Toledo Public Schools principals are supposed to pass word up the chain of command when certain incidents happen in their buildings.
That includes the sort of incident that happened at Start High School Oct. 12, when a 16-year-old female student told a school resource officer that teacher Kenneth Crosley used a baseball bat to force her from his room, twisted her fingers, and put her in a chokehold.
But top TPS officials said they knew nothing about what transpired at Start for three weeks. They also didn’t move to discipline employees involved for three weeks, and it wasn’t until Friday that they placed Mr. Crosley and Assistant Principal Kenneth Rosplohowski on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
Why district administrators didn’t learn about the problem at Start and take action sooner remains unclear.
“We’re in the process of investigating,” said James Gant, chief of staff for Toledo Public Schools.
At least one authority figure at Start — School Resource Officer Marquitta Bey — took steps to document and report the accusations against Mr. Crosley in the wake of the Oct. 12 incident.
Officer Bey recorded the student’s version of events, along with Mr. Crosely’s account of what transpired, in a police report.
The female student, according to the report, told Officer Bey on Oct. 12 that she had visited Mr. Crosley’s classroom to purchase a homecoming ticket. The student said Mr. Crosley yelled at her to “get the hell out of here” before grabbing a baseball bat. He then used the bat to push her out the classroom.
While in the hallway, the student said, Mr. Crosley “grabbed her fingers back” and put her in a “chokehold,” the report states.
“This officer observed redness and swelling on [the student’s] hand,” the report says. “[The student] was seen by the school nurse.”
Mr. Crosely offered a different narrative. He told Officer Bey the student entered his classroom shouting and swearing at him. He said he asked the student to leave his room and, when she refused, he picked up a bat and “nudged” her out of the room.
Once in the hallway, Mr. Crosley said, the student “took an offensive position” as if she were preparing to swing at him, according to the report. He told police he then “gained control” of the student until school security and the assistant principal arrived.
Officer Bey also wrote in the report that she informed a principal and the student’s guardian about the accusations against the teacher.
According to school policy, a building principal is supposed to inform administrators about these kinds of incidents, Mr. Gant said. Mr. Gant added that school Principal Edward Perozek was previously aware of the incident but didn’t immediately inform district administrators.
Instead, Mr. Gant said, the district received a police report dropped off at the administration office sometime earlier this week, though he could not provide more specific information about how or when it was received. Mr. Gant said he learned about the incident Thursday.
Mr. Perozek as of Friday had not been disciplined in relation to the incident. District officials stressed they’re still investigating the cause of the communication breakdown.
Kevin Dalton, president of the Toledo Federation of Teachers, declined to comment on the situation. Neither Mr. Crosley nor Mr. Rosplohowski could be reached for comment.
Mr. Crosley has been with the district since 1995 as a substitute and as a full-time teacher since 1996. His current salary is $73,282.
District records show he was reprimanded in 2001 for showing a junior high class “Me, Myself & Irene,” an R-rated film starring Jim Carey. In 2004 while a teacher at what was then Leverette Junior High School, he was suspended without pay after he gave a female student a picture of his crotch.
Clinton Faulkner, then executive assistant to the superintendent for human resources, told The Blade at the time that Mr. Crosley “took a picture of his face and took a picture of his crotch area and said, 'Show your parents this.' He was clothed."
Then-Chief of Staff Sheila Austin said the suspension was part of progressive discipline for Mr. Crosley, and said any further issues would “result in immediate termination.”
Records related to both the 2001 and 2004 incidents were contained in Mr. Crosley’s personnel file when it was reviewed by The Blade on Friday.
When asked about Mr. Crosley’s previous disciplinary problems, Mr. Gant said he did not know anything about them.
Mr. Gant said some teachers have received training for holding students, but he didn’t know if Mr. Crosley had received the training. He added none of the training included the use of a baseball bat.
According to the district’s weapons policy, a weapon means “any object which, in the manner in which it is used, is intended to be used, or is represented, is capable of inflicting serious bodily harm or property damage. ... Weapons include, but are not limited to, firearms, guns of any type, including air and gas-powered guns (whether loaded or unloaded), clubs, knives, electric weapons, metallic knuckles, martial arts weapons, ammunition, and explosives.”
Mr. Gant noted that the definition did include “clubs” and said whether a baseball bat could be considered a weapon according to the policy would be part of the investigation.
“Accountability is definitely one of the things we strive for,” he said about the district.
There is security video of the incident, but Mr. Gant said he would not release it until he spoke to the district’s legal team.
No charges have been filed in the case.
Lt. Kevan Toney, a Toledo police spokesman, said in a case involving a possible misdemeanor assault, unless the offense occurs in the officer’s presence or there is reasonable ground to believe a person committed the offense, it would be up to the victim to take the police report to the prosecutor’s office to discuss potential charges.
Officer Bey took statements from the student and teacher and notified both the student’s parents and the high school principal, Lieutenant Toney said. At that point, the police investigation ended, and any internal investigation would be up to the school district.
First Published November 2, 2018, 12:15 p.m.
