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| Mr. Larry Markiewicz leads the Somerset Valley Orchestra on the lawn of the Somerset County Courthouse on an early summer evening, on June 17, 2011. (Credit/Bergeron Image) |
The denouement of that situation, it appears, is precisely
where the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education, its Superintendent, Dr. J. Michael
Schilder, and a district music teacher now find themselves.
Dr. Schilder, who goes off-payroll effective August 1,
2013 due to his imminent retirement, has charged Mr. Larry Markiewicz, a music
teacher in this school district with “conduct unbecoming
a teaching staff member, insubordination and/or other just cause warranting
dismissal and reduction in salary.”
In a closed session on Tuesday, the Bridgewater-Raritan
Board of Education certified the charges contained in that document by a full
vote of the board in favor of certification, with one board member abstaining.
The information which follows is culled from the official document of tenure charges brought against Mr. Markiewicz by Dr. Schilder, a copy of which I obtained on Thursday.
The information which follows is culled from the official document of tenure charges brought against Mr. Markiewicz by Dr. Schilder, a copy of which I obtained on Thursday.
It comprises 10 individual charges which, in total encompass
19 total counts of “conduct unbecoming.”
Each of the 10 charges involves 10
individual high school students.
The 11th charge encapsulates the first 10,
claiming a “pattern of conduct unbecoming
a teaching staff member, and/or other just cause demonstrating unfitness to
teach.” None of the charges relate
to sexual misconduct or sexual abuse.
The first three charges contain multiple counts of
misconduct, while the other seven contain one count each which, in total, lay
out a wide range of allegations involving Mr. Markiewicz.
FIRST CHARGE: It contains eight separate
counts, all of which allege “misconduct
towards a student.” It runs over
four pages in length and, and its eight counts of misconduct constitute 42% of
all other counts (19) combined.
Altogether, this first charge comprises the most voluminous description
of allegations against Mr. Markiewicz.
It is also the most recent in chronology, alleging that “on or about February 28th, 2013,”
Mr. Markiewicz distributed “a written
statement to the members of the Monday Jazz Band, and then conducting a meeting
. . . in which the tone, context and language expressed by him to and about
(the) student were totally inappropriate
and contrived to cause embarrassment, and subject him to peer pressure and
ridicule.”
This controversy seems to revolve around the “choice” of the student “to join the school’s Volleyball Team,”
and of alleged “consequences” should
the student make that choice.
The student had “aspirations
to attend the United States Naval Academy,” and this seems to also play a
major part in the alleged “consequences.”
Dr. Schilder alleges that Mr. Markiewicz not only
encouraged members of the Jazz Band “to
pressure him into abandoning his decision to play volleyball,’ but that Mr.
Markiewicz “threatened to destroy [the
student’s] chances of being accepted to the Naval Academy if (he) chose to
leave the Monday Jazz Band.”
The document further alleges that “Specifically Mr. Markiewicz told (the student) that he knows the Navy
Band Conductor, marine recruiters and several marines and that word would get
out if (he) quit the Band.”
SECOND CHARGE: It involves three counts concerning
“a talented swimmer [who] qualified for
the nationals on his YMCA swim team in his sophomore year.” He told Mr. Markiewicz “that he would need to miss a week of school in order to attend a
competition in Florida . . .” The allegation is that Mr. Markiewicz “became very upset and told him there would
be ‘consequences.’”
The tenure charge further alleges that Mr. Markiewicz was
told by this student that “he needed to
improve his swimming times in order to get a college scholarship to help
mitigate the financial burden on his family,” and that “Mr. Markiewicz reacted unsympathetically,
informing [the student] that he [the
student] was ‘going to kill the band program,”
and that he “was making a terrible
decision and would regret it.”
THIRD CHARGE: This one contains two counts
alleging that Mr. Markiewicz “exhibited a
complete disregard for the health and well-being of student [x].”
Moreover, this charge incorporates “all of the foregoing charges and the facts alleged therein;” that
is, it piggy-backs all of the eleven counts and allegations contained in
charges one and two above, and includes them in this third charge.
This student “was a
member of the marching band which she had joined as a freshman.” She had anticipated joining the “marching band’s scheduled trip to the BOA
Nationals in Indianapolis during the 2010-11 season,” but fell ill with
what “she believed to be coxsackie.” When “her
mother insisted on taking her to the doctor, [she] pleaded with her not to do
so, fearful of the consequences.”
This charge further alleges that “After personally witnessing Mr. Markiewicz ‘. . . humiliate/torture
other band students. . . ‘to the point where she ‘began feeling physically ill
when . . . [she] entered class,’ she resigned, notwithstanding her fear that
she would become the target of ‘. . . retribution for so doing . . .’”
OTHER CHARGES: One of the other six single-count charges
involves allegations against Mr. Markiewicz that he was observed by a student
of engaging in “completely inappropriate,
outrageously hostile, and verbally abusive behavior which included, but was not
limited to him yelling, screaming and cursing in class . . . and [using] kids
against each other.”
Another charge argues that Mr. Markiewicz’s conduct
caused a female student to “hate to come
to school, cry at night, and have panic attacks.”
Other single-count charges deal with allegations of “using profanity in the presence of
students, including but not limited to f---,s--- and G-----,” . . . “divulging confidential information about [one] student to another student,” . . . ,telling
a mom whose child “had been not feeling
well and was absent from school for a few days . . . that it was okay for [that
student] to stay home from school and come after school so that he could
participate in the afterschool activity . . . in
violation of Board Policy.”
And so it goes – story after story taken from a 17-page
series of allegations which seeks to remove Mr. Markiewicz from his position in
the school district.
Thanks for reading.
(Click on the photo for an enhanced view.)
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