Month: February 2018

King Cooper School
1) Send a memo to all NKC staff from the proper authority stating that in the future, due diligence in the proper execution of duties will not result in disciplinary action being taken against NKC staff.
2) Allow all NKC staff to be trained in CPR. It would be nice if master plan points could be awarded for successful completion of this activity.
3) Allow labor law attorneys, UTD, and state of Florida and Federal authorities to conduct a county wide audit of MDCPS to determine if state and Federal laws are being observed
4) Allow NKC staff to choose the curriculum used to instruct NKC students, subject to district approval
5) Reinstate Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Henny Cristobol as the NKC administrators.
6) Pay the summer school salary of Mr. Rick Massa who was denied that employment, if it is determined he was improperly denied that employment.
7) Pay Luz Morales the remainder of the salary she was denied when she was improperly terminated.
8) If Mr. Carvalho, Dr. Roos, and/or Mrs. Alicia Fernandez are found to have violated one or more statutes, the proper legal penalties need to be imposed
9) Allow audience members of school board meetings to criticize school board members by name.
10) Either create a new Florida Alternate Assessment test appropriate for severely/profoundly developmentally delayed students, or grant them a waiver of exemption from that testing.
11) If the contract states that loading or unloading unruly students from buses is the sole responsibility of administrators, that rule needs to be enforced at every school in the county.
12) Allow state and/or Federal authorities to examine NKC test results of the FAA for the last 5 years to see if cheating has occurred.
13) Allow state and Federal authorities to determine whether Ms. Ramos observed an instance of a teacher allegedly physically abusing a child in the 2015-2016 school year at NKC and reporting that alleged physical abuse to Dr. Roos. It should then be investigated whether Dr. Roos followed the proper procedures for a case of reported possible child abuse.
14) If it is the wish of that employee, state and Federal authorities should be allowed to interview the employee who was allegedly physically assaulted by Dr. Roos. Other NKC staff should also be asked if Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez ally assaulted them.

September 23,2017
Dear Karla Hernandez Mats,
Hello, my name is Bill Detzner, employee 146782. Last spring, I wrote you a letter detailing the serious violations of the contract rights of UTD members at Neva King Cooper (NKC) School that have been going on at NKC for the last FIVE YEARS. When I did not hear from you, I telephoned. You initially told me you never received my letter. However, when I told you I had a signed receipt for that letter, you quickly recalled (in detail) the contents of my letter. (Certified letters have a way of clarifying a person’s foggy memory.) You agreed to send the organizer (I believe her name is Caridad Pupo) to NKC to investigate alleged contract violations. When a few weeks passed, with no further word, I sent you an email asking if the UTD visit occurred. Your response was that the visit had taken place, and not a single UTD member at NKC expressed any unhappiness with the two NKC administrators. Considering the egregious contract violations both these administrators commit on a regular basis, and the atmosphere of great fear and anger that exists at NKC, I was flabbergasted to hear this.
Karla, not a single NKC employee that I spoke to was aware that Caridad Pupo (or any other UTD official) visited NKC during the spring of 2017. Can you please get some information from Ms. Pupo regarding her visit to NKC? On what day was she there? What was the total length of time of her visit? At what location on campus did her visit occur? Was there a Public Address (PA) announcement of her presence, her location, and the purpose of her visit? Was there any other notification given of her visit (such as a note in UTD members mail boxes, or a PA announcement by Mr. Brett Darwin Brown, the building steward?) Was Mr. Brown aware of Ms. Pupo’s visit?
In your email to me, Karla you seemed to suggest that UTD had visited NKC, and found no unhappy UTD members, and therefore UTD considers the matter closed. Ms. Hernandez Mats, I would be astonished if Ms. Pupo was able to find one single UTD member on the NKC campus who is not deeply afraid of, and very, very angry at both principal Dr. Tracy Roos and assistant principal Mrs. Alicia Fernandez. A little background information will clarify the situation.
During the 2011-2012 school year, the 2 previous NKC administrators were illegally removed from their posts prior to the end of the school year. I use the term illegally removed because in case DOAH 13-1492, the judge ruled that MDCPS was guilty of unlawful reprisal and abuse of power. Here are some (but certainly not all) of the contract violations of both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez.
Ms. Luz Morales, a 30- year member of UTD, was illegally terminated as a teacher on the recommendation of Dr. Roos. In case DOAH 145-2439, a judge ruled that Ms. Morales had been terminated without cause and ordered her reinstated. The MDCPS case against Ms. Morales was so pathetically weak that the district presented NO DEFENSE WHATSOEVER and presented NOT A SINGLE WITNESS, not even Dr. Roos, who recommended the termination. Ms. Morales, a former Teacher of the Year recipient, was unemployed, with almost no income, for almost an entire year. She suffered enormous stress and very nearly lost her home to foreclosure. Shockingly and appallingly, UTD did NOT file a grievance against Dr. Roos for terminating Ms. Morales on such flimsy grounds!!! Unfortunately, UTD’s failure gets even more stunning. The judge recommended that Ms. Morales be paid 100 % of the salary she forfeited during her illegal termination. The school district said that despite its illegal and indefensible actions against Ms. Morales, it would pay her only 50% of her forfeited salary. Appallingly, UTD did NOTHING WHATSOEVER to help this 30- year UTD member to secure the money she was cheated out of. Ms. Hernandez Mats, would you say this 30 -year member was treated fairly by UTD? Other than a calendar in the fall, do UTD members get anything for the over $800 union dues they pay every year?
Ms. Hernandez Mats, I have a question for you. Should courtesy and respect be extended only by teachers and paraprofessionals to administrators, or do administrators also have an obligation to extend courtesy and respect to teachers? I ask this question because for the last 5 years, courtesy and respect have been a one- way street at NKC. It is given by the terrified staff to the administration. Shamefully, the administration, for the last 5 years has chosen not to return that courtesy and respect to staff.
To obtain funding for my college education to become a teacher, I enlisted in the U.S. Army. The first task an army enlistee must successfully complete is called basic training. Basic training is designed to be very stressful, both physically and mentally. During basic training, myself and my fellow enlistees were often screamed at by army drill sergeants in a very disrespectful manner. However, the most prolonged and disrespectful screaming episode of my life did not occur during my military basic training. The loudest, most prolonged, intense, and insulting screaming episode where I was at the receiving end occurred in the spring of 2015. The person screaming at me was the assistant principal, Mrs. Alicia Fernandez. Mrs. Fernandez SCREAMED at me for 20 minutes! I literally was not allowed to speak. Every time I attempted to interject, Mrs. Fernandez shouted me down. The occasion of Mrs. Fernandez tirade was my teacher evaluation post observation chat. (I think “chat” is an ironic term for Mrs. Fernandez disgraceful and unprofessional behavior) Mrs. Fernandez observed me for merely 20 minutes, the bare minimum of time needed for an observation to be considered legal. The contract states that a teacher can fail his/her observation only if the observation lasts for the entire class period, but I guess the contract doesn’t mean much in “The People’s Republic” of NKC. To add insult to injury, Mrs. Fernandez was on her cell phone during almost the entire time of my observation, and made no attempt to hide her cell phone use from me. Ironically, Mrs. Fernandez told me that even though she had failed me, she felt I had presented an outstanding lesson! I am a previous Teacher of the Year recipient. In my 30 -year teaching career, this was the only time I failed my teacher observation. Just a few weeks prior to my failed teacher observation, I had engaged in the protected activity of appearing in court on behalf of Ms. Luz Morales at her termination appeal. The contract states that a teacher who fails an observation is entitled to a second observation. If he/she passes that second observation, the failing observation is voided in favor of the acceptable evaluation. The next day, Mrs. Fernandez again observed me and awarded me a satisfactory observation. (This happened on the very last day that an observation could legally take place during that school year.) Since I passed my second observation. Mrs. Fernandez was technically not in violation of the law against reprisals for engaging in protected activities (unless of course you consider the fact that she failed me after a 20-minute observation, she was on her cell phone for almost the entire length of my observation, and she screamed at me for20 minutes during my post observation “chat”) I again want to emphasize that Mrs. Fernandez screaming tirade was louder, longer, and more insulting than anything I ever experienced from army drill sergeants during basic training. I also want to emphasize that the stress I experienced during the 3 years when Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez were my NKC administrators FAR exceeded the stress I experienced during army boot camp. Dr. Roos is aware of Mrs. Fernandez egregious behavior during my failed observation because I gave her an 8-page written report of what transpired. I am including the letter I sent to Dr. Roos with this letter. Please share that letter with all the other stakeholders reading my letter to you. I was very disappointed but not at all surprised that neither Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez ever offered me a word of apology for Mrs. Fernandez appalling behavior during my observation. I do not think it was an accident that Mrs. Fernandez failed me on my yearly teacher observation shortly after I engaged in a protected activity on behalf of Ms. Morales. Another NKC person who engaged in that protected activity was Mr. Brett Darwin Brown, the NKC building steward. Shortly after Mr.Brown’s court appearance on behalf of Ms. Morales, Dr. Roos claimed to have received one of her mysterious “anonymous” phone calls, telling Dr. Roos that Mr. Brown and his paraprofessionals were using a ruler to beat an unruly student in their classroom! (This is the one and only allegation of child abuse ever made against Mr. Brown, or his paraprofessionals.) Both Mr. Brown and myself felt this was the NKC administrators’ way of firing a warning shot across our bow, and informing us that legally protected activities don’t mean much in “The People’s Republic” of NKC. Vladimir Lenin once said that the object of terror is to create terror, and both NKC administrators have worked very hard (and successfully) over the past 5 years to create an atmosphere of terror at NKC. I am not the only staff member to have experienced Mrs. Fernandez towering rage. I know of two other NKC staff members (both are UTD members) who have experienced Mrs. Fernandez’ monumental screaming jags. One unfortunate soul has been the victim of Mrs. Fernandez screaming jags on two occasions. This gentleman has asked that his union steward be present for all future “chats” involving Mrs. Fernandez. I am not saying that Mrs. Fernandez has engaged in “only” four screaming jags against NKC staff who are UTD members. I am saying these are the 4 incidents I am aware of. If Ms. Pupo can screw up her courage, and venture back on the NKC campus (and make both her presence and the purpose of her visit known,) I suspect she will hear of other instances of Mrs. Fernandez and Dr. Roos out of control temper tantrums. (Although Dr. Roos seems to prefer allegedly physically assaulting NKC staff members.)
Ms. Hernandez Mats, here is another area of confusion you will hopefully be able to clear up for me. Does the contract state that administrators treat staff with courtesy and respect at ALL times, or only when witnesses are present? I ask this question because at NKC, staff who supported converting to a charter school are often shouted at, or spoken to disrespectfully if no witnesses are present. Throughout my entire 30-year career, school administrators addressed me as “Bill”, and I had no problem with this because my administrators and I had a relationship of mutual respect. However, Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez were so rude and disrespectful that I put it in writing that in the future I wished to be addressed as “Mr. Detzner” by both administrators.
I wish I could say that frequent disrespect and verbal abuse are the worst offenses NKC administrators commit against the staff. Regrettably, it is not. Ms. Hernandez Mats, this may come as a tremendous shock to you, but did you know that it is against the law for school administrators to physically assault their employees? This action is illegal even in “The People’s Republic” of MDCPS! I say this because Dr. Roos allegedly physically assaulted one of her employees, in her office, during school hours. Dr. Roos was allegedly being her usual self, shouting at the staff member and being insulting and verbally abusive. The employee had his/her head down and was meekly staring at the floor. Dr. Roos then allegedly seized the employee’s jaw in her (Dr. Roos) hand and jerked the employee’s head upward until the terrified employee was staring into Dr. Roos eyes. “Look at me when I am speaking to you”, Dr. Roos allegedly screamed at the employee. Regrettably, this person was not a UTD member. He/she never reported the incident to the internal investigative bodies of MDCPS, because he/she feared (probably correctly) that MDCPS would sweep his/ her assault under the rug, and then retaliate against him/her. In one of my two letters to Superintendent Carvalho, I asked him if he was comfortable with the fact that one of his employees, after being allegedly physically assaulted by a school principal, did not feel safe enough to report that incident to the MDCPS authorities. Mr. Carvalho never bothered to answer either of the two certified letters I sent him. This person has since transferred to another worksite and is still a MDCPS employee. This person might be willing to discuss the incident with a Federal labor law investigator, provided this investigator is able to protect him/her from retaliation by MDCPS. But I have digressed. The reason this alleged assault victim was not a member of UTD is because both the alleged physical assault victim and his/her spouse are MDCPS employees and their finances did not allow them both to be UTD members. Only the spouse who was NOT allegedly physically assaulted was a UTD member. I know this because the alleged assault victim told me of his/her situation when I was the UTD building steward at NKC. Perhaps the reason the alleged assault victim had no faith in the internal investigative bodies of MDCPS is because he/she observed what happened to another NKC staff member who was foolish enough to trust the above named investigative bodies. This other NKC employee forced MDCPS to open an investigation on Dr. Roos for alleged cheating by Dr. Roos on the Florida Alternate Assessment test. (I use the word forced because it took a great deal of effort on the part of this courageous NKC staff member to overcome the district’s repeated efforts to not conduct that investigation.) Sure enough, the MDCPS investigation absolved Dr. Roos of cheating on the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA). Sure enough, MDCPS did indeed appear to turn a blind eye as Dr. Roos appeared to retaliate against this staff person. In a period of under two months, both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez filed 7 charges against this staff person who had an unblemished record of over 30 years. Six of those charges were very quickly dismissed due to a lack of evidence. The seventh and last remaining charge was of a very minor nature. In June 2015, I sent a 16- page letter to 5 very senior officials of MDCPS. Three of those 5 people are school board members. In that letter, I explained in detail the charges against this staff member. It is very difficult to believe that none of these 5 very senior MDCPS officials made Superintendent Carvalho aware of my letter. Four months AFTER I sent my letter, that staff member, on very short notice, was summoned to a meeting downtown. At the time this meeting was held, 6 of those 7 charges had been dismissed. The only remaining charge against that staff member was of a very minor nature. Despite this, MDCPS officials told that staff member he had only 2 options. Those two options were to either retire immediately or be terminated. What that staff member was NOT told by MDCPS officials was that given the fact that the only remaining charge against him was very minor, he had a third option, which was to continue his employment. Fortunately, this staff member’s attorney had previously advised his client of this option, which the staff member exercised. Ms. Hernandez Mats, would it be correct to assume that MDCPS committed an egregious violation of the law when it told this staff member to either retire or be terminated? Would it be safe to assume that this meeting could not have taken place without the knowledge and consent of very high ranking MDCPS officials, possibly including Superintendent Carvalho?
Shortly after he illegally smashed NKC’s attempt to investigate converting to a charter school and illegally transferred both NKC administrators during the school year, Superintendent Carvalho paid his one and only visit to the NKC campus. During that visit, in front of witnesses who still work at NKC, Mr. Carvalho made the following statement: “This is a Miami-Dade County public school. It will ALWAYS be a Miami-Dade County public school, and if anyone wants to change that, they need to go through me.” In my letter of June 2015, and in my 2 certified letters to Mr. Carvalho (which I have enclosed with this letter) I described in detail what seems to be 5 years of punishment that NKC has been suffering ever since it attempted to convert to a charter school. Superintendent Carvalho is aware of the illegal punishment going on for the past 5 years. He had an opportunity to replace Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez in the summers of 2015, 2016, and 2017, and declined to do so.
Ms. Hernandez Mats, in view of the seemingly egregious violations of Federal labor law by MDCPS at Neva King Cooper School, I am asking you to pick up the telephone and contact the appropriate Federal agency that investigates violations of labor law. I am asking you to invite Federal labor law attorneys to do a system-wide audit of MDCPS. My fear is that numerous, serious violations of labor law are occurring throughout MDCPS. Some areas these attorneys may wish to investigate include: A) Are the complaints of MDCPS whistleblowers thoroughly and honestly investigated? B) Are MDCPS whistleblowers retaliated against? C) Do MDCPS internal investigative bodies function merely to shield and protect the wrongdoing of MDCPS administrators? D) If Federal investigators will offer protection from retaliation by MDCPS, perhaps the person who was allegedly physically assaulted by Dr. Roos will agree to talk to them E) Federal investigators could ask if any other NKC staff are alleging physical assault by either Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez F) Given the fact that Mr. Carvalho seems to give the appearance of engaging in unlawful retaliation and punishment against the NKC staff for over 5 years, investigators might ask him if he plans to replace the two current NKC administrators if it is proven those 2 administrators are in violation of the law. Mr. Carvalho might also be asked if he intends to continue to engage in practices at NKC that appear to be retaliatory in nature. G) Investigators could invite input from both NKC staff and parents to determine why Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez are rated so poorly year after year on staff and parent satisfaction surveys. H) Investigators might want to interview Ms. Luz Morales, Dr. Roos, and MDCPS officials to determine why Ms. Morales was terminated, given the fact that the district’s case against her was so weak that the district offered no defense whatsoever in court. Investigators might also ask why Ms. Morales was only awarded 50% of her forfeited salary. I) Investigators might wish to investigate why NKC’s performance on the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) rose so dramatically after Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez became the NKC administrators. Students’ performance on the FAA should be compared and contrasted between the last two NKC principals (Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Dr. Roos) There are two female staff members who were deeply involved in monitoring the FAA under Dr. Roos who are no longer at NKC that investigators might wish to question to determine if these two people were asked to do anything illegal. J) In my blog mdcpsallegations.com I listed 14 additional areas that need to be remedied K) Investigators might want to examine Mr. Carvalho’s seeming willingness to put profoundly mentally handicapped (PMH) children at risk for choking to death for over two years My blog update (Update on Multi-Year Disaster At Neva King Cooper) describes this in detail.
I want to make both Ms. Hernandez Mats and the UTD Executive Council aware that if UTD does little or nothing in response to this letter, I will send all my information to every single member of the Florida Senate and House members who serve on the Education Committee during the next legislative session. It is possible that they may craft new legislation that UTD finds extremely distasteful in response to this letter.
Additionally, my blog has been published on 8 occasions on www.drswier.com This website receives 1,000,000 (one million) viewers a month. If UTD does little or nothing in response to this letter, I will feel free to publish in full both letters I have written to UTD on that website. I will also feel free to publish both letters I have written to Superintendent Carvalho on that website.
Ms. Hernandez Mats, I am asking you to share this letter, and my blog mdcpsallegations.com with the UTD Executive Council, Superintendent Carvalho, all school board members, members of the Superintendent’s Cabinet, and Federal labor law investigators.
There is a second reason I would like the appropriate Federal agency (that investigates violations of labor laws) to be very visibly and heavily involved in a thorough investigation of the treatment of employees throughout MDCPS. My second reason for this request is that UTD has very clearly lost its “mojo.” Assistant principal Alicia Fernandez was aware of the fact I had been the NKC building steward for 10 (ten) years. Do you honestly think Mrs. Fernandez would have: A) failed me after a 20 -minute observation B) been openly on her cell phone for almost the entire length of my observation C) SCREAMED at me (worse than my army drill sergeants during army boot camp) for 20 minutes if she had any respect for UTD or the contract? (It is interesting to note that Mrs. Fernandez screaming tirade was equal in length to her 20- minute observation of me. The only difference was that Mrs. Fernandez was not on her cell phone during her screaming jag!) Do you honestly think Dr. Roos and MDCPS would have fired Ms. Morales, a 30-year member of UTD, and then at her court case, have LITERALLY NOT A SINGLE WORD to defend that unwarranted termination if Dr. Roos and MDCPS had any respect for UTD and the contract? Do you honestly believe that MDCPS would have told an employee with only one very minor charge against him/her that he/she had to either retire or be terminated if MDCPS had any respect for labor law? Do you honestly think MDCPS would have illegally transferred both NKC administrators during the school year if they (MDCPS) had any respect for the Florida statutes that protect personnel from retaliation for investigating a conversion to a charter school? The system is very badly broken. There is a power vacuum, and MDCPS is repeatedly and blatantly violating the law, with virtual impunity.
It is not just MDCPS and school site administrators who have the impression that UTD has become an impotent and powerless organization. This perception is also held by the (dwindling) UTD membership. I will use myself as an example. I was a member of UTD for the entire length of my 30-year teaching career. Additionally, I was the UTD building steward at NKC for 10 years. Finally, I am a member of the retired chapter of UTD. On the surface, this may seem like a glowing endorsement of UTD. Rest assured, it most certainly is NOT any such thing. I am a member of the retired chapter of UTD only to give me legal standing to be a voice for the voiceless. By this I mean the terrified and very angry UTD members of NKC, who have been illegally punished for FIVE YEARS for engaging in the (supposedly) legally protected activity of exploring conversion to a charter school. These UTD members are legally forbidden from taking their concerns to the media. These people fear that if they take their concerns to the internal investigative bodies of MDCPS, their complaints will be dismissed, and then they will be retaliated against. Ms. Hernandez Mats, do you know why the UTD members of NKC have this fear? They have this fear because when an NKC staff member forced MDCPS to do an investigation of Dr. Roos for alleged cheating on the FAA, she was indeed exonerated and the whistleblower (who had a 30-year unblemished record) was suddenly hammered with 7 charges, 6 of those charges being potentially career ending. UTD members at NKC do not feel safe taking their concerns to UTD, because they saw how UTD failed to protect Ms. Morales when she was unjustly fired. Inexcusably, UTD failed to file a grievance for the unjustified termination of Ms. Morales. Even more astonishing, UTD failed to insist that Ms. Morales be paid 100% of her salary while she was unjustly terminated! Additionally, UTD members at NKC (and possibly throughout MDCPS) fear that if they take their concerns to UTD, the union will only PRETEND to investigate the matter, and then these whistleblowers will be retaliated against when the sham investigation is concluded. Ms. Hernandez Mats, do you know why NKC staff have this perception of UTD? Recall that when I sent you a very detailed letter, you initially denied receiving that letter. When I informed you that I had a signed receipt for that letter, you were then able to recall the contents of my letter in detail. You then sent Caridad Pupo for a very tepid and very timid single visit to NKC. Ms. Hernandez Mats, not a single NKC person I spoke to WAS EVEN AWARE OF MS. PUPO’S VISIT TO NKC!
When Donald Trump declared his candidacy for the Presidency, he was a laughingstock. The conventional wisdom of the “experts” was that the voters were not angry enough to elect Donald Trump. Ms. Hernandez Mats, are you making the same mistake? Are you vastly underestimating the level of anger and discontent among the rank and file of UTD?
The two mandates of UTD are to negotiate a living wage for employees and to enforce the contract. Most people I know have the opinion that both yourself and the executive council of UTD have performed very poorly with respect to both these mandates. Mr. Carvalho and UTD have grown so accustomed to no steps or raises being given, year after year, that it has become the new normal. Mr. Carvalho now seems to be moving things to the next level. Not only will there be no increase in salary (even though there are no failing schools in MDCPS), but reduced benefits, or perhaps no benefits at all are now on the table. If UTD begs hard enough, perhaps Mr. Carvalho will be gracious enough to fund benefits this year. Will UTD then proclaim “victory”, and hope the bargaining unit doesn’t notice that once again, there have been no salary increases? UTD also seems to have become extremely risk aversive when it comes to enforcing the contract. Failure to enforce the contract does not win concessions from MDCPS. It wins contempt and a lack of respect from MDCPS, and a loss of confidence and membership from the bargaining unit. UTD is on the verge of becoming irrelevant. If members conclude the costs of membership exceed the benefits, the trickle of members heading for the exits will become a stampede. My fear is that in the future, when UTD members discuss “the good old days”, they will be referring to the times when they got absolutely no raise whatsoever, as opposed to facing the prospect of experiencing decreases in salary and/or benefits. One of my reasons for possibly posting my two letters to UTD on www.drswier.com if UTD chooses to do little or nothing to end the FIVE YEARS of punishment of NKC staff is that I am hoping that bright new people will assume the leadership of UTD in the next election, if that needs to happen.
Ms. Hernandez Mats, it wasn’t until two months prior to my retirement that I felt safe enough to insist that both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez honor my fundamental human right to be spoken to in a courteous and respectful manner. I did this by asking that my building steward be present at all future conferences involving both school site administrators. I want to strongly emphasize that the ONLY reason I felt safe enough to insist that I be spoken to in a decent and dignified manner by NKC administrators was that I was going to retire in two months, and I felt they would not be able to file false, possibly career ending charges against me during that time frame. For three years, I endured several egregious violations of the contract by both NKC administrators because I (a ten-year building steward) was too terrified to notify UTD about what was happening to me and my colleagues at NKC. My fear was that UTD would do little or nothing to help me and then turn a blind eye when both my NKC administrators retaliated against me. Here is why I had that fear. I have a friend who was a UTD building steward for 20 years. This man was a very reasonable, courteous, and diplomatic steward. He was not a man to fault administrators for minor infractions. However, he was also not a pushover, and when contract violations occurred in his building, he conferred with his administrators in private and insisted that the contract was followed. To punish him, his school site administrators put very large numbers of students with behavior problems into his classroom. In many of his classes, all the students had severe behavior problems. The steward contacted UTD who “studied” the problem for TWO YEARS and did nothing. Shortly into the third year of his punishment, this steward was at the end of his rope and he abruptly retired (during the school year). He had 29 years of service, which was not enough to qualify for a full pension. My view during my last year of employment at NKC was that given the fact that UTD was either unwilling or unable to defend a sitting building steward, (who had been a building steward for 20 years) my safest course of action was to silently endure whatever contract violations Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez cared to dish out to me.
Ms. Hernandez Mats, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pick up the phone and ask the appropriate Federal agency that investigates violations of labor law to do a complete audit of the very broken MDCPS system. PLEASE ask them to do an extensive investigation of NKC. Please ask them to invite NKC staff to submit their input regarding their interactions with Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez. Please ask them to review staff and parent satisfaction surveys over a period of several years, both when Dr. Alberto Fernandez was the principal of NKC, and the five years Dr. Roos has been the NKC principal. Please ask them to also compare and contrast staff retention rates under both Dr. Fernandez and Dr. Roos. Please ask them to invite people who left NKC when either Dr. Alberto Fernandez or Dr. Roos were the NKC principals and invite these people to state their reasons for leaving NKC. If, after an investigation, UTD and a Federal labor law investigative body find Dr. Roos and/or Mrs. Fernandez to have acted sufficiently inappropriately, I am hoping these two bodies will recommend to Superintendent Carvalho that those two NKC administrators be removed from their posts. If these two NKC administrators are found to be in violation of the law (especially alleged cheating on the FAA), I am asking UTD and the Federal agency recommend these two administrators receive a punishment commensurate with their infractions. If Dr. Roos is removed from her post, I am hoping the two above named investigative bodies recommend that Dr. Alberto Fernandez be returned to his post as the NKC principal. At one point in his career, Dr. Alberto Fernandez was recognized as the best principal in MDCPS. Both staff and parent satisfaction surveys indicate a very high level of satisfaction with Dr. Fernandez by all significant stakeholders over a period of several years. Dr. Fernandez was the principal of NKC for 14 years, and thus has a thorough grasp of the needs of the school. He has also cultivated a wealth of community resources eager to help NKC meet the need of its students. His excellent people skills, coupled with his care and compassion make him ideally suited to heal the divisions and problems that have developed over the last five years at NKC.
Ms. Hernandez Mats, it’s time we talked about the 800- pound gorilla in the room. Although both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez have allegedly committed several appalling violations of Federal and state law, and violations of the UTD contract, and although UTD members at NKC have suffered HORRIBLY as a result of those actions, my guess is that both of these administrators have received sterling yearly evaluations year after year, and suffered little or no adverse consequences from UTD as a result of their numerous and egregious contract violations. The truth of the matter is that UTD has a vested interest in continuing to allow its members at NKC to go through hell every day at the hands of the two NKC administrators. UTD benefits from the horrendous working conditions at NKC in two ways. First, the Terror that Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez have carefully and deliberately cultivated among UTD staff insures that UTD membership will remain extremely high. Secondly, MDCPS and UTD have a shared interest in insuring that no public schools convert to charter schools. For MDCPS, it means a loss of revenue. For UTD, it means a loss of members. Is it possible, Ms. Hernandez Mats, that MDCPS and UTD have a “sweetheart” deal where UTD turns a blind eye and pretends to see no evil and hear no evil while MDCPS violates Federal and state law, and the UTD contract to pound (for five years, now continuing into a sixth year) the one school bold enough (and stupid enough) to believe that the Florida state laws forbidding retaliation against a public school attempting to convert to a charter school will be enforced? Ms. Hernandez Mats, as you and Superintendent Carvalho probably know, word gets around, and five years is plenty of time for every school in MDCPS to get a view of what happens to a school that takes this foolish step. As Superintendent Carvalho said during his conqueror’s visit to NKC,” If any school wants to convert to a charter school, they’re going to have to come through me!”
Fortunately, Ms. Hernandez Mats, there’s good news for you. Schools throughout MDCPS now understand that any school stupid enough to attempt to exercise its legal right to convert to a charter school will be swiftly, brutally, and illegally stopped. Superintendent Carvalho can do this because although he is willfully and deliberately breaking the law, he will suffer no legal repercussions whatsoever. Although numerous schools throughout Florida have successfully converted to charter schools, Florida law simply does not apply in “The People’s Republic Of MDCPS.”
Ms. Hernandez Mats, it’s time to stop straddling the fence. UTD needs to either get off its well- paid bottom and end the madness that has been going on at NKC for FIVE YEARS, or stop stealing money from the NKC staff.
In Unity,
Bill Detzner
P.S. Please find the following additional materials enclosed with this letter 1) My April 6, 2015 letter to Dr. Roos, asking that my building steward be present in all future meetings between myself and my two NKC administrators 2) MY March 19,2015 letter to Dr. Roos where I informed her of what transpired during my 20- minute failed observation from Mrs. Fernandez 3) My June 8, 2015 letter to five high ranking MDCPS officials 4) My two letters to Superintendent Carvalho, dated April 20, 2017, and June 28, 2017 5) Fourteen Problem Situations at Neva King Cooper School
Bill Detzner/ 7722 S.W. 99 Street/ Miami, FL. 33156

28 June 2017
Hello Mr. Carvalho,
A frog and a scorpion gazed anxiously at a rushing river. Close behind them, a ferocious forest fire crackled ominously. If they could cross the rushing river, they would be safe. If not, they would suffer a horrible death. “Please allow me a ride on your back as you swim across the river,” the scorpion begged the frog. “Are you crazy? You’ll sting me and I’ll die,” replied the frog. The scorpion retorted,” I promise you, I will not sting you, because if I do that while you are swimming across the river, we will both die.” “Hmmm,” the frog said thoughtfully. “That makes sense. Ok, hop on and I will save your life.” As soon as they reached the safety of the far shore, the scorpion stung the frog. “Why did you do that to me after I saved your life?” asked the bewildered frog. “I did it because I can’t stop myself,” the scorpion chortled gleefully.
Mr. Carvalho, my name is Bill Detzner. I taught severely mentally retarded children at Neva King Cooper (NKC) for 25 years. This is the THIRD (3’RD) letter I have written to Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS)regarding the inexcusable behavior of the 2 administrators of NKC, who have, over the last 5 years, done many seemingly deliberately hurtful and vindictive things to the NKC staff. Like the scorpion, they seem to do these things because”they can’t seem to stop themselves.” The names of those two administrators are Dr. Tracy Roos, (principal) and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez, (assistant principal). Mr. Carvalho, I think you and I would both agree that the scorpion character in this fable is a very vindictive character. Mr. Carvalho, would you and I also be in agreement that like the scorpion, you too are a very vindictive individual? I ask this question because in June 2015, I sent a 16 -page letter to Dr. Larry Feldman (school board member), Dr. Martha Perez (school board member), Perla Tabares-Hantman (school board member,) Barbara Mendizabal, and Dr. David More. In that 16- page letter, I went into great detail about the very serious, potentially career ending charges that were leveled against Mr. Rick Massa, a teacher at NKC. Although Mr. Massa had a spotless record for the first 36 years of his career, during a 2 -month period at NKC, BOTH Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez filed 7 devastating charges against Mr. Massa. Whether by coincidence or by design, Mr. Massa, myself, Luz Morales, and all the other NKC staff who have had disciplinary problems with both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez were supporters of exploring the option of converting to a charter school. (Conversely, NKC staff who were NOT interested in exploring charter school conversion have had relatively few problems with either Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez.) Mr. Carvalho, it strains credibility to believe that NONE of these very 5 senior MDCPS officials saw fit to share my letter with you. I think it would be a safe bet to say that you were aware of the numerous very serious accusations made against Mr. Massa. Four months after MDCPS received my letter, a very scary and sinister thing happened to Mr. Massa. Although 6 of the 7 accusations against Mr. Massa had been dismissed due to a lack of evidence, and despite the fact that the 1 remaining charge against Mr. Massa was of a very minor nature, Mr. Massa, on very short notice, was summoned to a meeting downtown. Although Mr. Massa had a lawyer, his lawyer was not allowed to attend this meeting. At this meeting, senior MDCPS officials told Mr. Massa he had only 2 options. Those 2 options were to either retire immediately or to be terminated. What Mr. Massa was NOT told was that due to the fact that the only as yet unresolved charge against him was very minor, he had the additional option of simply exiting that meeting and continuing his career. Fortunately for Mr. Massa, his attorney made him aware that he had this option. Mr. Carvalho, it is very difficult to believe that this termination meeting took place without your knowledge and approval. (If you were unaware of this meeting, one has to ask what other things are happening in MDCPS without your knowledge and consent.) Mr. Carvalho, would it be fair and accurate to say that yourself, Dr. Roos, and Mrs. Fernandez share the scorpion’s vindictiveness?
Mr. Carvalho, I am asking that you share both this letter and my blog (www.mdcpsallegations.com) with both the entire MDCPS school board and all of the members of the Superintendent’s Cabinet.
My second correspondence with MDCPS occurred in April 2017. It consisted of my blog and a certified letter (return receipt requested) that I sent to you, Mr. Carvalho. I also sent copies of my blog to the Florida state education authorities in Tallahassee, the Federal education authorities in Washington, D.C., and United Teachers of Dade (UTD) Additionally, I sent a copy of my blog to the Matt Drudge Report. (The Matt Drudge Report is the most widely read blog in the U.S. Mr. Drudge became prominent in the 1990’s when his revelations about the Monica Lewinsky affair nearly ended Bill Clinton’s presidency.) Finally, I sent copies of my blog to bloggers Dr. Gary North and Dr. Rich Swier. Dr Swier was kind enough to publish my entire blog in 7 installments. (It can be accessed at www.drrichswier.com). The title of my blog is Multi-Year Disaster at Neva King Cooper. Dr. Swier’s blog has a monthly audience of over 1,000,000 highly educated, financially affluent, and politically powerful people.
My June 2015 sixteen- page letter had no effect on moderating either Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez behavior toward the NKC staff. My April 2017 blog publication and certified letter to Superintendent Carvalho also had no effect on moderating the extremely abusive interactions both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez have with the NKC staff. A person could be forgiven for believing that the pressure of a UTD visit to the NKC campus to investigate alleged contract violations by both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez, plus a recently published very critical 40- page blog about these two administrators, plus my certified letter to Mr. Carvalho would cause these two administrators to tone down their extremely unpleasant interactions with the NKC staff at least for the remaining month and a half remaining in the school year. Regrettably, this assumption is untrue. Like the scorpion who does vindictive things because it can’t stop itself, the two NKC administrators “brought the hammer down” on the long suffering NKC staff during the closing days of the 2016-2017 school year.
During the last days of school, several staff members had a t-shirt made that said,”Straight out of Neva.” They wore this shirt at NKC. The fact that those serfs (I mean employees) were entirely within their contractual rights to wear those shirts to work (there was nothing obscene, controversial, or political on those t-shirts) was unimportant to Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez. Both of these administrators are EXTREMELY controlling people who want to control even the most minute details of what occurs at NKC, even if the UTD contract specifically forbids them from doing certain things. At the very stormy and confrontational faculty meeting that followed those staff members wearing those t-shirts to work, Dr. Roos stated that she was deeply offended that staff members did not first seek her permission and approval for this t-shirt!!! (even though the employees had no contractual obligation to do so!) At the risk of being accused of insubordination, one of the staff spoke up and noted that earlier in the year, another group of NKC employees (who Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez like) had also made up t-shirts that they then wore to work, without consulting Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez in advance, and not a single word was said to these employees. A prudent administrator, realizing that A) she had no contractual right to make the statements she was making and B) having it pointed out to her that another group of employees had done the exact same thing, with no adverse consequences would have backed off. Not only did Dr. Roos NOT back off, she intensified her attack. She then required each person who had worn the “offending” shirt to attend a one-on-one additional scolding in her (Dr. Roos) office. During the one-on-one additional scolding (Again, when the contract was not violated), Dr. Roos was once again unable to control her emotions and began weeping uncontrollably. To refresh your memory, Mr. Carvalho, a few years ago, at a faculty meeting, Dr. Roos became very abusive in stating to the entire faculty that we (the entire faculty) were doing a very poor job of taking care of the children. She then stated that she was ashamed of us and began weeping uncontrollably. The NKC staff sent MDCPS a petition signed by nearly the entire staff asking that Dr. Roos be given the proper sanction for this offense. MDCPS did what it always does when it receives unwelcome news: Our petition was met with total silence. MDCPS did not even have the common courtesy and decency to acknowledge having received the letter. Mr. Carvalho, two months ago, I sent you a certified letter. You also did not have the common courtesy and decency to even acknowledge receipt of that letter. I am guessing that you will also not reply to this letter, even though it contains a number of very serious allegations against MDCPS. Just as it seems that Dr. Roos first uncontrollable weeping was ok with MDCPS officials, my guess is that this latest episode of her uncontrollable weeping will also be ok with MDCPS officials. It seems that courtesy and respect are a one -way street at NKC. It is given by employees/serfs to the administrators/masters, but it is not returned. For example, Mr. Carvalho, you have known for two years now that NKC administrators SCREAM at NKC employees when there are no witnesses, and you have done nothing about it. You also know that there is an allegation of Dr. Roos physically assaulting an NKC employee, and nothing was done about that either. One final note concerning the t-shirt event that Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez chose to turn into a MAJOR confrontation between staff and administrators: If both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez were not ENORMOUSLY unpopular at NKC, those t-shirts would never have been made in the first place!
Neither Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez permit even the tiniest bit of dissention from the peasant/serf NKC employees. Here is yet another example of that. One day, while eating his/her lunch in the teacher’s lounge, a teacher made the mistake of stating his/her opinion that the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) is an unsuitable test for profoundly mentally retarded children. (This belief is shared by nearly the entire NKC staff.) One might think that since A) This comment was made inside the teacher’s lounge during lunch hour and B) At best, this comment was a very mild and bland criticism, that Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez would just let it go, but that’s not the way things work in “The People’s Republic” of NKC. Like the scorpion, these two administrators just can’t stop themselves. One of Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez many snitches was present in the teachers’ lounge when this statement was made and ran off to tattle on this poor, trusting soul. This teacher was not even allowed to finish his/her lunch before being summoned by Dr. Roos to her office and being SCREAMED at and told under NO conditions was this person EVER to say anything negative about the FAA again. (It should be noted that contractually, a MDCPS employee is entitled to a 30 minute, uninterrupted, scream- free lunch break. Evidently, this contractual rule does not apply in “The People’s Republic” of NKC.) Both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez are scorpions who will not hesitate to retaliate against this person for the fact that I am aware of this event. If this is Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez BEST behavior, (when they are supposedly under the microscope of both Superintendent Carvalho and UTD,) can you imagine what they will do if they are allowed to return to NKC next fall???
Mr. Carvalho, since you either can not or will not control the behavior of Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez, I am sending copies of this letter to both the Florida and Federal educational authorities (plus all the blogs I have previously mentioned.) Given the fact that you seem either unwilling or unable to put your own house in order, perhaps outside educational authorities will be able to put your house in order for you. Here are some additional things state and Federal educational authorities might want to look into: 1) Why is there such a yawning chasm between the FAA test scores when Dr. Alberto Fernandez was the NKC principal, as opposed to the dramatic and astonishing improvement in scores when Dr. Roos became the NKC principal? Yep, since Dr. Roos became the NKC principal, profoundly mentally retarded students, with IQ’s of 25 and below have achieved some ASTOUNDING FAA test results. Investigators might want to question any NKC staff who assisted Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez in maintaining custody of FAA testing materials, both present staff and staff who have since transferred to another school site to see if either Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez asked them to do anything contrary to FAA guidelines. 2) Why is it that the MDCPS in-house self-policing bodies seem to nearly always vindicate accused MDCPS officials, while the whistleblowers then suffer unlawful retaliation?
I would also like to ask MDCPS board members and Superintendent’s Cabinet members to compare and contrast both the staff and parent satisfaction surveys of both the administration of Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Cristobol and the administration of Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez. If you find that Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Cristobol have performed significantly better than Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez, on these staff and parent satisfaction surveys, I ask you to recommend that Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Cristobol be returned as the administrators of NKC.
Mr. Carvalho, I am going to lay my cards on the table. My phone rings off the hook with complaints from NKC staff about BOTH Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez. If either one of those scorpions is returned as NKC administrators next fall, I am going to publish Part Two of my Multi-Year Disaster at Neva King Cooper blog on Dr. Rick Swier’s blog. Part Two of my blog will be as long as Part One was, and the allegations will be as serious as the allegations in Part One. I will again send copies of Part Two of my blog to both the state education authorities in Tallahassee and the Federal authorities in Washington. I will also send copies of my blog (both parts One and Two) to every member of the Florida Senate and House education committees. Additionally, I will send my blogs to the National Labor Relations Board and the ACLU. I will also include all of the letters I have written to you as a part of my blog. My goal is to reach a tipping point, where the pain you as superintendent of schools receive as a result of keeping either Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez as NKC administrators becomes unacceptably high. Mr. Carvalho, I am a very patient and persistent man. As a retired teacher, I have a great deal of free time to devote to this pursuit.
Mr. Carvalho, I would like to give school board members and members of the Superintendent’s Cabinet some additional information on how NKC came to be the sad and pathetic place it is today. In the 2011-2012 school year, the NKC principal, Dr. Alberto Fernandez and his assistant principal, Mr. Cristobol, along with the faculty council decided to explore NKC’s legally protected option of converting from a public school to a charter school. MDCPS illegally smashed NKC’s charter school conversion exploration. The reason I say MDCPS actions were illegal is because in legal case DOAH 13-1492, the judge ruled that MDCPS was guilty of unlawful reprisal and abuse of authority. Given the fact that Mr. Carvalho is the superintendent of MDCPS, it is probably fair to say that the blame for the illegal actions of MDCPS lies with Mr. Carvalho. Although both staff and parent satisfaction surveys for several years indicated a very high level of satisfaction with both Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Cristobol, by both parents and staff for a period of several years and although the presiding judge in the case recommended that Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Cristobol be returned to their posts as NKC administrators, Mr. Carvalho declined to take this action and reassigned them to other posts within MDCPS. Mr. Carvalho, during his entire tenure as MDCPS superintendent, has only visited the NKC campus once. That one very brief visit was shortly after Mr. Carvalho had illegally removed Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Cristobol from their posts. During his very brief visit, Mr. Carvalho made the following statement in the main office of NKC. He said, “This is a Miami-Dade County public school. It will always be a Miami-Dade County public school, and if anyone wants to change that, they need to go through me.” There are several current NKC employees who heard Mr. Carvalho make that statement and are willing to testify to that effect. News of Mr. Carvalho’s visit and his statement swept through the school like a wildfire. After Mr. Carvalho illegally removed BOTH administrators almost 2 months PRIOR to the end of the school year, the staff was in a state of shock. The NKC staff viewed Mr. Carvalho’s statement as a thinly veiled threat against the entire staff. The staff felt that Mr. Carvalho could and would do to other staff members what he had done to the two NKC administrators. The actions of the 2 present NKC administrators, Dr. Tracy Roos (principal) and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez (assistant principal) over the last 5 years certainly seem to be acts of retaliation by BOTH of these administrators against NKC staff members who expressed an interest in exploring converting to a charter school. For example, Ms. Luz Morales, (case number DOAH 145-2439) on the recommendation of Dr. Roos, was illegally terminated and reemployed only because a judge ordered it. Mr. Darwin Brown (teacher and our UTD steward,) Ms. Yolanda Deya (teaching assistant) and Ms. Zenaida Castellanos (teaching assistant) were informed by Dr. Roos that Dr. Roos had received an “anonymous” phone call stating that these 3 individuals were illegally using a ruler to discipline one of the students in their class. A few things need to be noted here. 1) This is not the first time Dr. Roos has received an “anonymous” phone call prior to initiating disciplinary action against a staff member. 2) Dr. Roos is required by law to open an investigation into every allegation of child abuse. I am, hoping investigators will check to see if Dr. Roos followed this procedure after the “anonymous” phone call. 3) As a result of these unproven allegations, Ms. Yolanda Deya, a very fine and hard- working teaching assistant with an unblemished 26 -year record abruptly retired at the end of the school year. Other instances of what appear to be retaliation against charter school conversion supporters by NKC administrators include myself (Bill Detzner). Shortly after I wrote a letter urging parents to join our school PTA (I wrote this letter at the request of Dr. Roos, who read my proposed letter, approved it, and told me to send the letter home with students.) Shortly after words, Dr. Roos received yet another one of her mysterious “anonymous” phone calls, informing her (Dr. Roos) I had broken some obscure rule forbidding a PTA letter to be sent on school stationary. Dr. Roos then held THREE meetings with me (she screamed at me and was very abusive and insulting during all 3 of these meetings) and told me she was going to place a letter of reprimand in my personnel file for writing a letter that she asked me to write and then approved. The letter of reprimand was rescinded ONLY after Dr. Roos was summoned to a meeting downtown and ordered by MDCPS to apologize to me and not place that letter in my file. Later that year, for the one and only time during my 30- year career, Mrs. Alicia Fernandez failed me on my yearly teaching observation. She observed me for 20 minutes, the bare minimum of time needed to make an observation legal. The contract states that a failing observation can be given ONLY if an observation takes an entire class period of approximately one hour, but I guess a legal contract does not mean much in “The People’s Republic “of NKC. To add insult to injury, Mrs. Fernandez was on her cell phone almost the entire time of my observation, and made no attempt to hide the fact that she was on her cell phone. In her follow up post-observation “chat” with me, Mrs. Fernandez SCREAMED at me for 20 minutes. I was literally not allowed to speak. Every time I attempted to say something, Mrs. Fernandez simply shouted me down! I am a military veteran. Even during army boot camp, I was not shouted at the way Mrs. Fernandez shouted at me during my post-observation “chat”. Perhaps Mrs. Fernandez felt that because I had supported exploring the option of converting to a charter school, I deserved that treatment. Sadly, at no time afterwards did Mrs. Fernandez apologize for her behavior. Given the fact that in the past I had been selected as my school’s teacher of the year, my “failure” that day seemed odd. A final irony is that Mrs. Fernandez told me that the lesson she had failed me on was an outstanding lesson!
Mrs. Fernandez then also failed (again, for the first time in his 30- year career) Mr. Tebilio Diaz. (However, as both of us then passed our follow-up observations, we received passing evaluations for that year.)
A staff member (who chooses to remain unknown) was in Dr. Roos office and Dr. Roos was allegedly SCREAMING at this person. This person had his/her head down and was staring miserably at the floor. Dr. Roos then allegedly seized this person by the jaw and jerked his/her head upward into Dr. Roos’ face and allegedly screamed, ”Look at me when I’m talking to you.” This person was not a member of UTD, although the spouse of this person was a UTD member. Their finances were such that they could not both afford UTD membership. This person did not have enough confidence in the investigative bodies within MDCPS to keep him/her safe if he/she reported the incident This person has since transferred to another worksite within MDCPS. However, it took many months for this person to escape ”The People’s Republic” of NKC via another MDCPS worksite. One can only imagine the dread this person faced every day as he/she reported for work at NKC, wondering if he/she would again face the violation of physical assault in the work place by her employer. Apparently, the right of employees to be safe from physical assault by their employers that exists in the rest of the U.S. does not seem to apply to “The People’s Republic” of NKC. Mr. Carvalho, does it bother you that a MDCPS employee who was allegedly physically assaulted by a MDCPS principal then did not feel safe enough to report that incident to the appropriate MDCPS agency? Perhaps if the Federal or state of Florida educational authorities were to take over the day to day operations of MDCPS, this situation could be remedied.
Probably the most egregious instance of what appears to be retaliation against a supporter of the charter school conversion would be Mr. Rick Massa. Although he had a previously unblemished 36- year record, in the span of 2 months Mr. Massa found himself accused (by BOTH Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez) of 7 very serious charges, including possibly sexually molesting a student, cheating on the FAA, and gross neglect of a student.
Based on Mr. Carvalho’s statement during his visit to NKC and based on the actions of both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez over the past 5 years, myself and most of the NKC staff feel that the 3 above named individuals view NKC as a rebellious and conquered entity that deserves a heavy and lengthy punishment. Here is a 2 -year old quote from the letter I sent in June 2015. “If the goal of the punishment our staff has received for 3 years is intimidation, that goal has been achieved. Our staff feels deeply intimidated by the district. The NKC staff COMPLETELY abandoned the idea of converting to a charter school two and a half years ago. Any staff member foolish enough to bring up the subject of converting to a charter school would immediately be vigorously opposed by the entire staff. The NKC staff understands that a district response to a conversion request would be swift and brutal.” [due to the fact that although these repressive actions by the district are illegal, no penalty will be suffered by Florida school districts who willfully violate that law] “Therefore, if the district is punishing our staff to prevent a charter conversion, that punishment can stop. Perhaps the district should declare an amnesty for the NKC staff. A hundred years from now, NKC will still be a public school. If the district is punishing NKC as an example of what happens to schools that attempt to convert to a charter school, then I suppose the punishment will continue.”
Well, Mr. Carvalho, it is now 5 years after you illegally smashed NKC’s attempt to explore charter school conversion, and what appears to be punishment and retaliation continues unabated. Mr. Carvalho, at what point will you feel that NKC has been punished and retaliated against enough? Will it be 7 years, 10 years, or the length of your term as superintendent? If you intend to appear to punish and retaliate against NKC for the duration of your term as superintendent, it is my fervent hope that your term of office will soon end.
If records exist that show the number of staff who left NKC during the time Dr. Alberto Fernandez was the NKC principal, they can be compared to the number of staff who left NKC after Dr. Roos became the principal of NKC. These numbers will show that staff retention has greatly diminished since Dr. Roos came to NKC. State or Federal investigators might wish to invite staff who left NKC after Dr. Roos became the principal to share their reasons for leaving NKC. I am sure they will hear some hair- raising stories.
A few years ago, Mr. Rick Massa had a student in his class who had it written on his Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that the young man was prone to choking incidents. The obvious solution to this problem is to very closely monitor this student during meal times. However, the class consists of several students and those other students have frequent and unannounced seizures or behavioral/emotional outbursts, making it impossible to monitor this student at all times. One day, during meal time, this young man began to choke on his food. Mr. Massa took immediate, proper, and proactive action, and the student quickly expelled the food he was choking on. He never lost consciousness and his only ill effect was a red face. The child then went back to eating his meal. As the entire school eats in the cafeteria at the same time, the entire staff witnessed this choking incident. The entire staff felt that Mr. Massa should have been warmly congratulated for his prompt actions that safeguarded this young man’s well- being. Both the on-site NKC nursing staff and the paramedics from the fire department that Dr. Roos summoned to NKC after this incident occurred assured Dr. Roos that the young man had suffered no ill effects as a result of his brief choking incident. Nevertheless, Dr. Roos made the astonishing decision to charge Mr. Massa with gross neglect of a child! In what kind of perverted, twisted school does taking prompt and correct actions to save a child from choking constitute gross neglect of a child??? As a result of Dr. Roos action, myself and the rest of the NKC staff have a fear that if a child under the care of an NKC staff person begins to choke, even if it is not the staff person’s fault that the child is choking, and even if the staff person takes immediate and corrective action and the child suffers no ill effects, that staff person may still be charged with potentially career ending charges. Mr. Carvalho, I am greatly disappointed by the fact that what I am telling you right now is something I am telling you for the FOURTH time. The first time I brought this to your attention was June 2015, TWO YEARS AGO. You have chosen to do absolutely nothing when 3 easily implemented actions on your part would greatly reduce the risk of a severely mentally retarded child at NKC choking to death. So here (for the fourth time) is the scenario that exists of an artificially elevated risk of a fatal choking incident occurring as a result of what appears to be Dr. Roos decision to use a choking incident as a weapon against NKC staff. If a child begins to choke, the NKC staff member, fearing his/her job may be at stake, (even if he/she is blameless and takes immediate corrective action), may choose to delay notifying the NKC administrators, or the nursing staff, hoping the child spontaneously ejects the food. In a choking incident, every second is important, and a 30 second to one minute delay in summoning help may literally mean the difference between life and death. During the 25 years I worked at NKC, there were 3 near death experiences. Two involved students who nearly choked to death on their food. The other involved a staff member who suffered a heart attack and stopped breathing. In all 3 of these incidents, the lives were saved NOT by our on-site nursing staff, but by Mr. Frank Lozada, a teacher at NKC who trained as a paramedic at the fire academy and rode ambulances on the weekends. Regrettably, Mr. Lozada joined the long, long line of staff who have left NKC since Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez became the NKC administrators. On an absolutely perfect day, with no red lights and no traffic, the paramedics can reach our school in 3 minutes. If you add an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute that a staff member may delay seeking help for fear of losing his/her job, the situation could change from a life saved to a life lost, or a child who could walk prior to the choking incident to a child being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his/her life due to irreversible brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. In one of the choking incidents, it took Mr. Lozada (who was on-site at the time of the choking incident) nearly 3 minutes to dislodge the food blocking the student’s airways. Here are the 3 easily implemented steps Mr. Carvalho could take to reduce the artificially elevated risk of a fatal choking incident at NKC. 1) Replace Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez as the NKC administrators. 2) It would be helpful if Mr. Carvalho were to send a memo to NKC staff stating that in the future, staff who perform their duties with due diligence will not be charged with wrongdoing. 3) Offer CPR training to all NKC staff during one of the teacher workdays. This needs to be done on an annual basis. Staff who successfully complete this course could be awarded master plan points. When Dr. Alberto Fernandez was the principal of NKC, CPR training was provided to all staff every year. To my knowledge, Dr. Roos has not provided this training.
Timothy McVeigh, the evil man who bombed the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killed dozens of kindergarten children in that bombing. When he was asked about his thoughts about these murdered children, he shrugged his shoulders and called them “collateral damage.” Mr. Carvalho, the severely mentally retarded children of NKC have IQ’s of 25 and below. They played no part whatsoever in the failed attempt to possibly convert NKC to a charter school. If you continue to take no corrective action, and one or more severely mentally retarded children needlessly dies as a result of your inaction, will you shrug your shoulders and consider that death or deaths to be ‘collateral damage?” Mr. Carvalho, your failure to correct an easily correctible dangerous situation for severely mentally retarded children FOR OVER 2 YEARS goes beyond criminal negligence. It is evil.
Sincerely,
Bill Detzner
Bill Detzner
7722 S.W. 99 Street
Miami, FL. 33156
P.S. I am including the list of 14 things I would like state of Florida and/or Federal Education authorities to examine with this letter.

October 4, 2017
Hello Mr. Carvalho,
Please send copies of this letter to Karla Hernandez Mats, all school board members, and all members of the superintendent’s cabinet. My name is Bill Detzner, employee 146782. This is my third letter to you. You have not bothered to respond to my two previous letters, and my guess is that you will also not bother to address the disgraceful latest actions of your regent, Dr. Roos, discussed in this letter. I am disappointed, but not surprised that you seem to lack the professionalism and courtesy to do so. I am once again writing in response to the latest deplorable actions of Dr. Roos. You have known since June 2015 of the numerous egregious violations of Federal and Florida laws and the MDCPS contract that both Dr. Roos and assistant principal Mrs. Fernandez appear to have been guilty of for the last five years. You have had an opportunity to replace these two non-performing administrators in the summer of 2015, 2016, and 2017, and have failed to do so.
In my most recent letter to you, I recounted the fable of the scorpion and the frog. After the frog saved the scorpion’s life, the scorpion broke its promise and fatally stung the frog. Before it died, the frog asked the scorpion why it had done such a cruel thing. The scorpion replied, “I did it because I can’t help myself.”
Well, Mr. Carvalho, it seems that your regent, Dr. Roos, is also an extremely cruel person who repeatedly does despicable things because she can’t seem to stop herself. I have to say that Dr. Roos’ latest cruelty is over the top, even for her. My guess is that Dr. Roos (and Mrs. Fernandez) will continue to choose to be deliberately cruel and deliberately dishonest in fabricating false, potentially career ending charges against supporters of the charter school at NKC. My guess is that these deliberate violations are done to create an extremely toxic and hostile work environment to drive away teachers who supported charter school exploration, and to create an atmosphere of Terror, unquestioning compliance, and silence among all remaining staff. The fact that you insist on keeping these two administrators at NKC after you are told of their repeated wrongdoing sends an unmistakable signal that you condone their lawbreaking activities.
In April 2017, (after I published my www.mdcpsallegations.com blog) I sent letters to yourself and UTD detailing the numerous egregious contract violations Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez have committed in the five years since you (Mr. Carvalho) illegally smashed NKC’s attempt to explore charter school conversion. My assumption was that with both UTD and the superintendent’s office closely monitoring them, the 2 NKC administrators would behave themselves for the remaining month and a half of the 2016-2017 school year. To my horror, but not my surprise, the NKC administrators then committed 2 serious contract violations during the period when they were supposedly being closely monitored. The first violation occurred during a UTD member’s lunch in the teachers’ lounge. She made the innocent remark that in her opinion, the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) was not a good test to measure the progress of severely mentally retarded students’ progress. Unfortunately, one of Dr. Roos’ and Mrs. Fernandez’ snitches was present and ran off to tattle on this poor, unsuspecting soul. In violation of the contract, this UTD serf was immediately summoned to Dr. Roos’ office during the serf’s lunch break. Dr. Roos then SCREAMED that the unfortunate serf was forbidden to ever again say anything negative about the FAA. I guess a UTD serf’s right to an uninterrupted 30-minute scream-free lunch doesn’t mean much in “The People’s Republic of NKC.” The second egregious contract violation by Dr. Roos occurred at a faculty meeting at the end of the school year. Some of the staff had t-shirts made that said “Straight Outta Neva,” and wore those t-shirts to school. As the shirts were not obscene, political, or controversial, these staff members were within their contractual rights to take this action. Despite the fact no contract violation occurred, and despite the fact not all staff wore those t-shirts, Dr. Roos chose to berate the entire staff at the faculty meeting. Dr. Roos bemoaned the fact that she had not been consulted prior to these staff members doing something entirely within their contractual rights. A staff member then pointed out to Dr. Roos that earlier in the year, the tiny staff faction that Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez currently approve of also had a t-shirt made that they wore to school without consulting Dr. Roos in advance and suffered no adverse consequences. A normal administrator would have backed off at that point. Regrettably, Dr. Roos chose to become even more aggressive. She then required each person who wore the t-shirt to attend an additional one-on-one conference with Dr. Roos in her office. During those individual conferences, Dr. Roos lost control of her emotions and went on an uncontrollable crying jag. This is the second time this has happened. The first time was at a faculty meeting. In response to Dr. Roos’ initial uncontrollable crying jag, nearly the entire staff signed a petition asking that Dr. Roos receive the appropriate sanction for her emotional meltdown. As usual, MDCPS did not have the professionalism or the courtesy to even acknowledge receipt of that petition.
These brazen and egregious contract violations while (supposedly) under the watchful eyes of both Superintendent Carvalho and UTD, caused me to send Mr. Carvalho a second certified letter on June 28, 2017. To quote from that letter: “If this [t-shirt incident and screaming at a staff member during her lunch break] is Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez BEST behavior, CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT THEY WILL DO IF THEY ARE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO NKC IN THE FALL???… My phone rings off the hook with complaints from NKC staff about BOTH Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez. If either one of those scorpions is returned as NKC administrators next fall, [this has happened] I am going to publish Part Two of my Multi-Year Disaster at Neva King Cooper blog on Dr. Swier’s website.” [this has also happened] I also lamented the fact that Mr. Carvalho appeared to be either unwilling or unable to stop the numerous contract violations both NKC administrators commit on a regular basis.
Well, Mr. Carvalho, you did not have the decency to respond to my letter and you chose to return both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez to their posts as NKC administrators for the 2017-2018 school year. True to form, they did not even make it through the first grading period before they once again threw the entire staff into chaos and emotional turmoil. My guess is that the emotional stress of Hurricane Irma our staff experienced was just not enough for these two monsters that have been your hand-picked regents at NKC for the past five years.
Mr. Carvalho, probably the single most traumatic thing that can happen to a parent is to have their child brutally murdered. Unfortunately, that is what happened to Mrs. Green, one of the most loved staff members at NKC. To the NKC staff, Mrs. Green is just not just a colleague. She is family and a sister. On her first day back to work after her daughter’s murder, Dr. Roos consciously and deliberately turned her back on Mrs. Green when the two of them met on campus. That was the high-water mark of Dr. Roos’ “courtesy” to Mrs. Green. On her second day back to work, Dr. Roos spoke briefly to Mrs. Green. During that conversation, Mrs. Green was polite and courteous. Unfortunately, in “The People’s Republic of NKC,” a staff member being just polite and courteous to either Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez just doesn’t cut it. Both NKC administrators expect (and get) extreme meekness, subservience, and deference from the staff of NKC. Apparently, the fact that Mrs. Green’s daughter had been brutally murdered just a few days ago was no excuse for Mrs. Green not to bow and scrape when in the presence of either NKC administrator. Dr. Roos then made the appalling remark that if Mrs. Green was unhappy at NKC, Dr. Roos would be happy to reassign Mrs. Green to a different school. Regrettably, it gets even worse! Dr. Roos did not even have the common decency to say this to Mrs. Green privately. Dr. Roos summoned a custodian, Mr. Aaron Jackson and told Mr. Jackson to deliver this message to Mrs. Green!!! Perhaps Dr. Roos felt that since both Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Green are African-Americans, this was the proper way to threaten a grieving mother’s employment status a few days after her daughter’s brutal murder!!! Mr. Carvalho, YOU made the decision to return BOTH these monsters to NKC AFTER you became aware that Dr. Roos allegedly physically assaulted an employee in Dr. Roos office. You also chose to return Mrs. Fernandez to her post as assistant principal even though I told you I am aware of 4 (FOUR) screaming jags Mrs. Fernandez has allegedly had against NKC serfs/peasants. You chose to return Mrs. Fernandez to her post AFTER I told you that on one occasion, Mrs. Fernandez screamed at me nonstop for 20 minutes, and that Mrs. Fernandez’ screaming jag was louder, longer, and more insulting than any shouting I experienced from drill sergeants during my army basic training.
Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez are not the most vicious bullies tormenting and terrorizing the staff of NKC. Mr. Carvalho, that “honor” belongs to you. I say this because shortly after you illegally smashed NKC’s attempt to convert to a charter school (court case DOAH 13-1492) you paid your one and only visit to NKC. Here is the Conquistador’s statement you made at that time. “This is a Miami-Dade County public school. It will ALWAYS be a Miami-Dade County public school, and if anyone wants to change that, they need to go through me.” Mr. Carvalho, for 5 (FIVE) years now you have had NKC in permanent “lockdown.” For FIVE YEARS you have shown NKC your closed and mailed fist. Although NKC staff have (on paper) a legal right to explore conversion to a charter school, and although (on paper) Florida law states that staff who exercise this right cannot be punished or retaliated against, you have willfully and deliberately violated this law. I will once again ask you a question that you have declined to answer in the past. MR. CARVALHO, HOW MUCH LONGER DO YOU INTEND TO PUNISH AND RETALIATE AGAINST THE STAFF OF NKC??? Mr. Carvalho, you made the decision to return Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez to their posts in the 2017-2018 school year despite the following egregious and astonishing blemishes on their records: A) Both NKC administrators have violated a staff member’s rights to the point where it has resulted in 2 pending court cases; one in Federal court, and one in state court. B) For over 2 years, your regent, Dr. Roos appears to be using choking (on food) incidents as a potential weapon to terminate staff she dislikes. Even more astonishing is the fact that although you, Mr. Carvalho have been aware for over 2 years of the fact that this shameful practice recklessly and needlessly endangers the lives of severely mentally retarded children, you have declined to take 3 easily implemented steps to safeguard these children C) Dr. Roos is alleged to have physically assaulted a staff member in Dr. Roos’ office. D) Dr. Roos is alleged to have failed to take the mandatory action of reporting an incident of alleged child abuse that occurred on the NKC campus. If Dr. Roos failed to report this alleged child abuse to the authorities, the penalty is permanent revocation of Dr. Roos teaching credentials. Mrs. Ramos, the para-professional who reported the possible child abuse to Dr. Roos is still employed at NKC if authorities wish to look into this matter. E) For five years, students at NKC have turned in performances on the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) that are statistically highly improbable. If investigators want to examine this matter, there are two female staff members who are no longer at NKC who might be asked if the two NKC administrators did anything illegal regarding the FAA test. One of the ladies has a doctorate degree. The other woman left NKC at the end of the 2016-2017 school year to work downtown. F) In case DOAH 145-2439, Dr. Roos recommendation for termination of Ms. Morales was overturned. The case was so weak that MDCPS presented no case whatsoever for that unwarranted termination.
Mr. Carvalho, if a serf/peasant is in danger of being involuntarily reassigned to another school, does that serf/peasant have the right for that information to remain confidential? Does that right apply even in “The People’s Republic of MDCPS?” Mr. Carvalho, is it part of a custodian’s job description to inform other staff members that they are in danger of being involuntarily transferred to another school? Mr. Carvalho, would it be fair and accurate to say that Dr. Roos’ actions, if they occurred, were an egregious violation of both Mrs. Green’s and Mr. Jackson’s rights? Mr. Carvalho, is Dr. Roos going to receive permanent consequences for her HIGHLY inappropriate actions that are commensurate with her infractions if those infractions are found to have occurred? Will there be a permanent record of Dr. Roos’ offenses if they are deemed to have occurred? What will those consequences be? It would be a travesty of justice if Dr. Roos were to receive merely a slap on the wrist if the EGREGIOUS offenses committed against Mrs. Green and Mr. Jackson are found to have occurred. (In “The People’s Republic of MDCPS,” my guess is that this happens frequently to administrators who are guilty of wrongdoing).
Mr. Carvalho, I want you to be aware that if Dr. Roos repeats what she has done in the past, as surely as day follows night, DR. ROOS IS GOING TO VICIOUSLY AND ILLEGALLY RETALIATE AGAINST BOTH MRS. GREEN AND MR. JACKSON. My guess is that since you keep reappointing these two monsters as NKC administrators, they will perform these illegal actions with your full knowledge and approval. Mr. Carvalho, perhaps the two present NKC administrators see you as a role model. I say this because in court case DOAH 13-1492, you viciously and illegally removed both Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Henny Cristobol as NKC administrators (during the school year) for engaging in the (supposedly) protected activity of investigating charter school conversion.
Mr. Carvalho, here is a frightening thought you might want to consider. If you decide to keep either Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez at their posts at NKC, when the next legislative session convenes, I am going to send every member of the Florida state senate and house education committee this letter and all other materials I have concerning your illegal retaliation and punishment against NKC for the last FIVE YEARS. It is possible that this will cause the Florida legislature to grant even more money to charter schools. It is also possible that the Florida legislature will pass new laws making it very easy for public schools to convert to charter schools [with REAL and severe penalties for superintendents who willfully and deliberately violate the law] This could cause charter school conversions to spring up like mushrooms throughout “The People’s Republic of MDCPS.” If that happens, it is possible that the MDCPS school board may awake from its deep coma, and, realizing what a liability you have become, appoint a more effective school superintendent (May that day come quickly!)
For FIVE YEARS, the NKC staff have been very, very terrified and angry at both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez. When Mr. Jackson delivered Dr. Roos’ thinly veiled threat to Mrs. Green, she had a “Rosa Parks moment.” Mrs. Green decided she was sick and tired of being disrespected and having her Federal, state, and MPCPS employment rights violated. Mrs. Green then did the unthinkable. She filed a formal complaint against MDCPS. Mr. Carvalho, everyone knows what is going to happen next. Given the fact that the MDCPS investigative bodies seem to exist solely to protect high ranking officials such as yourself, my guess is that Dr. Roos latest offense (like all her numerous previous offenses) will be swept under the rug and then both Mrs. Green and Mr. Jackson retaliated against. Although I do not have a crystal ball, my guess is that there is a great danger of a great deal of negative publicity for MDCPS happening if the explosive situation at NKC is not defused in the near future. Vladimir Lenin once said that the purpose of terror is to create Terror. Both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez have carefully and deliberately cultivated a culture of Terror at NKC for FIVE YEARS, but even badly frightened people have a limit beyond which they cannot be pushed and NKC seems to be at that limit. Tensions at NKC appear to be very, very high. The school seems to be a tinderbox, ready to explode. Despite several unmistakable instances of actions by Dr. Roos that do not appear to be rational, two uncontrollable crying jags, and numerous actions that have created chaos and needless friction between the NKC administrators and staff, you, Mr. Carvalho made the decision to retain Dr. Roos as the principal for the 2017-2018 school year. Even in the extremely unlikely event that Dr. Roos is able to weather the current untenable situation she created for herself, it is just a matter of time before she creates an even bigger firestorm at NKC. Both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez are unsalvageable. They feed off and magnify each other’s negative energy. To give you an idea of the level of Terror that exists at NKC, although I was a previous union steward for 10 years, it wasn’t until I was two months away from retirement that I felt safe enough to put it into writing that I expected to be treated with courtesy and respect by the two NKC administrators. Throughout my 30 -year teaching career, administrators addressed me as “Bill.” Given the fact that we had a relationship based on professionalism and mutual respect, I had no problem with this. Both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez treated me with such rudeness, disrespect, and open hostility that during the last two months of my employment, I put it in writing that I expected them to address me as “Mr. Detzner.” The NKC administrators treat the staff like prison inmates, and in a very real sense, that’s what the staff have become. The basic human right to be spoken to respectfully, decently, and in a non-shouting voice by NKC administrators has not existed for the last five years. Mr. Carvalho, you and your two NKC regents have been raping NKC for FIVE YEARS for the “sin” of exploring conversion to a charter school.
Mr. Carvalho, you are not popular with the parents/guardians of NKC students. The highly effective, district approved Small Step Curriculum has been replaced with the Unique Learning System (ULS). The ULS is VASTLY above the intellectual capacity of severely mentally retarded students. For example, students with IQ’s of 25 and below have been asked to identify the three branches of government and explain the system of checks and balances within those three branches! It also asks students to explain the chemical process by which fire transforms a piece of wood to ashes. Mr. Carvalho, I have a masters’ degree and I cannot explain this process. I am confident that a child with an IQ of 25 or below cannot explain it either. The Small Step Curriculum stressed practical life skills, such as toilet training. Mr. Carvalho, are you aware that if a child is not toilet trained, he or she cannot be accepted into a sheltered workshop when he/she graduates from NKC. Lack of toilet training (which no longer happens at NKC) condemns these children to spend the rest of their lives after graduation from NKC warehoused in a facility. It is literally a life sentence without the possibility of parole. NKC did not attempt to convert to a charter school until MDCPS began putting enormous amounts of pressure on us to convert to the ULS curriculum. Mr. Carvalho, does it bother you that NKC students will sit in a classroom for up to 19 years and learn practically nothing because the ULS curriculum is vastly above the intellectual capacity of severely mentally retarded children? Federal law mandates that all special children receive a FAPE (free APPROPRIATE public education.) Which would you think is a more appropriate education for a child with an IQ of 25 and below; A) being asked to explain the chemical reactions that take place when fire turns a piece of wood to ashes, or B) being toilet trained, thereby increasing the possibility of being placed in a sheltered workshop after graduating from NKC? Mr. Carvalho, the parents of NKC students are very, very unhappy with the ULS curriculum. Mr. Carvalho, the parents are very, very unhappy that the policies of Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez have driven away many fine teachers from the school. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but a few years ago, parents with picket signs protested on the street outside of the school. Given the fact that most NKC parents are not MDCPS employees, how confident are you that parents won’t once again picket the school? How confident are you that the very compliant Miami media won’t break ranks with you and report what is going on at NKC? Mr. Carvalho, you already know I am attempting to cultivate medias outlets both in Miami and nationally that will report the misdeeds of MDCPS. Additionally, I am going to submit this letter for publication in www.drswier.com a website that attracts 1,000,000 readers per month.
I am (once again) sending you a list of 14 problem areas that exist at NKC If you wish to prevent a still avoidable explosion at NKC from occurring, these are a few actions a prudent person would take without delay. First, it might help to defuse the explosive situation at NKC if both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez were to be permanently removed from the NKC campus as quickly as possible. Given the fact that you had little difficulty removing both Dr. Alberto Fernandez and Mr. Cristobol from NKC during the school year, or the principal at Sunset High School who had dirty bathrooms, I think this is a reasonable request. Mr. Carvalho, this may be hard for you to hear, but you have a reputation as a very vindictive man. The staff at NKC have a concern that if you post new administrators to NKC, the new administrators you post there will be as bad or worse than the administrators they replaced. They are concerned that the retaliation and punishment the NKC staff have received for the past FIVE YEARS will continue for the entire length of time that you are the superintendent. There is one person that you could post as the new NKC principal that would signal your unmistakable intention to break with the past and to end the 5 year persecution of NKC staff and to heal the very deep divisions and injustices that have been allowed to fester at NKC for the last 5 years. The NKC staff and parents would probably agree that the most qualified person to become the new NKC principal is Dr. Alberto Fernandez. At one point in his career, Dr. Fernandez was recognized as the top performing principal in MDCPS. Both staff and parent satisfaction surveys indicate a very high level of satisfaction with Dr. Fernandez by all significant NKC stakeholders over a period of several years. Dr. Fernandez was the previous NKC principal before the turmoil of the last 5 years. He has a thorough grasp of the needs of the school. He has also cultivated a wealth of community resources eager to help NKC meet the needs of its students. His excellent people skills coupled with his care and compassion make him ideally suited to heal the divisions and problems that have developed over the last 5 years at NKC. Mr. Carvalho, if you choose to do the right thing for NKC, Bill Detzner will disappear! I am going to end this letter with something I have said to you in my letter of over two years ago. My hope is that this time you are prepared to listen.
“If the goal of the punishment our staff has received for three years [now five years] is intimidation, that goal has been achieved. Our staff feels deeply intimidated by the district. The NKC staff COMPLETELY abandoned the idea of converting to a charter school two and a half years ago [now four and a half years ago]. Any staff member foolish enough to bring up the subject of converting to a charter school would immediately be opposed by the entire staff. The NKC staff understands that a district response to a conversion request would be swift and brutal [due to the fact that although those repressive actions by the district are illegal, no penalty will be suffered by Florida school districts who willfully violate the law.] THEREFORE, IF THE DISTRICT IS PUNISHING OUR STAFF TO PREVENT A CHARTER CONVERSION, THAT PUNISHMENT CAN STOP. PERHAPS THE DISTRICT SHOULD DECLARE AN AMNESTY FOR THE NKC STAFF. A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW, NKC WILL STILL BE A PUBLIC SCHOOL. IF THE DISTRICT IS PUNISHING NKC AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT HAPPENS TO SCHOOLS THAT ATTEMPT TO CONVERT TO CHARTER SCHOOLS, THEN I SUPPOSE THE PUNISHMENT WILL CONTINUE.” Here is a quote from the most recent (unanswered) letter I sent you. “My goal is to reach a tipping point, where the pain you as superintendent of schools receive as a result of keeping either Dr. Roos or Mrs. Fernandez as NKC administrators becomes unacceptably high. Mr. Carvalho, I am a very patient and persistent man. As a retired teacher, I have a great deal of free time to devote to this pursuit.”
Mr. Carvalho, you are playing in quicksand. If you continue your present course, there is a very real possibility that the MDCPS school board members may choose to appoint a new superintendent who has a considerably smaller tolerance for unnecessary risk to the reputation of MDCPS than you appear to have. Lastly, a quote from a very wise Book; “Pride goeth before a Fall.”

Sincerely,
Bill Detzner
Bill Detzner/ 7722 S.W. 99 Street/ Miami, FL. 33156

October 5, 2017
Dear Karla Hernandez-Mats,
Hello. My name is Bill Detzner, employee 146782. On September 23,2017, I sent you a certified letter expressing my concerns about the many problems at Neva King Cooper (NKC) School. My hope is that UTD will send a UTD representative to the NKC campus in the near future so UTD members can voice their concerns. Would it be possible for you to send me an e-mail billdetzner@bellsouth.net to let me know the date and time of that visit? I am concerned that few NKC members of UTD will be able to engage in a face-to-face meeting with the UTD representative on the NKC campus. I have this fear for two reasons: 1) NKC is a center for profoundly mentally handicapped (PMH) children who require very close supervision. For this reason, members may be reluctant to leave their classrooms for a face-to-face conference. 2) The two NKC administrators have for five years cultivated a pervasive atmosphere of fear and Terror among the staff. The staff have a well- founded fear of retaliation against them if they are discovered talking to the “enemy” (i.e. UTD) For this reason, I am VERY, VERY strongly urging you to A) Allow UTD members to send in their concerns via e-mail Be sure to tell members when the deadline is for submitting those emails. B) Strongly emphasize that UTD will NOT divulge the identities of those members who express their concerns to UTD. I think it would be best if UTD offered BOTH a physical face-to-face meeting on the NKC campus option AND an e-mail response option.
My second reason for this letter is to make you aware of Dr. Roos latest egregious labor law violations. Recently, the daughter of an NKC staff member was brutally murdered. On this staff member’s second day back at work, Dr. Roos sent a school custodian (Mr. Jackson) to deliver the following message to Mrs. Green; “Tell Mrs. Green if she is unhappy here at NKC, Dr. Roos will be happy to arrange a transfer to another school for Mrs. Green.”
Hopefully, the FIVE- YEAR CRISIS at NKC is now so large that it can no longer be swept under the rug. I am sending you a copy of my latest letter to Mr. Carvalho. My hope is that the NAACP will become involved in this issue. I am asking UTD to support the following actions: 1) the permanent removal of both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez from the NKC campus. If Dr. Roos and/or Mrs. Fernandez are later found to be guilty of wrong doing, a penalty commensurate with their wrongdoing needs to be imposed, including termination if it is justified. 2) Appoint Dr. Alberto Fernandez as the new NKC principal as soon as possible. 3) Investigate (hopefully at the state or Federal level, or through Federal labor law attorneys, as MDCPS investigative bodies seem to cover up wrongdoing within the county) 3) the 14 areas of concern I have included with this letter. If UTD chooses to stand on the sidelines during NKC’s time of great need, UTD will receive a great deal of negative publicity I have kept a copy of this letter for my records.
In Unity,
Bill Detzner
Bill Detzner/7722 S.W. 99 Street/ Miami, FL. 33156

October 5, 2017
Dear Florida Department of Education,
Hello. My name is Bill Detzner, employee 146782. Previously, I wrote you a lengthy letter explaining in great detail the myriad problems my school Neva King Cooper School (NKC) in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) is facing as a result of the numerous illegal actions over the last five years by school superintendent Alberto Carvalho and NKC administrators Dr. Tracy Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez. You never responded to my letter, or took any action. I have retained my proof that I both sent that letter and that your office received that letter. Today I am sending you a copy of my October 4 letter to Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. Please also find enclosed a sheet titled “Fourteen Problem Situations At Neva King Cooper School.”
One of the staff of NKC (Mrs. Green) suffered the tragedy of her daughter being brutally murdered. On Mrs. Green’s second day back at work, Mrs. Green had a brief and polite chat with the principal, Dr. Tracy Roos. Shortly afterwards, Dr. Roos sent the school custodian (Mr. Jackson) with a short verbal message to deliver to Mrs. Green. That message was: “Tell Mrs. Green that if she is unhappy here at NKC, Dr. Roos will be happy to arrange a transfer to another school for Mrs. Green.”
My feeling is that the five years of illegal actions by Superintendent Carvalho, Dr. Roos, and assistant principal Mrs. Alicia Fernandez are now too big to sweep under the rug. Hopefully, the NAACP will soon become involved in this matter. It is my hope that the Florida Department of Education will take the following actions 1) Recommend to Mr. Carvalho and the school board that A) Both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez be permanently removed from the NKC campus as soon as possible B) Dr. Alberto Fernandez be appointed as the new NKC principal 2) Authorize either Federal attorney labor lawyers or State or Federal investigative bodies to investigate the 14 areas of concern I am including with this letter. As the internal investigative bodies of MDCPS tend to sweep all problems under the rug and absolve all wrongdoers, if at all possible I would like for an investigative body independent of MDCPS to conduct this investigation. 3) If appropriate, recommend to the MDCPS school board that Superintendent Carvalho be terminated.
If the current crisis situation at NKC generates negative publicity, and if the Florida Department of Education does little or nothing to adequately resolve the above- mentioned problems, I will not hesitate to show my proof that this agency was aware of the problem and chose to do little or nothing. I have of course kept a copy of this letter for my records.
Sincerely,
Bill Detzner
Bill Detzner/ 7722 S.W. 99 Street/ Miami, FL. 33156

October 14, 2017
Hello, Mr. Carvalho,
My name is Bill Detzner, employee 146782. On three previous occasions, I have written to you, informing you of numerous, egregious contract violations that have allegedly occurred at NKC over the last five years. You have never seen fit to respond to any of my previous letters. You have also not seen fit to do anything to stop these alleged contract abuses by Dr. Roos and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez from occurring repeatedly for a period of over five years. I am sending you this fourth letter to make you aware of the latest labor law violations by your regent at Neva King Cooper (NKC), Dr. Tracy Roos.
In my third letter to you, I stated that a staff member at NKC, Mrs. Green, suffered the tragedy of having her daughter murdered. Shortly after this terrible tragedy, Dr. Roos allegedly summoned Mr. Jackson, an NKC custodian and allegedly ordered Mr. Jackson to inform Mrs. Green that if Mrs. Green was not happy at NKC, Dr. Roos would be happy to arrange for a transfer for Mrs. Green to another school. Shortly after this incident, You, Mr. Carvalho, allegedly telephoned Mrs. Green to assure her this illegal involuntary transfer to another school would not take place. To quote from my third unanswered letter to you; “Mr. Carvalho, I want you to be aware that if Dr. Roos repeats what she has done in the past, as surely as day follows night, DR. ROOS IS GOING TO VICIOUSLY AND ILLEGALLY RETALIATE AGAINST BOTH MRS. GREEN AND MR. JACKSON.”
Mr. Carvalho, I received a phone call today that, if true, would confirm my worst fears. An NKC staff person phoned me today to inform me that Mrs. Green was allegedly not informed by Dr. Roos that the meeting Mrs. Green was summoned to last week (to address the issue of her possible involuntary transfer) had been postponed until the week of October 16-20, 2017. Mrs. Green allegedly went to a meeting that never occurred. During the time that Mrs. Green was allegedly waiting for a postponed meeting to occur, Dr. Roos allegedly summoned Mr. Jackson to a lengthy, closed door meeting with Dr. Roos. At this meeting, Dr. Roos allegedly threatened to terminate Mr. Jackson from his job unless he recanted his allegations against Dr. Roos.
Mr. Carvalho, if this allegation is true, is Dr. Roos engaging in illegal witness tampering? If this allegation is true, is Dr. Roos also breaking labor law by threatening to terminate an employee without just cause? Mr. Carvalho, does your regent at NKC, Dr. Roos, intend to illegally retaliate against Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Green? Mr. Carvalho, does the fact that you have repeatedly declined to remove Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez from NKC despite repeated warnings al alleged egregious contract and labor law violations mean that you are aware of and approve of those alleged illegal actions? Mr. Carvalho, could a reasonable person reach the conclusion that you have given Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez a blank check to Terrorize the NKC staff into blind and unquestioning submission? Mr. Carvalho, would it be fair and accurate to say that you, as the school superintendent, have turned Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) into a criminal enterprise?
Mr. Carvalho, I am once again asking you to remove both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez as the NKC administrators as soon as possible until the numerous allegations against them have been investigated.
I am once again enclosing a list of 14 problem areas at NKC that need to be investigated. Please share this letter with all school board members, members of the superintendent’s cabinet, and UTD president Karla Hernandez-Mats.
Sincerely,
Bill Detzner
Bill Detzner/ 7722 S.W. 99 Street/ Miami, FL. 33156

October 14, 2017
Dear Karla,
Hello, my name is Bill Detzner, employee 146782. In my last certified letter to you, I told you that Dr. Roos, the Neva King Cooper (NKC) principal, allegedly sent Mr. Jackson, an NKC custodian, to deliver a verbal message to Mrs. Green (another NKC staff member) shortly after the brutal murder of Mrs. Green’s daughter. That message was that if Mrs. Green was unhappy at NKC, Dr. Roos would be happy to arrange a transfer to another school for Mrs. Green.
Today I received a phone call from an NKC staff person alleging that after this incident, Dr. Roos summoned Mr. Jackson to Dr. Roos office for a lengthy, closed door meeting. At this alleged meeting, Dr. Roos allegedly threatened to terminate Mr. Jackson’s employment at NKC if Mr. Jackson did not agree to recant his testimony. Ms. Hernandez-Mats, I am BEGGING you to pick up the telephone and ask Federal labor law lawyers to conduct an in-depth investigation of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) for systemic egregious labor law violations. I am also asking UTD to ask Mr. Carvalho to remove Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez as the NKC administrators as soon as possible until the numerous contract and labor law violations against them have been investigated. Please share this letter with all members of the United Teachers of Dade (UTD) executive board. Please also find enclosed a copy of the 14 areas of concern that need to be investigated at NKC, and a copy of my October 14, 2017 letter to Mr. Carvalho. I am also asking that if Dr. Roos and/or Mrs. Fernandez are found to be in violation of one or more laws, that they receive a penalty commensurate with that violation(s).
In Unity,
Bill Detzner
Bill Detzner /7722 S.W. 99 Street /Miami, FL. 33156

October 14, 201
Dear Florida Education Commissioner,
Hello, my name is Bill Detzner. Please find enclosed my October 14, 2017 letter to Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, and my copy of 14 problem situations at Neva King Cooper School. If, in your opinion, the recent actions of Mr. Carvalho constitute a judgement by the commissioner of education that he (Mr. Carvalho) be removed as the superintendent of MDCPS, I hope you will make that recommendation to the MDCPS school board. I am also asking that Federal and/or Florida state investigators be sent to do an in-depth county-wide audit of MDCPS to determine if systemic violations of Federal or state law are occurring. Finally, I am asking that if Mr. Carvalho, Dr. Roos, or Mrs. Alicia Fernandez are found to have violated one or more laws, that they receive a penalty commensurate with their violation(s).
Sincerely,
Bill Detzner
Bill Detzner/7722 S.W. 99 Street/ Mia

October 16,2017
Hello Dr. Feldman
My name is Bill Detzner employee 146782. I recently retired after teaching at Neva King Cooper (NKC) for 25 years. I was also the UTD building steward at NKC for 10 years. (I taught for a total of 30 years in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS))
In June 2015, I sent you a 16- page letter detailing the pervasive problems that NKC administrators Dr. Tracy Roos (principal) and Mrs. Alicia Fernandez (assistant principal) have caused at NKC for over FIVE YEARS. You never responded to that letter.
I am sending you this SECOND letter because the intolerable situation at NKC appears to be at a crisis point. If the present situation results in a scenario where not even the seemingly extremely docile Miami media can no longer afford to remain silent, I do not want you, Dr. Feldman to be able to bleat that you had no idea of what was happening in a school that you (supposedly) represent. If you want a more in-depth understanding of the FIVE Year on-going crisis at NKC, my blog can be accessed at www.mdcpsallegations.com I am also sending you copies of the 4 (unanswered) letters I sent to Mr. Carvalho, the 16-page (unanswered) letter I sent you in June 2015, and a page titled “ Fourteen Problem Situations At Neva King Cooper School.”
Dr. Feldman, the current level of very high tension that exists at NKC can be traced to the recent actions of Dr. Roos. Mrs. Green, an African-American staff member of NKC, recently suffered the tragedy of having her daughter brutally murdered. During Mrs. Green’s first day back at work following this tragedy, Dr. Roos deliberately and pointedly turned her back on Mrs. Green when the two of them crossed paths on the NKC campus. During Mrs. Green’s second day back at work, Dr. Roos summoned an African-American NKC custodian (Mr. Jackson) and allegedly ordered Mr. Jackson to deliver the following verbal message to Mrs. Green. The message was that if Mrs. Green was unhappy at NKC, Dr. Roos would be happy to arrange for a transfer to another school for Mrs. Green. This was a VERY, VERY humiliating experience for both Mrs. Green and Mr. Jackson. The entire NKC staff is aware of this incident and the entire staff is VERY, VERY angry, as this is just the latest incident in a FIVE YEAR illegal punishment of the entire staff by BOTH Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez after Superintendent Carvalho illegally smashed NKC’s attempt to explore charter school conversion.
Regrettably, Dr. Roos follow-up actions were even more despicable. Mrs. Green went through proper channels and filed a complaint with the MDCPS investigative bodies. An on-campus meeting was scheduled to address this issue. Although the meeting was postponed until the week of October 16-20, Dr. Roos never informed Mrs. Green of this fact. Mrs. Green sat in an empty room for over an hour for a meeting that never occurred. While Mrs. Green was out of sight, Dr. Roos summoned Mr. Jackson to a lengthy, closed door meeting in Dr. Roos office. (At least one witness has stepped forward who knows when Mr. Jackson entered Dr. Roos’ office and when Mr. Jackson exited her office.) At that stormy and confrontational meeting, Dr. Roos allegedly threatened to terminate Mr. Jackson as an NKC custodian if Mr. Jackson declined to recant the message Dr. Roos allegedly sent him to deliver to Mrs. Green. At the rescheduled meeting, my guess is that MDCPS is hoping that yet another mumbled apolagy for the LONG, LONG list of egregious contract violations for OVER FIVE YEARS by BOTH Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez will end this current crisis, so that the FIVE YEAR persecution of NKC staff can resume in a few weeks, IF things calm down.
Dr. Feldman, do you think this up-coming meeting is going to go smoothly for MDCPS? Both Mrs. Green and Mr. Jackson have been VERY, VERY, publicly DEEPLY humiliated a SECOND time, and the entire staff (who have also been publicly and deeply humiliated for FIVE YEARS) are also aware of this second inexcusable humiliation. The NAACP has been fully appraised of the situation. It is my fervent hope that the NAACP will intervene in the situation, because as surely as day follows night, Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez are going to retaliate against both Mrs. Green and Mr. Jackson. Both of these exemplary employees are in grave danger of being illegally terminated (as Mrs. Luz Morales was illegally terminated.) While I hope I am wrong, my guess is that neither you, Dr. Feldman or Superintendent Carvalho will lift a finger to help these two exemplary MDCPS employees. With each passing day, MDCPS looks less and less like a school district, and more and more like a criminal enterprise.
I have been published 8 times on www.drswier.com (see Multi-Year Disaster At Neva King Cooper) I am considering publishing Mrs. Greens’ and Mr. Jacksons’ plight on this fine website. I am also considering posting other items on this website that might also be of interest to its readers. This website reaches a monthly audience of 1,000,000 highly educated, well connected people. I am also in contact with numerous other media outlets, both nationally and in the Miami area.
Here are some actions I am hoping you, Dr. Feldman and other MDCPS school board members will take. 1) Both Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez need to be removed from the NKC campus as soon as possible, until the allegations against them have been investigated. 2) Dr. Alberto Fernandez, the previous principal of NKC, should be appointed to resume his post as the NKC principal. 3) If MDCPS school board members feel that the actions and/or lack of actions of Mr. Carvalho have needlessly tarnished the reputation of MDCPS, or placed MDCPS in a position of needless risk, a new superintendent should be chosen. 4) The current curriculum of NKC is called the Unique Learning System (ULS). It is hopelessly above the cognitive ability of students with IQs of 25 and below. NKC students run the risk of sitting in a classroom for up to 19 years and learning almost nothing. I am hoping the NKC staff will be allowed to develop a new curriculum for NKC students, subject to district approval. 5) For over 2 years, NKC students have been needlessly exposed to an artificially high risk of choking to death on their food, due to Dr. Roos seeming (and unseemly) decision to use choking incidents as a weapon to get rid of teachers who supported exploring conversion to a charter school. While it is true that NKC has an on-site nursing staff, in all three of the near- death experiences that occurred during my tenure at NKC, it was the actions of Mr. Frank Lozada, a teacher who was also a trained paramedic who rode ambulances on week- ends that saved those three lives. Due to the seemingly deliberate cultivation of a hostile work environment by BOTH Dr. Roos and Mrs. Fernandez, Mr. Lozada is one of the MANY fine staff who have left NKC. 6) I ask that the other remaining items on my enclosed list if 14 problem situations at NKC school be investigated 7) If Dr. Roos and/or Mrs. Fernandez are found to be in violation of one or more MDCPS, Florida, or Federal statutes, a penalty commensurate with those violations need to be imposed. Please share this letter with all MDCPS school board members and all members of the superintendent’s cabinet.
Dr. Feldman, if you were a teacher or a para-professional, would YOU want to work at NKC???
Sincerely,
Bill Detzner
Bill Detzner/7722 S.W.99 Street/Miami, FL 33156