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061705 BHES teacher's aide fired amid controversy
BY CAROLINE C. SHERWIN
A 23-year-old teacher's aide, Steven Savod, was fired from the Bedford Hills Elementary School on Wednesday, May 25, following threats made to him by a 7-year-old child in the playground on Friday, May 20. "All in all, I pretty much got fired for a kid I wasn't hired to watch," said Mr. Savod, a 26-year-old Carmel resident and 2003 graduate of SUNY New Paltz. The firing followed an incident in which a 7-yearold reportedly threatened the aide with the words, "My parents have a gun, and I'm going to get it and shoot you."
"There was no threat of a gun physically at the school," said Bedford Central School District
superintendent Debra Jackson on Wednesday. "A student made a statement about a threat, and we followed through with it immediately as it came to our attention."
Bedford police received a call from principal Victoria Graboski on Monday, May 23, at approximately 3:32 p.m., concerning a threat made to a teacher's aide.
Officer Greg Phillips was immediately dispatched to the school, where he conducted an investigation. On Wednesday, May 25, Lt. John Corbett and Detective Youth Officer Tom Diebold conducted a further investigation at the school with various individuals involved.
Following that, Bedford police chief Chris Menzel met with Dr. Jackson and Ms. Graboski for a follow-up on Wednesday afternoon.
"When the school district calls requesting assistance of any kind, we respond immediately to any event," said Chief Menzel. "We met directly with both the superintendent and the principal of the school concerning this. We have the same goal in mind, safety of the children."
Following the police investigation, it was determined that nothing criminal in nature had occurred and the matter was turned back over to the school district. When asked why a threat of this nature was not reported immediately to the Bedford police, Ms. Graboski responded that all calls concerning the event should be directed to Dr. Debra Jackson.
In a meeting on Monday off of school grounds, Mr. Savod described the events that led to his firing. Hired in November 2004, Mr. Savod worked one-on-one with two kindergartners. "One child left the school, and I was teaching the other boy," said Mr. Savod.
In March, he said he received an e-mail from Ms. Graboski asking him to stay with a 7-year-old first-grader at recess "to just make sure he doesn't beat any kids up."
"So, at first-grade recess, I'd take time out of my day to watch him," said Mr. Savod. "Since March I've been doing this, and it's the same old thing. He's just a mean kid. Even when he's trying to be nice, he's mean."
On Friday, May 20, said Mr. Savod, the boy was "pushing kids, calling them names, taking balls from other kids, doing bully stuff. This is what I've been seeing every day, and that day I'd just had enough. I'm not going to lie, but I yelled at him, `You're a bully. You gotta stop this."'
As this went on, Mr. Savod said he held the boy gently by the shoulders. "Yes, I did hold him to keep him face-to-face and not run away" said Mr. Savod. "He was upset, and I was trying to talk to him.
"After that, he yelled back, saying, `I'm going to get my brother to come in and beat you up,"" said Mr. Savod. "I just ignored that comment, and then he said, `My parents have a gun, and I'm going to get it and shoot you."'
Immediately after recess Mr. Savod went to Ms. Graboski. "I reported the incident right after recess," he said. "After that, I didn't even think twice
about it. Immediately after school, she [Ms. Graboski] calls me into the office and I repeated the whole thing again and wrote out an official incident report. Once again, I didn't think twice."
On Monday, May 23, Mr. Savod met with Officer Greg Phillips, and on Wednesday, May 25, he met with Lt. Corbett and Detective Diebold. "They were nice guys who wanted to know what happened," said Mr. Savod. "They were concerned about the gun threat."
According to Mr. Savod, at the end of the school day on Wednesday he was called into the office for a fourth and final time.
"I'm waiting outside the office," said Mr. Savod. "A lot of parents came out of her office and said, `Steve, we're really pulling for you.' I had no idea what they were talking about. Vicky [Graboski] called me in and said, `I'm sorry, everyone loves you here, you're doing a great job.' I said thanks. She then continued, `Everyone loves you here, the kids, parents, and teachers. But we have to let you go."'
He said that Ms. Graboski told him, "We're still going to give you two weeks pay and a letter of recommendation."
"That weirded me out," said Mr. Savod. "How many jobs do you know about where you get fired from but get a letter of recommendation and two weeks pay? It makes no sense. Rather than causing a big scene, I just said, `Nice knowing you,' and walked out. After she fired me, I was speechless, but I thought about it. I took time out of my day and lunch hour to watch this kid, baby-sit a bully, and get fired for it."
In the official letter of termination Ms. Graboski states: "I am concerned about the manner in which you recently interacted with a student under your supervision. As an aide, your role was to monitor the student and redirect him in order to avoid any confrontations with other children. When the child responded by displaying contrary and uncooperative behavior, you, in turn, behaved in an unprofessional and inappropriate manner."
Ms. Graboski also wrote: "As an employee with the district you are expected to comport yourself in such a manner to ease troublesome behavior."
Ms. Graboski referred all questions
about the letter to Dr. Jackson's office.
"We have teachers aides in their first
year, for approximately 52 weeks," Dr. Jackson said. "This case was a personnel matter. It was a small piece of something bigger. Everything was looked at, and decisions were made. Mr. Savod was not assigned to be with that student. We followed the process, interviewed the student, the family, and the teacher."
Ms. Jackson said she could not comment concerning the "piece of some-thing bigger." "Our counsel has advised us not to comment further on personnel issues," she said.
After Memorial Day weekend, Mr. Savod said he placed a call to Bob Cooper, the human resources director of Bedford Central School District. "I told him what happened," said Mr. Savod. "He said Vicky was upset she had to fire me, but they had no choice. I ,asked him why I couldn't have just been transferred to another school away from this kid if this whole thing was such a big issue. We ended the conversation with him promising to get back to me."
Mr. Savod said that last week Mr. Cooper called and said, "We'll let you write a resignation letter, so your
resume doesn't say you got fired."
"I said, `Fine,"' said Mr. Savod. "Before I even wrote the letter, he called me and told me I couldn't get paid until they received the resignation letter."
Mr. Savod said he submitted the resignation letter immediately. "I regret that I must resign my position as a teacher aide," reads the letter. "Although my time at Bedford has been enjoyable, I have decided to pursue other interests."
Mr. Savod said his experience has left him wondering whether to pursue his teaching career. "I'm mad and upset," he said. "I put my heart and soul into the job and loved every minute of it. Now I don't have a job. I'm very disheartened. I thought I was doing a great job. I was reinforced and told by people the great job I was doing. And then out of nowhere this happened. I'm not even involved in it. I really liked the kids in kindergarten. They were the ones I was there for the most. I was looking forward to coming back next year, but that doesn't look like it'll happen."