The Fox C-6 School District has fired a Seckman High School social studies teacher for violating district policies about technology use, staff conduct, and staff and student relations.
In a closed meeting Jan. 27, Board of Education members voted unanimously to terminate Timothy Bookstaver’s contract with the district. Bookstaver was a tenured teacher and considered a permanent employee because of the length he has taught at Fox C-6.
District officials said Bookstaver began working for the district in 2006 as a teacher at Seckman Middle School. He started teaching at Seckman High in 2011.
Bookstaver’s salary for this school year was $65,634, according to Fox C-6.
He was placed on paid administrative leave on Nov. 3 and was informed on Dec. 17 that he would be fired for violating the district’s policies. He requested a public termination hearing, which the board held Jan. 8 in the Fox C-6 Service Center in Arnold.
“The board’s vote came at the conclusion of the administrative hearing process, as requested by the employee and as required by Missouri statute,” Superintendent Paul Fregeau said in a statement. “Out of respect for the privacy of everyone involved and in accordance with state and federal law, the district cannot provide additional public comment about a specific personnel matter.
“The district strives to create the best possible educational environment for our learning community. Our entire team at Fox works hard each and every day to fulfill that mission, supporting both our students and our staff to meet their individual needs. Mutual accountability plays a crucial role as we continue to build a culture focused on achievement, character and excellence.”
Bookstaver did not return a phone call from the Leader.
The case
Bookstaver was placed on paid administrative leave after an email he sent in October raised concerns about his well-being; the safety of students and staff at Seckman High and the security of the district’s computer system.
Jennifer Hansen, an attorney representing the Fox C-6 administrative staff, told the board during the Jan. 8 termination hearing that Bookstaver violated Fox C-6 technology usage policies by sharing his private passwords with district employees and others; sharing inappropriate content unrelated to the operation of the school and curriculum; and misusing district property during contracted work time by viewing hours of videos unrelated to his teaching role.
Hansen also told the board that Bookstaver violated the staff conduct policy requiring him to treat students and teachers with professional respect.
During the three-plus-hour termination hearing, Hansen called on Nathan Burch, Fox C-6 assistant superintendent of human resources, and Fregeau to testify about the events and investigation that led the administration to recommend the board fire Bookstaver.
Burch, who started working as an assistant superintendent at the start of this school year, said Seckman High Principal Jeffrey Krutzsch reported concerns about Bookstaver’s behavior on Oct. 28.
Burch said Bookstaver used his Fox C-6 email account to send an email to six Fox C-6 employees, including Krutzsch, and six people who do not work for the district. The email contained Bookstaver’s passwords to access the district’s computer system, as well as about 170 links to YouTube videos on topics that included the age of apocalypse, secret societies and conspiracy theories.
Burch also told the board that Bookstaver wrote in the email, “I am no longer comfortable living in this life. The life of Tim Bookstaver. Sometimes, I feel so confused. I do not understand when people around me don’t know who I am and won’t let me be who I was born to be.
“I feel sometimes I am being punked by everyone. All the people around me intentionally ignoring what I see as obvious like they are part of a prison system keeping me from being my true self. I need at least my 40 days to get away and see only his voice in my life.”
Burch said Bookstaver also said in the email he didn’t know what would unfold while he was gone and that he believed “it was the end of the world as we know it.”
Burch said the terminology in the email raised concerns about Bookstaver’s well-being and the safety of Seckman High students, not to mention that people could have possibly used the passwords in the email to access the Fox C-6 district’s computer network and see private student information.
Burch said Bookstaver’s door access key and password access to the district’s computer system were deactivated.
Burch said he interviewed 11 people about Bookstaver’s behavior, inspected Bookstaver’s classroom and reviewed Bookstaver’s personnel file after receiving the report about the teacher’s behavior. When he inspected Bookstaver’s classroom, Burch said he saw a long list of books and movies that were considered inappropriate for students due to portrayals of graphic sex and violence.
Burch also told the board that a parent had complained about some of Bookstaver’s teachings, saying they were indoctrination, and when Tracy LaRose, a Seckman High assistant principal, spoke to Bookstaver about the complaint, he told her to “trust me or fire me.”
During the hearing, Bookstaver said he complained to his principal in the past about being harassed. He also said the videos he watched during work hours were history references and pertained to his job.
He told the board a co-teacher interrupted his lessons and spoke negatively about his Catholic faith, adding that he and LaRose had previous negative interactions and he requested to be transferred out of Seckman Middle School when the two worked together there.
Bookstaver said he did not have students read or watch many of the movies he recommended during class.
During the termination hearing, Bookstaver showed the board videos and images that he said proved clues can be found in the media, TV shows and movies about secret societies, such as the Freemasons, which he claims orchestrate everything that happens in the world.
Bookstaver said people also can use numerology to prove that the “Great Awakening” is happening, and people are using numbers and other images to send signals about that.
Near the end of the hearing, Hansen told the board that Bookstaver’s actions disrupted Seckman High and the district because of concerns about the possibility of private information being accessed and about his well-being and safety and the safety of others.
“Mr. Bookstaver’s personal beliefs about religion or the world or how he feels about how he wants to educate people are not an issue in this case,” she told the board. “What is an issue is policy and the violation of policy.”