An Unhappy Encounter With A DCF Employee, Part Two

June 29, 2020

Hello Mr. Thomas. My name is Bill Detzner. You have told me that as the OSEP State Lead for Florida you have opened up an investigation on my behalf regarding alleged physical abuse of a severely mentally retarded African American child by Neva King Cooper (NKC) principal Dr. Tracy Roos. I am asking that you forward this email to MDCPS superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran, the Florida Dept. of Education Inspector General, the head of the Miami-Dade County DCF, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. If one or more entirely preventable incidents of racially based violence occur at NKC in the fall of 2020, I don’t want the above named people to bleat that they did not know what has been going on at NKC for the last 8 years. I sent you an email on June 25 regarding a very unpleasant phone call I had with a Miami-Dade County DCF employee named Sonia Brooks. Ms. Brooks was extremely rude and abusive to me during that phone call. She shouted at me and hung up on me when I asked for the name and phone number of her supervisor. There are two issues I hope you will bring to the attention of the Miami-Dade County DCF. The first issue is that Ms. Brooks, (and possibly other DCF employees) are extremely rude and abusive when she or they work from home on phones that do not record the conversations taking place. After Ms. Brooks hung up on me, I called the DCF hotline and asked how I could report this incident. I was given 4 different phone numbers. All four numbers had recorded messages , promising to contact me. I have not heard back from anyone, which might explain why DCF employees seem to feel free to be extremely rude on phones that do not record conversations.

The second issue I would like you to look into is the charge that myself and other NKC stakeholders are making about the Miami-Dade County DCF. Many NKC stakeholders are making the charge that this agency is a racist organization that exists not to investigate abuse against a severely mentally retarded African American student (or any other NKC students), but to sweep that scandal under the carpet and punish the mother who had the temerity to complain when NKC principal Dr. Roos allegedly physically assaulted her son. The NKC stakeholders would also like you to interview the mother of this child to see if MDCPS and/or Miami-Dade County DCF threatened her if she continued to complain about Dr. Roos alleged physical assault of her son. We would also like the two MDCPS employees (ie the bus driver and bus aide) who witnessed this alleged assault to be interviewed as to what they observed, and what threats (if any) MDCPS officials and/or DCF officials made against them to silence them. We would also like you to investigate Miami-Dade County DCF as to why they failed to investigate this incident when it was first brought to their attention. The alleged threat, made by Miami-Dade County DCF, and possibly MDCPS as well, was that if the mother didn’t shut up about the abuse, DCF would remove the child from his home, and place him into a foster home. Many NKC stakeholders believe that the Miami- Dade County DCF (MDCDCF) exists NOT to protect the children of this county, but to protect Superintendent Carvalho and hide all alleged incidents of child abuse committed by MDCPS officials. Vladimir Lenin famously quipped that “The object of Terror is Terror.” He meant that any government agency that was able to terrorize the people it was supposed to protect would not have to worry about any complaints of abuse from the terrorized serfs. Many NKC stakeholders believe that the MDCDCF and Superintendent Carvalho have given Dr. Roos a blank check to continue to abuse severely mentally retarded African American children as much as she pleases. NKC African American parents are well aware of the free ride Dr. Roos appears to have been given. They are deeply fearful that if their child is also physically abused by Dr. Roos and they complain about it, they will also be threatened with having their child involuntarily removed and placed into a foster home. In the old days, African American parents who were bold enough to insist that their children receive a high quality education were cowed into submission by a burning cross on their lawn. These days, the preferred method seems to be for DCF to threaten to involuntarily remove the child from the home and place him/her into a foster home where physical and/or sexual abuse sometimes happens. Mr. Thomas, just so you are aware of the situation, many NKC stakeholders, myself included, have the belief that the MDCDCF is just as racist against African Americans as the Ku Klux Klan. I am asking that an independent agency conduct an audit of the MDCDCF to see if it is actively engaged in hiding abuse reports that put Superintendent Carvalho and MDCPS in a bad light.

The morning after Dr. Roos allegedly physically assaulted the African American severely mentally retarded student, representatives of both the teachers union (United Teachers of Dade (UTD)) and regional superintendent, Barbara Mendizabal were allegedly on the NKC campus as a result of this alleged incident. Although MDCPS policy MANDATES that a school board employee accused of physically assaulting a student be removed from campus until the conclusion of an investigation of the incident, and although the regional superintendent was on the NKC campus the day after the alleged incident, Dr. Roos was NOT removed from campus, nor was an investigation ever conducted. This is a mind boggling dereliction of duty on the part of regional superintendent Mendizabal. Severely mentally retarded children are the most fragile and at risk children of all. Many of them cannot speak. One has to wonder why regional superintendent Mendizabal would not follow MANDATORY MDCPS policy and protect this child by removing Dr. Roos from the campus until an investigation was completed. Many NKC stakeholders, myself included, believe that Ms. Mendizabal failed to take this action because the endangered student was African American. Mr. Thomas, can an investigation be conducted as to Ms. Mendizabal’s seeming failure to protect a severely mentally retarded African American child from physical assault by the school principal? Also, both myself and at least one NKC parent have sent emails to Ms. Mendizabal regarding Dr. Roos alleged cursing during a Zoom presentation to severely mentally retarded students this spring. To the best of my knowledge, Ms. Mendizabal has done nothing about this alleged cursing incident. MDCPS should have a copy of this Zoom presentation. If regional superintendent Mendizabal is found to have been negligent in the performance of her duties, can you please make a recommendation that she be terminated from her position?

Also, if you have read my blog mdcpsallegations.com I have listed many incidents of blatant racial discrimination against African American staff by Superintendent Carvalho and both NKC administrators. To refresh your memory about just a few of these incidents, shortly after Dr. Roos allegedly threatened both an African American paraprofessional with an involuntary transfer to another school just days after this woman’s daughter was brutally murdered, and threatened an African American custodian with job termination , MDCPS saw fit to nominate Dr. Roos as a candidate for the prestigious Principal of the Year Award. Although Superintendent Carvalho was aware of both Dr. Roos alleged racial attacks and her nomination as a candidate for the Principal of the Year Award, he chose NOT to have Dr. Roos removed as a candidate for this award. If an investigation concludes that Superintendent Carvalho either actively encourages racial discrimination against African Americans, or fails to discourage it, can you please make a recommendation that Mr. Carvalho be relieved of his post? If an investigation concludes that MDCPS condones or encourages racial discrimination against African Americans, can you please recommend that the State of Florida and the Federal government cut off funding to MDCPS until such time as MDCPS is in compliance with laws forbidding racial discrimination?

Mr. Thomas, if I had only one dollar to my name, and I was told that one dollar had to last me for the rest of eternity, I would confidently bet all 100 cents of that dollar that you as the OSEP State Lead for Florida will do little or nothing to resolve this EIGHT YEAR crisis at NKC. My bet is that in August of 2020, one or both of the blatantly racist NKC administrators will be back at their posts. Again I strongly urge you to read my blog listing the many incidents of racial discrimination by both NKC administrators against African American NKC staff. You might want to ask yourself why both African American NKC staff and African American parents of NKC children refer to that unhappy place as a “Plantation.” You might also want to ask yourself what the chances are for one or more racial confrontations at NKC next fall, given both the seemingly fragile mental health of both NKC administrators and the high level of stress NKC parents are experiencing as a result of both the pandemic and an uncertain economic future,. My bet is that like Ms. Newton, you will send me a sugary sweet letter telling me how your office believes severely mentally retarded African American students have a right to be treated with dignity and respect (as opposed to being physically assaulted by the school principal) and say that although your office cannot help these children, you know another bureaucratic office that can provide the “smoke bender” these children so desperately need.

Mr, Thomas, if you make the choice to “blow these NKC stakeholders and children off”, I have a friend who publishes a blog that reaches a million Florida readers a month. This email will appear in that blog. My experience with educational bureaucrats has been that they take the path of least resistance. Mr. Thomas, considering the power and the wrath of the Black Lives Matter movement, the path of least resistance for you is to take steps to have both of these racist NKC administrators retired so that they cannot continue their racist practices at another school

Many NKC stakeholders have a belief that you as a career education bureaucrat may consider to be extremely radical. That belief is that an African American severely mentally retarded child ought to be safe from physical assault by the school principal. The NKC stakeholders believe this right needs to be respected even if the stakeholders do not have the financial means to make a generous financial contribution to Governor DeSantis reelection campaign. Mr. Thomas, I will close with a riddle: What does it take to get a very well paid educational bureaucrat off his/her bottom to do his/her job? If you know the answer to this riddle, can you please send it to me? I have been puzzling over this riddle for five years. I hope to hear good news from you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Bill Detzner

Bill Detzner 7722 SW 99 St. Miami Fl. 33156 bill detzner@bellsouth.net