Lessons In Courage

There is a meeting scheduled on Tuesday afternoon May 10, 2011
This is not a court date but a meeting that could bring some answers.
Please everyone keep Mr. Tuitt in your prayers & your thoughts.


Mr. Tuitt is awaiting his second hearing date at the Paterson Superior Court.

As soon as the date & location is scheduled, I will announce it ASAP.

This way you may attend if you would like to help in this way.

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Meeting (May 10, 2011)

In early May, Mr. Tuitt, through his attorney, was invited to attend a meeting at the offices of the District’s lawyers, to be held May 10, 2011.  He was not told the purpose of the meeting but was informed that the Safety or Security Director for the District, James Smith would be attending, as would another attorney for the District.  Hearing this, Mr. Tuitt stated that he would, of course, attend but wanted his PEA representive present, in addition to his attorney and his family (mother and brother).  The PEA rep had been present during the investigation of the October accident by Mr. Smith and was deemed important to the case at hand.

Unfortunately, when the District’s lawyer received that message he indicated that if Mr. Tuitt insisted on having the PEA rep attend, there would be no meeting.  After discussing the matter and obtaining guidance from his attorney, Mr. Tuitt determined to attend the meeting without his PEA rep.

The meeting was opened by the District’s lawyer, Roy Evans, but was immediately turned over to Mr. Smith who began by introducing a new allegation.  It would appear that the October incident was either no longer a factor or was set aside, since no mention was made of it by Mr. Smith, rather Mr. Tuitt was now being charged with something related but different.  According to Mr. Smith, his investigation over the past five-plus months now revealed that Mr. Tuitt had kept a urine container in the classroom, (purchased by the school, according to Mr. Smith), used by Mr. Tuitt as needed, and emptied by his students at his instruction. This, of course, is a blatant lie and never happened.  He, perhaps more than most, teaches and explains hygienic conduct and techniques to his children.  Some (colleagues and students) may be aware of the fact that Mr. Tuitt maintains a urine container in his Van (suggested by his physician in the event he gets stuck in traffic somewhere) because he has an 80 + mile round-trip drive to and from work each day, and the container is sometimes visible in the Van behind the front passenger/driver’s seat.  It is, however, kept in the Van and was purchased for him by his family, not the school. Should he need to use it, he stops at a rest station on the way to/from work.

In any event, Mr. Smith indicated that this allegation (lie that it is), along with other unnamed allegations were now the issues.  The District’s lawyer picked up after this adding that a recommendation for a Tenure Hearing would be made by them to the Paterson Superintendent of Schools on Monday, May 16, 2011.  A Tenure Hearing, if successful, results in the dismissal of the teacher.

In the interim, the Principal who boldly discriminated against Mr.Tuitt based on his handicap has been rewarded and will become, I’m told, an Assistant Superintendent come the end of this school year.

It seems we reward the sinners and punish those who care the most for what we consider our precious ones.  What a sad society we’ve become.

The Background - Please Read To Have An Understanding Of The Situation

In Paterson’s Superior Court, on Feb. 24, 2011, the Hearing Judge  stated:

Since Mr. Tuitt is being paid during his “Administrative Leave,”
the impact of the district’s actions against him is minimal.
The judge acknowledged his dedication and deeds in the classroom, and also stated;
that “the real victims were the students.”
This is particularly true since Mr. Tuitt has been kept from his students since
 November 29, 2010 and is still sitting at home.

Mr. Tuitt, a fifteen (15) year veteran teacher at School 13, is a dedicated, hard-working, African-American/Latino, male teacher of which there are fewer than 5 percent working in American classrooms.  He relishes his job, considering it to be much more than a career.  For him, it’s a mission.  The goal…. to develop bright, aware, goal-oriented students who begin to dream of college in his classroom.  

Many of his students are disadvantaged socially and economically.
Some have no important male figures in their lives.
He, often by default, becomes this figure because single mothers ask him to work beyond
the classroom to help their sons learn how to become men.
He has had a number of parents whose children have transferred to other schools,
visit him at School 13 and ask him to stay involved in their children’s lives.

So then, what’s the problem?  Well, Mr. Tuitt also functions with a disability.  Something called lymphedema, an abnormality of the lymphatic system which, in his case, causes excessive buildup of tissue fluid and swelling of the lower body.  The swelling leads to chronic inflammation and, as a result, he is limited in his mobility and requires the
assistance of a motorized wheelchair and crutches. He often teaches from the floor.

Despite requests made by him and his advocates to a Principal who was slowly eroding all formerly granted accommodations, to move him to a room nearer to the
elevator, the handicap bathroom and his colleagues, he was left isolated
in a classroom far removed from those needed facilities.  Then one day in early
October, last year after dismissing his students for the
day and having waited too long to relieve his bladder, he was unable to hold
his water as he rose from the floor and ended up wetting himself. 
He grabbed a wastepaper can to try and limit the damage to the floor.  Former
students who normally assisted him out of the building each day,
were told not to enter the room by him and they stayed outside.  They were
 also asked to keep anyone else out while he attempted to clean
 up as much as he could. He remained fully clothed throughout this ordeal.  

Yet a cleaning woman who refused to listen to the students, 

entered the room, and to this day, 
 what she reported to the Principal is unknown.  We only know that Mr. Tuitt
 was fully clothed with his back toward her when she entered and the only
 thing she might have seen was the wet floor.  On
his way out Mr. Tuitt saw a male maintenance employee
and reported the incident to him, apologizing for the accident.

The following morning Mr. Tuitt was visited by the Principal
and two “Security” employees from the Paterson District office, called there
by the Principal to investigate the incident of the previous afternoon.
In the presence of his PEA rep, Mr. Tuitt told the Security officers
exactly what had happened the previous afternoon.  After carefully
listening, they deemed the incident an “accident” and
in response to Mr. Tuitt’s query, stated they considered it a “Closed issue”

Apparently not, since at a meeting requested by the PEA attorney to discuss accommodations taken away from Mr. Tuitt by the Principal, and held on November 29, 2010, Mr. Tuitt was advised that an incident about which the District was very much concerned was under investigation, and until the conclusion of that
investigation, Mr. Tuitt was not to be allowed to return to his
class, rather he’d be on “Administrative Leave”.
 
Beyond the character assassination, and emotional damage done to this educator,
the saddest part of this entire matter is that Mr. Tuitt has been kept from his students.
Mr Tuitt’s students are the ones that wear uniforms where many others do not.
They address him and other adults as “sir” or  “ma’am”.
Many students deemed difficult to handle are sent to Mr. Tuitt by colleagues,
school administrators, guidance counselors, or parents because he has a way of
reaching them. Often these children, as they grow older, become tutors,
helpers, and pseudo big brothers and sisters for his younger students.

Mr. Tuitt integrates technology into his curriculum.
Pen Pals from other states have been established, 

as well as research projects that have kept the students buzzing 

about their findings each day in class.
His former students become technology capable.
On par with those students from middle class & upper middle class schools.

Is this is how we treat an effective and caring teacher who just happens to
also be disabled?  Who had an unfortunate accident that could have been prevented
had a room change been made?

The Impact??  Much has been lost this year. 
Value? Immeasurable.