Fort Worth parent banned from son’s school
Fort Worth school district officials have prohibited a former PTA leader from visiting his son’s school after the parent brought a series of concerns to the attention of administrators at the campus.
Former PTA vice president Randy Gamel is disruptive and has spoken in “threatening tones to students and staff,” wrote Nikita Brewer, principal at Maudrie Miller Walton Elementary School, in a letter to Gamel.
When you hear someone come in about a school, before you talk about those statements, make sure the individual is telling the truth about a school because that hurts that school when it’s spread across the district and it’s not true.
FWISD Trustee Christene Moss
Gamel acknowledged that he is “an angry and upset” father. But he said that he is justified because of the problems that he sees at the campus of his 5-year-old son.
“I want to know when does my son get an equal education and when is he going to be safe and when is this building going to be safe,” Gamel said.
The parent also has appeared before the school board twice in the last few weeks to protest the school’s lagging academic performance. A handful of district teachers and others broke out in an applause after he addressed trustees at their Feb. 23 meeting.
M.M. Walton is on the state’s “improvement required” list of worst-performing schools in the state, according to 2014-2015 accountability ratings under the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. Last year, Walton students were 20 percentage points below the state average on all subjects, which include reading, writing and science. (The state average was 77 percent; the district, 68 percent.)
About 86 percent of Walton’s students are economically-disadvantaged. About 77.7 percent are African-American; 20.6 percent Hispanic; 1.3 percent, White. Students at the school posted a mobility rate of 31.8 percent, almost double the state-wide rate of 16.9 percent, 2015 records showed.
A May 22 school district audit also found that the campus does not meet compliance standards and financial controls. It was ranked “38.88” as part of the audit that considered “79” the lowest acceptable rating. Among the problems the audit found included missing money and poor cash controls.
Gamel said the school has experienced hanging electrical wiring, stained carpets in classrooms and filthy bathrooms. A fan sits in a window of one of the boy’s bathrooms to air out bad smells, Gamel said.
School officials said that they have been aware “of the concerns presented by the parent.”
Gamel’s safety concerns amounted to “improper storage in the vicinity of some electrical panels off the auditorium stage,’’ officials said. “The items in storage have been removed.”
The bathrooms at the school “are simply part of the aging infrastructure of an older campus,’’ school officials said. Restroom upgrades are planned in upcoming weeks. “And a broader scope of improvement work will be planned for the summer break,” officials said.
School officials also say they are using maintenance funds to improve the school facility and have ordered more than $9,000 in books for the school library.
I want to know when does my son get an equal education and when is he going to be safe and when is this building going to be safe. Randy Gamel,
parent of a student at M.M. Walton Elementary School
Skeptical trustees
Trustee Christene Moss told her colleagues at the Feb. 23 board meeting to be skeptical of Gamel’s complaints. M.M. Walton Elementary is located in Moss’ district.
“When you hear someone come in about a school, before you talk about those statements, make sure the individual is telling the truth about a school because that hurts that school when it’s spread across the district and it’s not true,” Moss said.
Gamel has made inappropriate comments to school officials, Brewer wrote in her letter, which the school district provided to the Star-Telegram.
In October, Gamel “insisted” that students clean up their mess in cafeteria, she wrote. And he’s made statements like: “She doesn’t know who she is messing with,” and “I guess I can’t make black kids clean up,” and “How long are we gonna cripple these children.”
Gamel is prohibited from entering the school without prior authorization for the remainder of the academic school year.
“For the entry and dismissal of your child, you may escort him only to and from the sidewalk by the curb of the designated drop off and pick up locations,” she wrote.
Gamel said he has filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union in Houston.
M.M. Walton was first named Rosedale Park Elementary School in 1954. The permanent school building was completed in 1958.
Yamil Berard: 817-390-7705, @yberard
This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Fort Worth parent banned from son’s school."