Letter of Rebuttal to September 27, 2017 Letter

I have enjoyed a long 27-year career at the Stow Munroe Falls City School District (SMFCSD).
During that time, I have been proud to hold the positions of Assistant Band Director and Band
Director. I am extremely committed to the success of SMFCSD and the band program. I
dedicated my career to improving the band program and motivating band members in the
program. Despite my dedication to the band program, I have always felt that my job was not
to have the best band, but to help the SMFCSD students become as successful as they can
possibly become with their education. I have enjoyed positive performance reviews and
positive feedback from the SMFCSD, the SMF parents and students, and the SMF community
during my time at SMFCSD. I believe that I have a good reputation that I worked extremely
hard to earn. Over my 27 years of employment, I have voluntarily donated countless hours to
the District outside of my contractual workday to make the SMFCSD, the SMF band program,
and the SMF students successful. I have also voluntarily provided numerous instruments, as
well as other school resources, to the SMFCSD to ensure a successful school and band
program. Due to my longevity with the District, I am three years away from retiring, with
reduced benefits.
I am writing to respond to the allegations, and false accusations, that were made against me.
First, I strive to treat all of the SMFCSD students with dignity and respect and do not
discriminate on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, or any other protected classes.
Many of the educators in the SMFCSD use text messaging as a form of communication between
teachers and students. While I did text message with a few students, I did so, with the
understanding that many other teachers in the SMFCSD were also using this form of
communication to communicate with their students. In fact, the District does not prohibit this
form of communication with students, it only requires that the communication be directly
related to curricular matters or with the approval of the principal. Board Policy No. 3213.
Some of the text messages that I exchanged with students were related to school/curricular
and/or band matters, as evidenced in part by the student identified on pages 6-7 of the letter
who denied any inappropriate content in the messages he received and said the only texts
he received were directly related to band issues.
None of the students who now claim that our communication made them uncomfortable
reported to me that they felt uncomfortable, nor ever asked me to stop communicating with
them via text message. None of the students parents ever asked me to stop communicating
with the students via text messages.
I deny that I constantly sent text messages to any student. I also deny that I sent non-stop
text messages to any student. I deny ever having one-on-one dinners with any student.
While the SMFCSD reported this matter to the Stow Police Department, the Stow Police
Department never reached out to me for an interview because there was no crime that was
committed.
Prior to my ability to respond to any of these allegations and after I was told the District
would be discreet, the District sent an email to the SMF High School and Kimpton Middle
School parents with enough identifying information for the public to identify me. This
information was shared with the media. Additionally, during the days preceding the October 9
Board meeting, a Board Agenda item was added identifying me by name, as opposed to
identifying a public employee, in regard to termination.
As a long-time educator, over the years, I have had students pass away from medical
conditions, accidents, drug overdoses, and even suicide. Following two suicides at the
SMFCSD, counselors made the suggestion to make our students feel a sense of belonging.
Because of these experiences, I do try to be involved in my students lives in the hope to
prevent these kinds of tragedies from occurring in the future.
Some of the text messages I exchanged with students during the time period alleged centered
around a particular student who other students reported to me was making dangerous and
bad choices. In an effort to prevent this student from going down the wrong path, I reached
out to the guidance counselor for assistance and attempted to engage this student and his
friends in conversations to gain their confidence so that they would feel comfortable
reporting to me if this student were to make a bad choice.
I treat my students as family so I do sometimes make statements, such as I love you, that I
now understand could be misconstrued by a third party.
I do not withhold information from students parents, however, I would inform the parents to
speak with the student about the issue, as opposed to informing the parent about this issue
myself, and ask the parent to follow-up with me if they had any questions. During the school
year, any concerns that I had about students, I would contact the school guidance counselors
or use other school resources for guidance. However, during summer recess, school resources
were not always available so I would communicate directly with parents.
As do other SMFCSD teachers, I routinely attended student sporting and other events
throughout the year, sometimes bringing my nieces and nephews. During summer recess, if I
decided to attend a student sporting or other event, I would reach out to parents for
permission to do so.
At the beginning of a school year, students and parents sign a release to allow the students
photographs to be used. Throughout the school year, photographs are taken of the students to
be used in slideshows at the end of the school year. These photographs were never used to
disparage or embarrass students. To the contrary, the students enjoyed looking back at the
photographs from a particular school year, or past school years.
I was never informed of some of the allegations contained within the letter, including but not
limited to the email the SMFCSD received from a parent on September 10, 2017, and
therefore I was not given the opportunity to respond. Regardless, the student did not want to
speak with the District.
As for the written warning that I received on March 1, 2017 admonishing me not to transport
students in my private vehicle, there were never any allegations after this warning that I
transported students in my private vehicle. As to the allegations from 2011, none of the
identified students were willing to corroborate the allegations because nothing inappropriate
occurred. As to the allegations from 2012, SMFCSD discussed my text exchange with one
student. The concern raised by the SMFCSD was resolved at that meeting so that no record of
the meeting was ever created.
I have cooperated with the SMFCSD throughout this investigation. I have attended all
meetings I have been invited to attend. I have turned over any information that they
requested I turn over that was in my possession. I sent an email to alumni who planned on
demonstrating their support for me at a game where the band was to perform insisting they
refrain from any demonstration that would take away from the true focus of the event. I
wanted the event to be about the band program, the history of the SMF great band
organization, and the students hard work and effort in making that evenings event
memorable.
While, in hindsight, I believe that there are some steps that I could have taken to better
protect myself from these allegations, false or otherwise, being raised against me, my
primary focus was always on the safety, well-being, and education of the students at SMFCSD.
I am comforted by the messages I received from former students and parents who have
thanked me for my years of service and the positive impact I have had on their students
lives, a number have gone so far as to thank me for saving their lives. I am very proud of my
long career at SMFCSD and the band organization that we have built together with the
students, directors, and community. I have enjoyed working with the students, staff, and
community at SMF Schools. If I could not return to the SMFCSD, my hope was that my
resignation would eliminate the distraction for the students and community so that they can
continue to focus on the SMFCSD students education, which is and has always been my
priority.
Sincerely,

Brian Monroe