This is an email I sent to both Leonard Pitts and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on January 9, 2022.
Hello, Mr. Pitts. Happy New Year to you and your family. My name is Bill Detzner. I retired after teaching school for 30 years in Miami Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS). The superintendent of MDCPS, Alberto Carvalho will soon move to become the superintendent of Los Angeles schools. The problem is that systemic racism and corruption appear to be deeply baked into MDCPS and it seems highly probable that the new superintendent will allow (or perhaps even encourage) the deep racism against both African American and Hispanic students and staff that has existed during the time Mr. Carvalho has been the MDCPS superintendent to continue. I am writing on behalf of the very frightened parents and staff of Neva King Cooper School (NKC) We are hoping you will write one or more newspaper columns exposing the racism going on in MDCPS. If you are unwilling to do this, we are hoping you will contact Superintendent Carvalho to express your concern about this issue. Mr. Carvalho’s contact information is 305-995-1430 or Superintendent’sOffice@dadeschools.net. The staff and parents of NKC would like to see principal Dr. Tracy Roos terminated as a MDCPS employee. Here are a few examples of the racism in MDCPS. Further information about all the examples given except the first example can be found in my blog mdcpsallegations.com. The first example can be accessed by searching for: ‘Family Planning to File Federal Lawsuit After They Say 7-Year-Old girl was Bullied & Injured By Teacher” by Ted Scouten from CBS Miami Channel 4. The story was released on January 7. The gist of that story is that a 7-year-old Mentally Handicapped African American girl was physically assaulted by her teacher resulting in a sprained arm. MDCPS investigated itself and (surprise, surprise) absolved itself of any wrongdoing. Now that this story has hit the Miami Herald, MDCPS is trying to backpedal and say the matter has not yet been dismissed, even though they previously dismissed it. If Jesus Christ Himself were to testify on behalf of a victim of racial violence by MDCPS, the school district would STILL absolve itself of all responsibility.
The second incident involves a profoundly mentally retarded African American student of NKC who was allegedly physically assaulted by Dr. Roos. The incident was observed by two African American bus drivers who submitted all of the paperwork of this incident to MDCPS investigators. Under alleged very heavy pressure by MDCPS, the two bus drivers dropped the matter. The mother of this child attempted to file charges against Dr. Roos . She very hastily ceased all efforts to do so. There are rumors that both MDCPS and Child Protective Services threatened to place this child in a foster home unless the mother dropped the matter.
The third incident involves Dr. Roos allegedly physically assaulting an African American custodian named Sabrina Crawley Cross. As a result of this alleged physical assault, Ms. Cross is on workman’s compensation. Dr. Roos is currently under investigation by MDCPS. Mr. Pitts, if I only had one dollar to my name, and that one dollar had to last me for the rest of eternity, I would bet that one dollar that MDCPS will (as it has done again and again with Dr. Roos) find her not guilty of the charges. Furthermore, although two people witnessed this incident, Dr. Roos allegedly pressured NKC employees who did not witness this incident to write statements absolving Dr. Roos of wrongdoing. I have made MDCPS aware of those alleged false statements.
The fourth incident involves a Hispanic teacher named Mr. Javier Ruiz Lopez. Mr. Ruiz Lopez was injured at NKC while performing his duties. In violation of Federal law, Dr. Roos allegedly refused to allow Mr. Ruiz Lopez (who was in great pain) to see a doctor until Mr. Ruiz Lopez went over Dr. Roos head and called Dr. Roos boss. When Dr. Roos was ordered by her boss to allow Mr. Ruiz Lopez to see a doctor, she summoned Mr. Ruiz Lopez to her office, and began screaming very insulting and hateful things at him. Mr. Ruiz Lopez also shouted at Dr. Roos. When Mr. Ruiz Lopez returns from workman’s compensation, he faces having a letter of reprimand placed into his file by Dr. Roos. Dr. Roos is also under investigation for this matter. (and will almost certainly be cleared by MDCPS)
The fifth incident involves a Hispanic SOCIAL WORKER. This woman was summoned to Dr. Roos office. Dr. Roos was allegedly SCREAMING very hateful and insulting things at this woman, who was staring at the floor, with her head bowed. Dr. Roos allegedly seized this woman’s jaw, jerked it upwards until the woman was looking into Dr. Roos eyes, and allegedly screamed, “You look at me when I’m talking (screaming) to you.” This woman was not a member of the union, so she could not file a grievance through the union. Her only other option was to file a complaint with the internal investigative body of MDCPS. She never reported the incident. Mr. Pitts, what does it tell you when a SOCIAL WORKER does not have enough confidence in MDCPS to report a physical assault?
The sixth incident involves two African American employees. One is a teacher’s assistant (para-professional) The other is a custodian. Shortly after the paraprofessional returned from an emergency leave after her daughter was brutally murdered while her five-year-old grandson was at home, Dr. Roos allegedly ordered the custodian to deliver a threat from Dr. Roos to this grieving grandmother. The threat was that Dr. Roos was considering an involuntary transfer of the grieving grandmother to another school. This caused such an uproar that Superintendent Carvalho personally phoned the grieving grandmother to tell her Dr. Roos would not be allowed to carry out her threat. THAT IS THE ONLY THING SUPERINTENDENT CARVALHO DID. At the time, Dr. Roos was a candidate for the prestigious Principal of the Year Award. Superintendent Carvalho could have withdrawn Dr. Roos as a candidate for this award, to show that hateful actions against African American employees would not be tolerated. By not taking this action, Superintendent Carvalho sent an unmistakable signal that actions such as these would not only be tolerated, but handsomely rewarded.
When Dr. Roos found out she was in hot water for threatening this grieving grandmother, she allegedly summoned the African American custodian to a closed- door meeting in her office and told him that unless he immediately wrote a statement denying Dr. Roos had ordered him to threaten one of his closest friends, he would be immediately terminated from his job.
Mr. Pitts, this is NOT the end of the alleged misdeeds Dr. Roos has done. Further examples can be found in my blog Mr. Pitts, a wise man once said that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to remain silent when evil occurs. If you will forgive my boldness, if you make the choice to remain silent about this matter, it is possible that you may lose respect for the man staring back at you from your bathroom mirror.
The parents and staff of NKC are DESPERATE. This abuse has been going on for ten years. If you would like to contact me, my phone number is305-632-0248 or billdetzner@bellsouth.net