wearing a black polka-dot dress, she occasionally wept into the shoulder of her father Jim, 65, who was seated next to Seth's two brothers (Shane, 17, and Shawn) and sister (Amanda, 18). But Wendy wrote a eulogy that the pastor read. It began with a story about Seth placing a freshly picked spring flower in offering to his late dog Kelly, whom the family had just buried. "After giving the flower to Kelly, he went back to the family of flowers and gave an offering to the flowers for sacrificing one of their own members," Barker read. "He was a blessing to us and all who knew him, a lesson to the world on how to treat one another." (See the case of Matthew Shepard.)

The pastor told TIME that the focus of the service was "going to be on Seth and his life, not on the bullying, and not on the homosexuality." But both subjects were clearly in evidence at the service. As part of a photo montage displayed on the white walls behind the altar, Seth was shown happily wearing a plastic tiara on his head. The next frame featured the word bullying with a red slash through it.

Seth's grandparents insist their grandson knew from an early age that he was gay. "Wendy did everything humanly possible to help him understand his world and to support him," Jim Walsh, a retired school principal, told TIME. "And so did his brothers and sister." But it was something young Seth had trouble accepting. "Initially he wanted to have a girlfriend," says grandmother Judy Walsh, a retired schoolteacher. "He wasn't happy with his orientation. He read the Bible a lot. This was not the way he wanted to live his life, but that's what he was dealt with."

Even before he came out, he was teased enough, his grandparents say, that he was homeschooled on two separate occasions. His best friend, Jamie Phillips, says Seth, who told friends he was gay last year, was harassed long before: "Since it was a rumor that went around, everyone thought he was gay." "He started getting teased by the fourth and fifth grade," says Judy Walsh. "By sixth grade, the kids were starting to get mean. By the seventh grade, he was afraid to walk home from school because he was afraid he would get harassed. As he was walking by a classroom, a kid yelled out, 'Queer.' Stuff like that."

The bullying took every form. "It was eye to eye, over the telephone, personal, over the Internet," says Judy. "He spent a lot of his life frightened." Seth's grandparents say the breaking point came after what they believe was a bullying incident in a local park on Sept. 19. After the incident, Seth appeared to be acting normally at home. He then showered and asked to borrow a pen from his mother to write. Then he said he was going to play with the dogs in the backyard. His horrified mother found him later at the tree and fought to save her child even though she suspected it was futile. "Wendy told me, when she put him on the ground, she knew his soul was gone," said Jim. The medical response teams did their best to revive him, heliporting Seth to the county's trauma center, where he remained on life support before dying Sept. 27.


Tehachapi police declined to discuss specifics of what they say is an ongoing investigation of the incident. Police Sergeant Kevin Paille did confirm that police were looking into possible instances of "bullying or hazing" centered on Walsh's sexuality. "We're trying to get a clear picture of the totality of the situation," he said.

The boy's death has left his grief-stricken family trying to find the positive in the tragedy. Jim Walsh points out that Seth's organs were donated following his death; a child in Los Angeles was saved after receiving Seth's heart. Meanwhile, the town has used the incident to preach understanding, this time with the nation as a stage. "We're just podunk Tehachapi," says Judy Walsh. "I don't expect to get calls from Ellen ... [she pauses to work on the name] ... DeGeneres or 60 Minutes. The biggest regret is that this didn't happen before Seth's death." As Wendy wrote in her eulogy: "Seth is doing what he always wanted to do — to promote love."

Openly Gay Student Defends Teacher at School Board Meeting

Jay McDowell, a high school teacher in Howell, Michigan, was suspended last month for disciplining an anti-gay student. At a recent school board meeting, openly gay 14-year-old Graeme Taylor came to McDowell's defense with an incredibly articulate/inspiring speech.

Would students in Venango County feel safe or empowered enough to speak out so courageously?

Discrimination Casts Shadow Over Progress

Letter-to-the-Editor in The Derrick (Oil City / Franklin, PA) - May 17, 2010:

Editor:

As the directors of “Out in the Silence,” a documentary about the struggle for visibility, justice and equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people in rural and small town America, we were greatly encouraged by our experiences in Venango County over the four years of making the film.

But as we travel to screening events across Pennsylvania, using it as a tool for community education and dialogue, we are troubled by reports that the problems at Franklin High School that are portrayed in the film continue or have gotten worse.

We are told by people who have first-hand experience that GLBT students at Franklin High continue to be bullied, harassed and violated with little or no intervention by school authorities. Moreover, we are told, teachers and counselors who show any interest in helping these students have actually been threatened by the school administration with retaliation and loss of employment.

This type of discrimination toward any minority group is unacceptable. It’s also a violation of the Pennsylvania Code of Conduct for Educators.

What can you do to help? If you have concerns about or know of any teacher or administrator at Franklin or any school who has engaged in negligent or discriminatory activity, it is possible to file an Educator Misconduct Complaint through the Professional Standards and Practices Commission. All complaints are handled in strict confidentiality.

For more information visit http://www.education.state.pa.us/ or call the Chief Counsel, Pennsylvania Department of Education, 717-783-0201.

As we prepare for the media attention that will accompany the film’s June screenings in the 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival as well as national PBS broadcast this spring, we plan to talk about all of the good things that are happening in Venango County, but the situation at Franklin High casts a dark shadow that we simply cannot, will not, ignore.

If one believes in the concept that all people are created equal and deserving of equal rights and respect under the law, then those beliefs must include GLBT people. And if not now, when?

Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer
Washington, D.C.

A Lesson For Venango County's Franklin High School

Principal George Forster Is Alleged By Many Students And Parents To Be The Root Of The Problem At Franklin High School With Regard To Lack Of Equal Treatment For ALL Students, Particularly Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Students And Students Of Color

Maybe This Example From Massachusetts Will Help Urge Him, And The School Board That Condones His Behavior, To Fulfill The Obligations Of Their Positions

SCHOOL EMBRACES GAY-THEMED MUSICAL

By Nancy Shohet West for THE BOSTON GLOBE:

Peter Atlas always thought Concord-Carlisle Regional High School was open to diversity, but when he put out his casting call for the musical “Falsettos’’ he had doubts about the turnout.

How many teenagers would audition for a show about two homosexual couples, a straight couple, and a 12-year-old boy?


Dozens, he learned. When it came time to cast the seven-member ensemble, Atlas had his pick from among around 50 candidates from across the student body.

“I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of our administration for supporting this show,’’ said Atlas, a math teacher and sometime theatrical director. “To say I was surprised would be to underestimate them, but I can tell you I was delighted.’’

As Atlas and his cast prepare to open “Falsettos’’ this Friday, they may be making high school theatrical history.

The musical, co-written by Natick native William Finn and James Lapine, won two Tony awards after its 1992 debut. But according to Brad Lohrenz, director of licensing at the agency that handles Finn’s royalties, Concord-Carlisle is the first public high school in the country to produce the show for an outside audience.

“I can’t quite believe that a public high school is doing this,’’ Finn said last week. “It seems either very brave or very stupid to me. But honestly, it’s wonderful that this is being done. It makes me think that high school must be a much more civilized place than it was when I was a student.’’

But it doesn’t surprise the cast members that their school is the one to break new ground in this way. They say they have all grown up in an environment that welcomes diversity of all kinds, including sexual orientation.

“Among most groups here, it’s widely accepted, just another thing that the person is, and not something negative. A characteristic, like having blue eyes,’’ said stage manager Ben Marsh. “There will always be a few jerks who think it’s not OK, but that’s to be expected. This play definitely discourages stereotypes and serves as an information source.’’

“Falsettos’’ tells the story of Marvin, a married man who decides to leave his wife to begin a new life with his male lover, and the effect that decision has on his own family as well as two other couples, one lesbian and one heterosexual.

Sophomore Hannah Kilcoyne plays 12-year-old Jason, Marvin’s son, in Concord-Carlisle’s production, and for her the performance holds significance beyond what she ever expected to find in a high school musical.

“Jason’s family story is really similar to my family story,’’ said Kilcoyne, who experienced the divorce that resulted from her mother’s coming out as a lesbian.

“Now I’m up on stage portraying something that is very normal to me but will educate other people about different families and different lives. There are so many kids who might feel left out of the story line of the average high school play but can recognize themselves in this one.’’

For senior Kailey Pryor, the play has been a learning experience.

“Growing up in Concord, you get the message that people here are really liberal, but a lot of kids haven’t really had that much experience with actual issues,’’ Pryor said. “At one of our first rehearsals, Mr. Atlas talked to us about the gay rights movement and how AIDS affected the gay community, and that was eye-opening. I’ve always said I’m pro-gay rights because those are the values in my family, but being in the show has taught me a lot more about what that means.’’

In Atlas’s experience, Concord-Carlisle has been ahead of the curve for public high schools in terms of its openness to diversity. He witnessed it first when he came out as a gay man to colleagues and students in the early 1990s, and has seen it develop further in the two decades since, through the work and outreach of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, which he started there.

Still, he was moved by principal Peter Badalament’s openness to the show and how the school has received the project.

Atlas recalls the conversation he had with the two boys who play the gay male leads. “I told them that if they play their parts successfully, the audience will confuse them and their characters, which is to say, people will assume they’re gay or they never would have been able to play the part so convincingly,’’ Atlas said. “They understood that and assured me it wasn’t a problem for them. I’m amazed and delighted at how cavalier these kids are. It’s so not an issue.’’


Two years ago, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School staged “The Laramie Project,’’ an acclaimed drama documenting the aftermath of the murder of a gay college student in Laramie, Wyo.

Acton-Boxborough drama teacher Linda Potter found herself and her students on the front lines of controversy when members of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, which is known for protests against homosexuality, picketed outside the school.

“All they did was bring us more attention and a larger audience,’’ said Potter.

Concord-Carlisle has not escaped notice for its staging of “Falsettos.’’ The play caught the attention of MassResistance.org, a grass-roots activist group in Massachusetts, whose online newsletter recently ran a headline saying “Concord-Carlisle High School presenting depraved homosexual musical.’’

Atlas and the students involved with the performance say they know of no active dissent within the Concord-Carlisle community concerning the musical, though a small number of boys withdrew their interest after the first round of auditions.

For senior Zander Ansara, playing a man who leaves his wife for a male lover is a far cry from Ansara’s last theatrical role - Danny Zuko in a seventh-grade production of “Grease.’’

Ansara said he tried out for “Falsettos’’ only because he didn’t make the soccer team this fall and had a lot of time on his hands.

“My friends don’t make fun of me for playing a gay character,’’ he said. “They just make fun of me for being in a play.’’