CAMDENTON, Mo. — After a dramatic series of board meetings and a final hearing lasting more than 15 hours, Camdenton Middle School Principal Sean Kirksey has decided to step down.
The Camdenton R-III School District Board of Education agreed to accept Kirksey’s resignation, following the hearing before the district board to consider the termination of his contract. In consideration of his resignation and a full release of any claims, the board agreed to honor the balance of Kirksey’s 2013-2014 contract. He will continue to receive his pay through the end of his one-year contract period.
The district placed Kirksey on administrative leave after a district-initiated investigation revealed four MAP testing irregularities in spring 2013.
Michael McDorman, Council for the Camdenton R-III School District Board of Education assisted the board in the hearing held concerning the statement of charges that had been filed against Kirksey by the school district administration.
Approximately 150 people attended the open-to-the-public hearing that ran from 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29 to 12:00 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 30 at the Camdenton High School. More than 16 witnesses testified during the hearing, some were asked to testify more than once.
The Camdenton R-III Administration was represented by District Superintendent Tim Hadfield and Attorney Tom Mickes. Kirksey was represented by his cousin, Attorney Jay Kirksey.
McDorman read the three charges filed.
First Charge
McDorman read that Kirksey failed to follow MAP testing protocol and district board of education policies by designing, implementing, and/or knowingly utilizing a testing schedule with a seventh grade Communication Arts session which inappropriately divided one testing section into two parts, administered on two separate days.
Coordinator of Assessment for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Michael Minks testified for one hour. Minks said the seventh grade Communication Arts writing test should last 60 – 90 minutes and should be taken in one sitting. DESE regulations allow additional time to be given to students who "have made adequate progress," but specify it should still take place in one sitting.
Kirksey testified that he did not knowingly violate DESE policy because Camdenton Middle School had historically given the test over a two-day period, beginning before he was the school’s principal.
The administration presented several witnesses who testified that they told Mr. Kirksey the test should only be given in one sitting but he divided it anyway. The witnesses said they did not report their concerns to the school test coordinator or the district test coordinator, and they knowingly administered the test over a two-day period even though they believed it was against DESE policy. Teacher Nancy Groves said she was afraid of “possible financial repercussions” if she reported her concerns.
“I assumed someone above would look at the schedule,” Groves testified.
In his defense, Kirksey and several witnesses testified that during a Building Leadership Team (BLT) meeting, the team planned the testing as a collaborative effort. Camdenton Middle School Building Test Coordinator Becky Long-Ruggles testified that she had raised concerns in the BLT meeting about splitting the test into two days. Kirksey agreed that the team did discuss the concerns. BLT members Amy Larrington and Shawn Marchino testified that they reported during the BLT meeting the test had always been done over two days and they went forward as a team, and agreed to the two-day schedule.
Long-Ruggles said she thought that the District Test Coordinator/Assistant Superintendent Roma France knew about the two-day schedule.
Several witnesses testified that Kirksey made the statement that “he would take the heat” from the central office if there were any problems. The prosecution implied he meant DESE. Witnesses testified that this type of attitude was typical of Kirksey in that he historically looked out for the teachers in his building when there was a problem from the central office.
The defense presented several witness, including former Camdenton R-III Superintendent Ron Hendricks who testified that the district had in fact historically given that MAP test session over a two-day period. Former Camdenton Mayor and former Camdenton teacher Mike Wackerman, and current Camdenton Mayor John McNabb testified that the middle school had spread the test over a two-day when Kirksey was the middle school assistant principal and when he was the principal.
Kirksey testified that when Hadfield told him it was a violation of DESE policy he was completely transparent, not thinking he had done wrong, and he immediately divulged to Hadfield that he had always done the CA testing over a two-day period. He added that he sent out 85 emails with the test schedule before the testing, including emails to Hadfield and France, and no one questioned the schedule.
“If I had something to hide I would not have sent out 85 emails,” said Kirksey.
According to DESE guidelines, the district test coordinator (DTC), Assistant Superintendent Roma France, is to maintain test schedules and have them on file if DESE decides to come for a visit. Guidelines also state that the DTC must review the district's assessment guidelines. France testified that she did not know about the two-day testing schedule because she did not read the schedule that Kirksey sent to her, nor did she read the information presented to her after the testing was completed. She testified that, although she was the DTC, she never reads the information—she just collects and stores it in the case DESE requests it. Minks testified that the reference in the DTC’s manual names France as the one who is ultimately responsible for testing. France testified that she only found out about the schedule when she began an investigation into allegations by students that a teacher was cheating in administering the test. That teacher, Heather Bell, is no longer with the district due to the results of an investigation conducted by Kirksey.
Attorney Kirksey questioned Hadfield as to why Frances was chosen to do an investigation into the alleged misconduct in testing when she was the district test coordinator and the person with the district testing oversight. Hadfield replied that he too questioned if she would be the appropriate one to investigate the testing violations and he said he spoke to France about it and they decided that “since she was the MAP DTC she should conduct the investigation.”
Kirksey told the board that DESE representatives had visited the middle school during testing in 2010 and they never told him they were incorrectly administering the test. Wackerman also testified that he had spoken with the DESE representatives in 2010, and the CA was divided into two sections that year, and the representative told him “everything looks good.”
Minks also testified that giving the test over a two-day period could “potentially” give students an unfair advantage over other students, to which Kirksey testified that would not always be the case, as it would depend on the individual students.
McDorman and Attorney Kirksey subpoenaed the district, asking for the schedules on file at central office; they were given an altered schedule and not the one that Kirksey had originally emailed and submitted to central office.
France’s secretary Ginger Martin testified, admitting she had changed the schedule and it was not the one Kirksey sent.
“I wish I could say to you that was the schedule I sent. But that would be a lie. If I thought I was doing wrong I could have lied and said that was the correct schedule, and I would not be sitting here today,” Kirksey said.
Martin said Sean Kirksey’s schedule was ambiguous and that is why it had been changed.
Second Charge
The second charge accused Mr. Kirksey of failing to follow MAP testing protocol and district Board of Education policies by leaving his students during assessment time with an untrained testing proctor.
France testified that board policy states the building administrators are not to proctor the test but they should be “walking the hallways” during testing. France also testified that on two occasions untrained school personnel were put in charge of testing.
Kirksey testified that he was asked by teachers to administer the test to students who were a “little more of a disruption.” He said he bought the students doughnuts and worked directly with them.
In a separate interview, explaining Kirksey’s action, district parent Jason Whittle said, “Kirskey was a person with an outstanding character and a great principal. He truly cared about all the kids, and not just the good kids. I witnessed him put their needs ahead of his own, many times.”
Describing one of the test days, Middle School Secretary Janelle Horton testified that Kirksey had instructed her that he was expecting a very important phone call and if it came in, to come and get him. After Kirksey started the test, the call was received and Kirksey left Horton with the class, while he answered the call. One student had a question Horton could not answer, so she called School Counselor Pat McWhirter, who was a former school test coordinator; McWhirter answered the question and left the class with Horton, who was not a trained proctor. Kirksey came back after five to eight minutes and finished administering the test, according to the testimony.
According to Kirksey, the phone call was part of a whirlwind response concerning breaking news of the alleged MAP test cheating by the seventh grade teacher. Kirksey testified he was dealing with that teacher to determine if she should continue to administer the tests, in light of the allegations.
“It was a serious situation which required immediacy,” Kirksey said.
In a second incident, Kirksey testified that he left students with Horton and told her to let them eat their doughnuts and “wait” until he got back to start the test. According to Horton, McWhirter came into the room and started the test, against Kirksey’s instructions, and left Horton in the room alone with the students.
“I proctored it. I read everything I was supposed to read,” McWhirter testified.
When asked what she thought the district could do in the future to avoid similar infractions, France recommended the following district test protocol:
- The DTC should create the schedule with assistance from principals.
- All students should test the same amount of time
- All test administers should be trained
- Principals should not proctor the test
- The building test coordinator should submit any concerns or violations directly to the DTC
- The DTC should review the schedules.
Third Charge
The administration charged that Kirksey failed to serve as a leader in the school community by failing to follow MAP testing protocol, thereby resulting in the invalidation of some MAP testing scores. Minks testified that 270 tests will not be counted due to the breach in policies; however according to Minks this incident did not affect this year’s district accreditation scores, but it “could” affect future scores.
At the last minute of the hearing, Mickes passed out a statement directly to the board from a previous district employee. Attorney Kirksey objected to the statement because it was not properly filed as evidence and the document and witness were not registered. During the time legal counsel was debating if the submission was admissible or not, the board read the submitted statement.
In his closing statements, Mickes said that if the board found Kirksey guilty on just one count they could vote to terminate his contract.
The board had two decisions to make: whether Kirksey was guilty and, if guilty, what his punishment would be.
In Attorney Kirksey’s closing statements he warned the board, “In the same way you measure, it will be measured back to you.”
