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FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: byuFH ()
Date: July 27, 2015 05:56PM

I just read on one of the threads here that the FCPS Department of Equity and Employee Relations is run by 3 lawyers including the Director, Kevin Sills.

Kevin and his department will actually hold it against a teacher if they contact their dept about a legitimate issue regarding unfair and unethical practices by administration. There is absolutely NO PLACE within FCPS that teachers can go to get protection from vindictive administrators, get proactive guidance, or seek professional help.There is only so much our teacher associations can do. For a school district this size, it is unfathomable that there is no standards and policies put in place for teacher protection. Sadly, the EER staff will never advocate for the teachers. It makes sense now that the EER team is comprised of attorneys with the facade of being there to "help" employees. Just another mousetrap for FCPS teachers.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: FCPS is anti-teacher ()
Date: July 27, 2015 06:06PM

Teachers and students get in the way of FCPS political agendas. Members of the school board use it to gain higher office. 2 are doing it this year. Others develop reputations by hiring "big name" consultants like Eric Jensen and Flip Flippen.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: IffyWeblog ()
Date: August 04, 2015 12:38AM

As you imply, the structural curriculum of many schools in this country is the inculcation of tyranny as a model for social relations. Originally, I suppose, it was a matter of having a man in charge of schools in which it was assumed that the teachers were women. These gender roles change, but the structure remains in place. This is, as you say, bad for teachers and possibly worse for the character formation of the students.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: LadyBreeze ()
Date: August 04, 2015 12:42AM

There is a process by which people are promoted:

Every teacher has a BIG bag of marbles with their name on it in human services

Every time the teacher makes a mistake or violates an unwritten rule (that does NOT benefit the students), they lose ONE marble

When the bag is empty, that teacher is PROMOTED to ADMIN

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Ditto ()
Date: August 11, 2015 06:02PM

Same experience with ERFC.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: MhJP3 ()
Date: August 11, 2015 08:43PM

byuFH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just read on one of the threads here that the
> FCPS Department of Equity and Employee Relations
> is run by 3 lawyers including the Director, Kevin
> Sills.
>
> Kevin and his department will actually hold it
> against a teacher if they contact their dept about
> a legitimate issue regarding unfair and unethical
> practices by administration. There is absolutely
> NO PLACE within FCPS that teachers can go to get
> protection from vindictive administrators, get
> proactive guidance, or seek professional
> help.There is only so much our teacher
> associations can do. For a school district this
> size, it is unfathomable that there is no
> standards and policies put in place for teacher
> protection. Sadly, the EER staff will never
> advocate for the teachers. It makes sense now that
> the EER team is comprised of attorneys with the
> facade of being there to "help" employees. Just
> another mousetrap for FCPS teachers.

Replace the word "teachers" with "students" and you will understand how parents feel.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Speakthetruth ()
Date: September 20, 2016 06:56PM

Teacher attrition is greater under Dr. Garza superintendency because the Office of Employee Relations doesn't view administrators as worker-bee's like the teachers.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Kevin Sills ()
Date: June 30, 2017 02:50PM


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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Franz Kaftka ()
Date: June 30, 2017 03:01PM

The employee and equity relations office doesn't ensure the equitable administration of federal, state, and FCPS regulations and laws impacting the FCPS community because they have three lawyers running that department to cover themselves. EER office always pressures employees into signing documents as its a waiver and release from liability. So we call that employee relations? That office is designed to support the school system.

Karin Rodriguez, Cindy Fitzgerald, and Kevin Sills are lawyers so don't trust them.... The Truth can be hidden for a short time, but eventually, like the sun, it shines.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: acknowledged59 ()
Date: October 12, 2017 12:07AM

I am seeing the threads on this topic and I am not surprised. I need to get a this off my chest by saying a number of black teachers lost their jobs for working in the wrong part of the county. Mr. Sills only reveled the skeletons in the FCPS School Board's closet related to equity and equality within the school division.

I really think a significant portion of white is truly not understanding what it means to be white. It’s like you’re at the 50-meter mark in a 100-meter dash. And you’ve got that kind of a lead because, yes, you were born white. You have advantages that are systemically, culturally, psychologically there. And they have been built up and cemented for hundreds of years.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: earnest ()
Date: October 21, 2017 08:28PM

Kevin Sills is leaving the Fairfax County School Board next week to accept a job with the National Education Association.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: 4rdfc ()
Date: October 23, 2017 12:22AM

Just remember that Nell Fagan (former employee relations specialist) took the fall for Mr. Kevin Sills with the court case:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/discrimination-lawsuit-against-va-principal-dismissed/2015/05/05/7e11a860-f35b-11e4-b2f3-af5479e6bbdd_story.html?tid=hybrid_collaborative_2_na&utm_term=.6cb6a60d76e4




Confidentiality agreements were signed so the case could be dismissed.


Five people who had worked for Fairfax County Public Schools have submitted affidavits this week in support of a lawsuit charging Marie Lemmon, the principal of Bailey’s Elementary School, with violating federal anti-discrimination and civil rights laws.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court Sept. 25 on behalf of former assistant principal Rachel Charlton; former math resource teacher Yolanda Calhoun; her child, J.C. Calhoun, a former student; and Shyrone Stith, a former instructional assistant.

A court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 21 on motions filed by FCPS to dismiss the case and, if that motion fails, to split the complaint into three separate lawsuits. The judge could choose to dismiss some of the 29 separate counts against Lemmon and the school board but not others. Fairfax County officials have declined to comment publicly on the case.

The suit alleges that Lemmon directed staff to only hire “pretty young blondes who did not have families and would ‘work for’ her.” Charlton had charged that, after she became pregnant, Lemmon excluded her from critical meetings and refused to make any accommodations when Charlton suffered severe complications. When Charlton returned to work, nearly all her responsibilities were taken away and Lemmon refused to approve her request for a transfer.  

Throughout that period Charlton, who is Jewish, says Lemmon gave her a hard time for taking religious leave, while the other two assistant principals were given leave for Christmas shopping without having to make up the time.

Yolanda Calhoun, an African American with a doctorate degree in education, was told her job was being eliminated. After she left, the suit states, Lemmon replaced her with young, blond Caucasian woman who was significantly less qualified. Stith charges he was rejected for a promotion in favor of a less-qualified, young blond woman.

The five people who submitted statements to the court report similar experiences.

Rose Vincent, a 49-year-old Hispanic/American Indian instructional assistant at Bailey’s, said Lemmon discriminated against her “on the basis of race, age, and my association with a person who was disabled.” Vincent also said, “I have been subject to repeated harassment and threats to my employment.”

The statement from former teacher Sharon Baumgartner says Lemmon told staff at a meeting that, if they “are going to get married or have babies, do it on your own time during the summer.” Despite a positive performance history, Baumgartner said Lemmon told her if she didn’t leave voluntarily, Lemmon “would write things in my file which would make it difficult for me to get a job in the future.”

Kathi Newman, a 45-year old former speech pathologist at Bailey’s who is Jewish and has a child with a disability, states that she believes Lemmon “discriminated against me on the basis of my ethnicity, my relationship to a person with disabilities, my age, and my religion.” She said she was replaced with a younger, less-qualified employee.

Michael Penn, an African American who had worked in the FCPS safety and security office, said he and other non-white employees were passed over for promotions in favor of less-qualified Caucasian employees. “I believe that there is a ‘black ceiling’ at FCPS and that racial discrimination is rampant,” he wrote.  

Robin Rubio, who worked as a teacher under Lemmon when Lemmon was principal at Mount Vernon Woods Elementary School, said she felt “discriminated against on the basis of my age and my race.” According to Rubio, Lemmon “was routinely condescending and rude. She was negative and critical and made unreasonable demands.”

“I am speaking out,” Rubio wrote, “so others do not have to endure the same discrimination and harassment that I have had to endure under Marie Lemmon.” 

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Sloan Presidio ()
Date: November 17, 2017 09:39PM

The Lake Braddock teacher doesnt have a chance. My office doesn't support teachers in any way. Our goal is to make the county "look good".

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Pritchard ()
Date: November 19, 2017 08:54AM

byuFH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just read on one of the threads here that the
> FCPS Department of Equity and Employee Relations
> is run by 3 lawyers including the Director, Kevin
> Sills.
>
> Kevin and his department will actually hold it
> against a teacher if they contact their dept about
> a legitimate issue regarding unfair and unethical
> practices by administration. There is absolutely
> NO PLACE within FCPS that teachers can go to get
> protection from vindictive administrators, get
> proactive guidance, or seek professional
> help.There is only so much our teacher
> associations can do. For a school district this
> size, it is unfathomable that there is no
> standards and policies put in place for teacher
> protection. Sadly, the EER staff will never
> advocate for the teachers. It makes sense now that
> the EER team is comprised of attorneys with the
> facade of being there to "help" employees. Just
> another mousetrap for FCPS teachers.

OP EER is not there to "protect" teachers. They like HR and the FCPS legal team are there to protect FCPS from from frivolous complaints from employees, students and staff. If you are having a problem with your administrator there's always transfair or you could try working harder at teaching your kids than whining and bitching here on FFU.

If you want to see how these type of threads turn out or the outcome of a teacher grievance with her admin staff check out the Marie Lemon thread. You have a contract now get back to work.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Connected ()
Date: November 19, 2017 03:10PM

Discrimination is pretty commonplace at my site. These reports don’t surprise me at all.

And no dick- people shouldn’t have to change jobs because of discrimination. And even if one was to work harder, already considerably more than other peers, it likely wouldn’t make a difference if already in that situation.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Sam McMann ()
Date: November 20, 2017 08:46AM

Sounds like one of those departments in FCPS we could do without.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Pritchard ()
Date: November 20, 2017 08:48AM

Connected Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Discrimination is pretty commonplace at my site.
> These reports don’t surprise me at all.
>
> And no dick- people shouldn’t have to change
> jobs because of discrimination. And even if one
> was to work harder, already considerably more than
> other peers, it likely wouldn’t make a
> difference if already in that situation.


Sounds like you may have been down this road before. I don't disagree with you that a person shouldn't have to change jobs due to discrimination but that's the way it is at FCPS. Even if a person wins a discrimination case they will be moved to another location. It's very rare that an administrator will be moved or dismissed because that is an admission of guilt and indicates failure for FCPS. The resulting animosity forces relocation of the complaining party or termination and don't forget the non-disclosure statement the plaintiff will have to sign and abide by.

Like I said read up on the Marie Lemon thread. That case lasted years before being brought to conclusion and the final outcome was no fault for the principal or FCPS because they settled out of court. It's what they do. They could care less if you were wronged. They just want to have an untarnished image.

Now you have a contract get back to work teaching the county's kids and while you are at it get me a sandwich.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: ffxresident ()
Date: February 26, 2018 08:41AM

This entire department is a joke. Remember it's their job is to protect the county not the the people who work there nor do they work in the best interest of taxpayers. They are anti-all FCPS employees and only interested in protecting FCPS and making sure nothing negative is leaked to the press.

Do you know that if you are an FCPS employee, you can accuse anyone of misconduct? There will be lots of sympathy and support for a "victim" but nobody will talk to eye witnesses, take statements, or look for the truth. If you are accused of anything, you are basically screwed and treated like shit.

Do you know there are hundreds of FCPS employees who have been placed on PAID administrative leave for at least over an year with no real resolution in sight. Yes, not working and tax payers are footing the bill. This is at all levels in the FCPS system. This seems to work mainly in favor of those who would have the ability to claim a EEOC violation. This is a waste of millions of taxpayer's money. And they wonder why there is always a shortfall with the budget.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: wiggles ()
Date: February 26, 2018 11:03AM

"hundreds of FCPS employees on paid administrative leave" ??!!?

Seriously? How do you know that? Where can you find that information?

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Carolann58 ()
Date: March 01, 2018 01:19AM

It's often a good idea to mention the discrimination in writing as well. This could be by letter or even a short email. If you’re later victimized by your employer for complaining about discrimination, you will have a written record showing that you made the complaint.

If the discrimination is by another employee you should write to the employer to inform them of the situation. This is because your employer is generally responsible for discrimination by their employees and for protecting you from it. However, my suggestion is if you have concerns that you send an email directly to Christine.Donohue@fcps.edu and cc the email to the entire school board at this email address: FairfaxCountySchoolBoard@fcps.edu reaches all the School Board members at once.

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Soul Brother #1 ()
Date: March 01, 2018 07:07AM

Remember it's never too early to play the race card! Got caught drunk at work? Play the race card! Got caught with a minor? Race card! Didn't get that promotion? Race card! Accused of incompetence? You know what to do!

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Gatehouse insider ()
Date: April 24, 2018 09:55PM

This office really is a joke. They are supposed to protect against discrimination BUT they offered the director position to a woman and then pulled it when they found out she was pregnant.
She’s a lawyer and she’s SUING
Excellent use of FFX money

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: Tru Dat! ()
Date: April 24, 2018 10:29PM

Soul Brother #1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Remember it's never too early to play the race
> card! Got caught drunk at work? Play the race
> card! Got caught with a minor? Race card!
> Didn't get that promotion? Race card! Accused of
> incompetence? You know what to do!


racecard-jj-300x243.jpg

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: JohnTanner ()
Date: April 24, 2018 11:03PM

Dear Lord,
I want to thank thee for bringing us the GREAT, BIGLY GREAT Donald J. Trump.
Can I get an Amen?

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Re: FCPS Equity and Employee Relations Division (EER) is anti teachers
Posted by: RCR ()
Date: April 27, 2018 12:28AM

Carolyn Larrabee gone
Karin Rodriguez gone
Dave Thomas gone (but paid out)
Susan Quinn gone

I’m moving on up

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