A Seckman High School social studies teacher recently tried to make a case for why his contract with the Fox C-6 School District should not be terminated.
Timothy Bookstaver has been on paid administrative leave since Nov. 3 and was informed on Dec. 17 that he would be fired for violating the district’s technology usage and staff conduct policies. Bookstaver requested a public termination hearing, which the Fox Board of Education held Jan. 8 in the Fox C-6 Service Center in Arnold.
After the hearing, the seven-member school board met in a closed meeting, but as of Monday, the board had not decided whether Bookstaver’s contract should be terminated. Bookstaver is a tenured teacher and is considered a permanent employee because of the length he has taught at Fox C-6.
Superintendent Paul Fregeau said on Jan. 8 that the board will likely meet again in seven to 10 days in another closed meeting to decide Bookstaver’s employment status.
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.
“When a teacher who is employed by the Fox C-6 School District is found to have willfully or persistently violated board policy, the district may request and recommend the employee for termination,” said Jennifer Hansen, an attorney representing the Fox C-6 administrative staff. “In this case, Mr. Bookstaver was found after investigation to have violated certain district policies.”
Hansen told the board 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.
“I followed God’s will, and this is where he has brought us today,” Bookstaver told the board during the termination hearing. “It is my job to try to show that God intended for us to be here today, intended for me to talk to you today and we are here to glorify him.”
The hearing
During the three-plus-hour 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 that contained Bookstaver’s passwords to access the district’s computer system. The email also included 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 that 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 due to the concerns. He also said Fox C-6 programmed its Flock license-plate reading cameras to alert the district if Bookstaver drove onto any of the district’s campuses.
In addition, a planned intruder drill scheduled for Oct. 28 at Seckman High was cancelled due to staff being aware of the email sent earlier in the month, Burch said.
He told the board that he and Tammy Cardona, assistant superintendent of secondary education, met with Bookstaver on Nov. 3, and he admitted to sending the email and watching the YouTube videos during working hours. Bookstaver was placed on administrative leave after that meeting.
Burch said he then interviewed 11 people about Bookstaver’s behavior, inspected Bookstaver’s classroom and reviewed Bookstaver’s personnel file.
Burch said the people he interviewed said they were worried about safety and the content of Bookstaver’s email.
Bookstaver’s classroom had a long list of recommended books and movies that were considered inappropriate for students due to portrayals of graphic sex and violence, Burch added.
He told the board that after reviewing Bookstaver’s personnel file, he learned the teacher had been placed on administrative leave last school year because two students reportedly were spending time in his classroom instead of attending their scheduled classes.
Burch also said Bookstaver and a co-teacher stopped teaching a class together due to Bookstaver objecting to the other teacher speaking out against alternate history and conspiracy theories Bookstaver espoused in the classroom.
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.”
Burch said he and Cardona met with Bookstaver again on Nov. 12 to discuss the investigation, and he said he would not choose a paycheck over God. After Burch met with Bookstaver again on Dec. 17 to tell him about the charges against him and the recommendation to fire him, Bookstaver requested the termination hearing with the board to try to dispute the charges and possible termination.
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 the 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 Fox 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.
When Hansen questioned Fregeau, he went through a list of policies Bookstaver was accused of violating, and he said based on the evidence, Bookstaver should be fired.
Testimony
Bookstaver spoke for nearly 37 minutes about why he should not be fired.
“I did not intentionally expose the district to all the things you guys are worried about,” he told the board. “I didn’t think any of the people I sent (the email) to would do anything with the information other than try to understand all that is going on. It is God. Everything I have done has been to try to understand and glorify him.”
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 can also use numerology to prove that the “Great Awakening” is happening, and people are using numbers and other images to send signals about that.
“If you don’t know how to read the language, you are blind,” he said.
Closing
In closing arguments, Hansen said the evidence shows Bookstaver violated the Fox district’s policies for technology use, adding that Bookstaver admitted to violating the policies after having signed an agreement to follow them.
Hansen also told the board that Bookstaver’s actions disrupted Seckman High and the district because of concerns about the possibility of private information being protected 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 said. “What is an issue is policy and the violation of policy.”
Bookstaver spoke for 28 seconds during his closing argument, telling the board, “Jesus went to the cross for violating social norms.”