Fox C-6 Superintendent Paul Fregeau canceled two assemblies scheduled to be held last week at Antonia and Seckman middle schools after parents complained about the dance troupe that performed during two other assemblies held in the district.
The Vital Dance Crew, which travels the nation performing a 30-minute dance routine followed by a 15-minute assembly denouncing bullying, had performed during assemblies on March 27 at Fox and Ridgewood middle schools.
Fregeau said he canceled the last two assemblies before they were held on March 28 at Antonia and Seckman middle schools.
Some parents reached out to the district on March 27 saying their children were uncomfortable with the dance routine.
They also said James Linehan, who is listed as James and identified as the group’s director on the Vital Dance Crew website, told students to follow his social media accounts @jlinemusic.
Those social media accounts featured shirtless photos of the performer. The accounts also indicated he was part of the J-Line Dirty Pop Party Tour.
Fregeau said he canceled the performances at Antonia and Seckman middle schools within minutes of discovering students were viewing Linehan’s social media accounts, which included material that reportedly offended some students and parents.
“This gentleman has a performance group that goes all over the country, and he has a specific performance about anti-bullying,” Fregeau said. “He has a separate entity with a different name that is similar. He also performs at bars and night clubs.
“We addressed it within 17 minutes. I was made aware of it at (8:16 a.m. March 28) and (at 8:33 a.m.), I met the troupe and told them they wouldn’t be performing.”
According to the contract Fox had with the Vital Dance Crew, the district paid the group $3,180, which was the amount to be paid for four performances.
The contract was signed by Linehan and Fox CFO John Stewart, who does not arrange assemblies for Fox.
The contract also shows the company Fox paid was J-Line Creative of New York.
Board of Education members voted 4-0 on Jan. 17 to approve the contract for the assemblies. The contract was one line item among 69 pages of expenditures that were approved at that school board meeting.
Board vice president Jim Chellew and former president Krystal Hargis abstained from approving the bills because of other expenditures in the packet.
Complaints
Lauren Aikens, whose son attends Fox Middle, said he told her he was uncomfortable with the way the dancers gyrated and with some of the lyrics in the songs played during the assembly.
“He didn’t give me specifics of the lyrics, but he said they didn’t sit well with him,” Aikens said. “He said the moves were more gyrating. I was proud of him for knowing that description but upset in the moment.”
Aikens said she was not at the assembly but has seen videos of the Vital Dance Crew performance at the Fox Middle assembly.
She said she was troubled by how the dancers moved.
“It was something we would see at an adult show,” Aikens said. “It was not children dance moves.”
Aikens also said her son told her that Linehan was telling students to follow his Instagram and Twitter accounts.
“He said the guy gave out his personal social media accounts,” she said. “He said before the end of the assembly kids had already pulled it up. The kids were shocked to see a naked man, essentially”
Linehan denied claims that he told students to go to his Instagram account.
“Any slanderous inferences that students were encouraged to go to any Instagram account, especially one that is not the dance crew’s, is totally false,” he said. “During our program, I encouraged the students to treat themselves with respect and respect everyone they meet. It’s unfortunate that message has gone unheeded. I will continue to pray for the students and faculty of Fox as they deal with their bullying problem that seems to not only affect those within the school, but even those who visit the school as well.”
Tammy Cardona, assistant superintendent for secondary schools, said district officials have not verified whether the performers had any contact with the students through social media.
“The few calls we received on this issue were investigated and proven to be rumor,” she said.
Vetting
Aikens said her main concern is her belief that Fox administrators did not properly research the Vital Dance Group before the assemblies were scheduled.
“They can investigate things beyond a Google search,” she said. “How am I supposed to feel like you are working to keep my kid safe?”
Gwen Boyd, whose sons attend Fox Elementary School, also said she is concerned about how the district’s vetting process works for speakers brought into the schools.
“This is something we all need to be paying attention to,” said Boyd, who along with her sons did not see the Vital Dance Crew’s performance. “These people are going into the middle school and not being vetted. Who is coming into the elementary school that we don’t know about? Our kids are young. They don’t know to tell us all of the things that are happening.”
Fregeau said assemblies typically are arranged through a collaborative effort among teachers and administrators.
He said he does not know who recommended or who booked the Vital Dance Group.
“People keep their eyes out for things kids may enjoy and look at the message,” Fregeau said. “A teacher or principal may go to a conference or meeting and someone may tell them about a great assembly. We look into it. We go to the websites. We look at the references. We talk to other schools.”
In a series of emails the school district released, multiple Fox district staff members were involved in booking the Vital Dance Crew’s performance.
It appeared Cheryl Rudanovich, a fourth-grade teacher at Guffey Elementary School, made the initial contact with the group.
Ridgewood Middle School Principal Pat Schwalbe appears to have arranged the performances at the middle schools, along with input from Cardona, director of professional development Robin Greene and fellow middle school principals Matt Metz (Antonia), Marilyn Jackson (Fox) and Courtney Meagher (Seckman).
The emails also appear to show payment was arranged by Kim Loomis, director of federal programs and human resources, and Kathi Ericson, a federal programs and human resources administrative assistant.
Changes
Cardona said Fox will change how it vets speakers and performers to come into the schools.
“In light of the situation that happened, Fox will only be bringing in speakers for our students who have been vetted through our local education partners such as Education Plus or Character Ed,” she said.
Aikens said she wants schools to tell parents in advance when someone from outside the school district will be speaking or performing during an assembly.
Fox officials said parents at Ridgewood Middle School were told in an email on March 17 and March 24 that the anti-bullying assembly was going to be held and that Vital Dance Crew was performing. However, officials said Fox Middle School parents were not informed in advance about the assembly.
“I would like to see a week in advance communication,” Aikens said. “We need to be notified of what they believe this person is about. It would give us a chance as parents to do our own research. Then we would have seven to 10 days to let administrators know who they are bringing to the school and ask if they would not do that. If they are still coming in, that is fine, but I will keep my kid home that day.”