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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2007 > November > 30 > Entry
Teachers: Goff tried to discourage abuse reports
Former City Day Community School physical education teacher Nate Moore testified Friday that the school’s ex-superintendent, Roseda Goff, tried to discourage him from reporting to law enforcement that a 13-year-old girl at the school had been beaten by her mother, calling the girl a liar who couldn’t be trusted.
Goff is on trial today for attempted obstructing of official business for allegedly interfering when school staff felt cases of child abuse and neglect needed to be reported to law officers. The charge is a third degree misdemeanor that carries with it a maximum sentence of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Goff was one of the founders of the charter school, but was fired in June after incidents of testing irregularities on state exams.
Three teachers testified Friday that Goff told them them they must report to her first any incidents of abuse and neglect so she could decide if authorities should be called. State law requires teachers who suspect abuse to report it to police or childrens’ services. The teachers testified that Goff stepped into a training session on reporting child abuse and warned she would send angry parents to the teachers’ homes in cases where she was not informed of a child abuse report.
Moore, Andy Bergeron and Sue White, who no longer work at the school, said Goff ruled City Day like a dictator and that they feared they might be fired if she knew they reported abuse to law enforcement without talking to her. They described three separate incidents in which they said they suspected abuse but Goff attempted to dissuade them from reporting it.
The teachers, all of whom are white, said Goff, who is black, told them they did not understand that African American parents disciplined children differently.
Moore described an incident in April in which a 13-year-old girl was not doing sit ups in gym class. When he asked her why she became upset and described being beaten by her mother with an extension cord, a belt and a fist. He filled out a school incident report and on it noted he head called Montgomery County Childrens’ Services.
Moore testified he was called to Goff’s office.
“She told me that is not the way we do things here, that we don’t know if the marks are real or not,” Moore said. “She said she liked to wait four or five days and find out if she lying about what she said. I said, ‘I am calling Childrens’ Services.’ She went on to tell me the way black and white people discipline children is different and I would understand since I am not a black person.”
Under cross examination by Goff’s attoreny, David Turner, Moore said he did not actually call Childrens’ Services until after the meeting, but that he said so on the form so school leaders would know he the incident was going to be reported.
The trial continues this afternoon.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Categories: City Day Investigation
Comments
By Rick
December 4, 2007 6:13 PM | Link to this
Oldprof, I voted in favor of the DPS levy, as I discussed on this blog right after the levy vote.By joe mamma
December 4, 2007 8:11 AM | Link to this
I wouldn’t make any generalizations about charter schools or any educators based off of this. Just do a Google search on “Ohio teacher charged” or “Ohio principal charged” and you’ll see there is plenty of blame to go around.By DavidSS2
December 2, 2007 11:37 AM | Link to this
Rick, charter schools are always cited as being like the best of the lot. The one your talk about is in RURAL S. Caroline Pitts said in article Saturday (or Friday). It has strong parent involvement. It probably isn’t as pretty as it sounds. I wonder how it compares to Oakwood—since we want to compare special schools to special schools? Now back to reality of charter businesses in Dayton with the staff they have?By Oldprof
December 2, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this
Rick, many of us alreadyu knew about successes at KIPP schools. Of course, to have longer school days, longer school years, smaller classes, and higher paid teachers requires throwing money at the problem—something that neither charters nor traditional publics are in line for in Ohio. The success stories in Ohio charter schools commonly are ones that find additional funding—like ISUS, which excels in private donations, or WEB DuBois academy in Cincinnati which managed to get over-funded by the state (and almost closed when the state corrected the cash flow). So now do you support a DPS levy?By teachermom
December 1, 2007 7:45 PM | Link to this
To PAINFULTRUTH : I want to CLARIFY a few things for YOU. !. Schools in Dayton do not stink. Dayton Public Schools has lost many children over the years who were ABUSED/NEGLECTED and REPORTED. The problem lies here: when there are charter schools waiting in the wings for the children of parents who don’t like being told they are terrible parents they can find amnesty in a place that only cares about filling seats. Charters are so consumed with competing for the tax $$ that they purposely disregard WHY the child was probably enrolled there in the first place. Nobody wants to hear that they are not parenting appropriately or that they are neglectful or have to change. If the charters weren’t there to cater to these people then they might be FORCED to parent better/wash their kids/but groceries/stop beating/using drugs. What is really sad is that teachers can’t protect children for fear of losing their jobs and $$ tax money for their schools.So many of these charter schools tell parents such lies-exactly what they want to hear to keep up enrollment. I have taken so many back into my class at DPS who could not read, write, or do basic math from these schools. Yet somehow they managed to make the honor roll there at the charter when the parent knew there was something not right. Please.No wonder some parents are thrilled with charters. Unions protect more than teachers, sometimes they protect teachers who protect children.By Rick
December 1, 2007 12:13 PM | Link to this
Just a couple of days ago the print version of the DDN carried a column by Leonard Pitts discussing a charter school that had great results. Each school has to be judged individually.By Mary
December 1, 2007 11:02 AM | Link to this
Actually, old prof, even if someone had a medical license does not mean I would trust them with my health and well being. There are a lot of us who feel that way. Our educational, credentialing, social and cultural systems are so dumbed down and corrupted, you have to be a step ahead of the so-called experts in order to protect yourself and survive. There is a lot of malpractice in every field. As I recall I scored at the 99% tile on the analytical portion of the MCAT in the early seventies. Either I am unusally analytical or the others applying to med school were unusually unanalytical.By Laura
November 30, 2007 11:05 PM | Link to this
I have worked under other administrators who had the same philosophy- that white teachers don’t understand black culture (with regard to discipline). I was ordered many years ago to let the administrator handle the situation. Several teachers took it upon ourselves to take pictures of the abuse “just in case”. This was before the law was quite as clear as it is now and DPS had a policy of the situation being reported to the administrator first. As to “Mom of three” it is not true that Children’s Services sends an investigator to the school immediately. Sometimes, I have been involved in cases where they didn’t show up for several days- or promised to go to the child’s home in the evening but never arrived.By David
November 30, 2007 10:19 PM | Link to this
The loose control of charter schools allowed this to happen. Some of the teachers might be certified in some area but notice the teachers had no contract and no rights; they could be fired that day, the way it sounded in the testimony, if they crossed the administrator.By David
November 30, 2007 10:16 PM | Link to this
I believe the point is that the principal’s intent was to control whether or not the abuse (alleged) got reported or not. The law says that the teacher must report it and the intent appears to be that the teacher report to the agency or law enforcement just to avoid a principal prevent the report from getting through. Goff’s alleged statement that she’d send the angry parents to the teacher’s home showed she did not want to raise any fuss with the paying parents who can remove their child if unhappy with her. What has been said about where Ms. Goff taught during her earlier years? What kind of background does she have? The report doesn’t make her sound very good as a principal. Might that be why she’s in a charter instead of a public school?By Oldprof
November 30, 2007 9:46 PM | Link to this
So, Mary, any licensed teacher is capable of being a principal? You have a habit of dwelling on the marginal and the exceptional—if you think that special training as an administrator doesn’t reduce the number of errors (or crimes), then I expect you to support my petition for a medical license—after all, my lack of education and experience should be no bar in your estimation.By Concerned Mom of 3
November 30, 2007 9:33 PM | Link to this
Sounds to me like Ms. Goff likes to micro-manage her building staff. Like her judgement is above anyone elses… However, the law is clear on suspected child abuse. When a teacher suspects abuse of any kind, the administrator has to provide for coverage of their class- and the suspicion must be reported immediately for investigation. Children’s services sends a representative to the building- immediately. There is no provision for an administrator to make the decision to call or not to call. On a side note, I have observed that parents have a wide range of parenting styles and methods. Some of the differences appear to run through different cultures. However, I know that there is child abuse in both white and black families. (And every other culture too.) Parenting styles depend on the individual parent(s) and their experiences with their own parents. I always hate it when someone points out that I am just like my mother… but I have to admit, they are right a lot of the time. I am lucky- I had parents who knew what they were doing, for the most part. A majority of the students in Dayton Public schools are not so lucky to have parents who know what they are doing. The culture of poverty cannot be ingnored. But child abuse cannot be tolerated or ignored.By Mary
November 30, 2007 4:59 PM | Link to this
old prof, sometimes it is the credentialed teachers doing the abuse (usually sexual). In this case, the charter school teachers did the right thing, didn’t they? Were they credentialed? How much training do credentialed teachers get on how and when to report abuse (probably a few hours at most)? It seems others can get the same training “credentialed” teachers get on that issue. Is there a problem putting the principal (not with Goff’s attitude) in the loop under normal conditions, or is that against the law?By Scott Elliott
November 30, 2007 4:35 PM | Link to this
Just a couple of clarifications. First, Goff is a fully credentialed teacher. Second, her school — City Day Comunity School — is a charter school that is not affiliated with the school district.By Oldprof
November 30, 2007 4:20 PM | Link to this
This is the reason that only credentialed professionals should be permitted to run our classrooms. Now, will we prosecute the irresponsible legislators and state school board officials who permitted this amateurism?By painfultruth
November 30, 2007 4:06 PM | Link to this
I guess this makes it acceptable to beat black children. And you wonder why schools in Dayton stink? Goff should be jailed for not following the rules.By David
November 30, 2007 3:53 PM | Link to this
Goff saying that white teachers don’t understand black discipline is the most racist thing I’ve heard in a while. If a white person said that, blacks would be jumping up and down. Let’s see what they say. I used to work under a principal who told the teachers to report all suspected abuse to him. Ironically he’s in charge of an area charter school now…