IATD Challenges DoDEA Educator’s Characterization of Advocacy Against Bullying a Threat

FORT STEWART, GA — What began as a parent’s concern over the treatment of her elementary-school child and the enforcement of a school footwear policy has now escalated into a larger question for I Am The Discarded (IATD): When did advocating for your child become a “threat”?

IATD, acting as the authorized advocate for the Causey family, has challenged communications attributed to Ms. Stephanie Reid of Patrick L. Kessler Elementary School, a Department of Defense Education Activity school at Fort Stewart, after the family’s advocacy was characterized as threatening.

IATD says that characterization is unsupported and unnecessarily shifts the focus away from the reason the organization became involved in the first place: young Sean Causey and the manner in which concerns involving his treatment at school have been handled.

The organization’s September 3 correspondence asks directly how expressing concern for Sean Causey’s welfare and treatment at school became a “threat.” The letter argues that parents retain the right to challenge whether school policy has been applied arbitrarily or inconsistently and to raise concerns when they believe their child has been singled out, humiliated, intimidated, demeaned or bullied.

According to IATD, the Causey family did not threaten Reid physically or otherwise. Instead, the family sought assistance after becoming dissatisfied with the handling of concerns involving their minor child. IATD contends that labeling that advocacy as threatening materially changes the tenor of the dispute and unfairly places both the Causey family and the advocacy organization in a damaging light.

More importantly, IATD argues that the complainants themselves are increasingly being treated as though they are the problem.

The organization maintains that the conversation has shifted toward the Causeys’ tone, their decision to obtain an advocate, the level at which IATD escalated the dispute, military hierarchy and now the characterization of their advocacy as threatening, rather than the substantive questions concerning Sean.

IATD’s position is that parents do not surrender their right to advocate because their child’s school happens to be located on a military installation. Nor should a military chain of command become a mechanism for discouraging parents from questioning the treatment of their child.

IATD has specifically instructed school officials that criticism involving the organization’s escalation strategy should be directed toward IATD, not Sean’s mother, father or Sean himself. The organization assumed responsibility for the advocacy matter pursuant to a Power of Attorney and says it accepts whatever institutional resistance, criticism or fallout results from the escalation decisions it makes.

Sean did not determine who IATD contacted. His parents did not dictate every escalation decision made by IATD. Sean should not experience differential treatment inside his classroom because adults outside of it disagree about how vigorously his interests should be advocated. IATD’s September 3 correspondence states that Sean is not responsible for its communications or escalation decisions and that any disagreement arising from IATD’s conduct must not migrate into his classroom experience.

Lost beneath the procedural dispute are several basic questions about what happened to Sean. IATD wants to know whether he was addressed appropriately for an elementary-school student and whether the interaction unnecessarily embarrassed, intimidated, singled out or belittled him.

The organization has also raised concerns about reported language used in connection with children, parents, families, appearance or behavior, including an allegation involving use of the term “ghetto.” IATD has not presented that allegation as established fact. Its position is that if the terminology was used, it should be addressed, and if it was not, school officials can state that clearly.

IATD has additionally requested review of whether Sean’s experience raises concerns about potential teacher-on-student bullying, emphasizing the power imbalance between an elementary-school child and an educator who controls the classroom environment, discipline and daily interaction.

The underlying footwear dispute also remains unresolved. Sean’s footwear was initially characterized as “slippers.” IATD subsequently identified the product as the Bravest Studios Bear Claw Mule, which the manufacturer’s catalog placed within its footwear collection. IATD’s September 3 letter states that it had also reviewed manufacturer advertising describing the product as hard-bottom footwear.

School personnel were later reported to have characterized the footwear as potentially “dangerous,” creating an obvious inconsistency. Was Sean’s footwear prohibited because it was supposedly a bedroom slipper or because administrators considered it a safety hazard? If it was dangerous, IATD also questions why Sean was reportedly told he could wear the same footwear on Pajama Day.

As IATD noted in its correspondence, a themed school day can create a dress-code exception, but it does not change whether an item presents an actual physical hazard.

IATD has therefore requested a written explanation identifying the actual school or DoDEA policy being applied, the objective basis for any safety determination, whether any safety incident involving Sean’s shoes has occurred, and how any claim that the footwear is dangerous can be reconciled with reported permission to wear it on Pajama Day.

The latest exchange has created another issue. IATD now questions whether Reid’s increasingly adversarial characterization of the Causey family’s conduct interferes with her ability to participate objectively and constructively in resolving the dispute.

In its response, IATD challenged what it considers an unsupported characterization of the family’s advocacy and indicated that Reid’s communications may warrant review by her superiors, including consideration of whether another administrator should assume responsibility for addressing the matter.

Once the person participating in a complaint-resolution process begins characterizing the complainants themselves as threatening, IATD believes administrators should examine whether the process remains sufficiently neutral to produce a credible resolution. If Reid believes the matter should instead proceed through other administrative channels, IATD has invited that transition.

What IATD will not accept is the transformation of parental advocacy into alleged misconduct simply because that advocacy is persistent, uncomfortable or escalated beyond the immediate school level.

The Causey family came forward with concerns about their child, and IATD intends to keep the focus there. Neither the family nor IATD will be discouraged, intimidated or muted from asking legitimate questions, correcting representations they believe are inaccurate, preserving the documentary record or pursuing administrative review.

IATD has already advised school officials that relevant communications and evolving explanations are being preserved so an accurate chronology exists regarding Sean’s treatment, the footwear dispute, the Pajama Day explanation, subsequent safety claims, objections involving the military chain of command and the characterization of the family’s advocacy as threatening.

IATD continues to prefer a professional administrative resolution. However, resolution requires substantive answers regarding how Sean was treated, what policy his footwear actually violated, whether the footwear is being classified as a slipper, a safety hazard or both, why it could reportedly be worn on Pajama Day if it is dangerous, whether Sean’s treatment has been objectively reviewed, and why advocacy intended to protect a child has been characterized as threatening.

Those questions remain unanswered, and I Am The Discarded will continue to pursue answers while advocating for Sean Causey and his family through the appropriate administrative and oversight channels.

I AM THE DISCARDED — WE WRITE THE WRONGS!