By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY — Several dozen people — students, parents, staff members and other stakeholders — gathered Friday evening to protest a celebration of the school district’s retiring superintendent’s 15 years with the district.
The protesters say the tenure of Dr. Kathleen Taylor, who is slated to leave in August, has included multiple student suicides, numerous lawsuits, false allegations against a former athletic director ending in acquittal and a petition filed on change.org alleging sexual assault and harassment, grooming, neglect and other abuses at the hands of teachers, staff and the administration.
The gala, hosted by the Ocean City Education Foundation, was held at the Flanders Hotel. Protesters gathered across the street to express their displeasure with a celebration of Taylor’s accomplishments, arguing the money would be better spent supporting the mental health and safety of students.
“I know what good people do for kids. She is not a good person. It’s self-glorification,” protester Bill Schneider said.
Many held signs stating “Kids not accolades” and “Bye bye Taylor.”
The group took out an ad published in the June 2 edition of the Ocean City Sentinel stating “Enough is enough! Over one million dollars spent to pay law firms in the last 6 years; 2 public relations firms hired to promote personal accolades and cover up ugly mistakes; 13 legal firms hired; 29 administrative changes. Multiple active lawsuits including a drawn-out lawsuit based on false accusations resulting in an embarrassingly fast acquittal. OPRA requests for public information still unanswered. Favoritism toward selected staff and harassment of others. All at taxpayer expense!
“This resulted in less time, services and money spent on our students. We cannot be more supportive of your decision to move on so that we can go back to focusing on our district and our children.”
Pat Dougherty, one of the leaders of the protest, said the fact that the gala is being held in person while the senior scholarship/awards ceremony was held virtually shows where Taylor’s priorities lie.
“Given the significance of all the totally ridiculous behavior and decision-making already cited in the recent ad, this evening speaks as one more example of the difference between the superintendent’s importance and the importance of the students,” Dougherty said.
The former high school teacher said she was fortunate to never have worked with Taylor, noting she retired the day before the outgoing superintendent’s first day. Dougherty said holding a live celebratory gala for an outgoing administrator while holding an awards ceremony for seniors virtually speaks volumes about Taylor’s priorities.
“This is just something that falls in line with everything else that’s gone on for the past 15 years,” Dougherty said, citing the case of former district athletic director Christine Lentz, who was the subject of a costly criminal investigation that ended with acquittal on all charges.
Asked for comment on the protest, Aimee Schultz, of school’s public relations firm JASM Consulting, directed a reporter to the official statement from the Ocean City Board of Education.
“We have no additional comments other than to say the event held last night was a fundraiser held by a private organization to raise funds to benefit the creation of outdoor wellness centers at each of the schools for the students,” the email stated.
The district also released a two-page statement after the Change.org petition was posted online. The statement acknowledged the petition and commended those involved for coming forward. It also promised to contact law enforcement and cooperate fully with any investigation.
“While we can’t change the past, our district is committed to taking additional steps to build upon the programs, trainings, support and intervention services, along with providing the necessary resources, which we have been put in place over the past decade to ensure enduring change,” it states, listing steps the district has taken to address the concerns of the student body.
Dougherty said the gala was being held in person for more than 100 guests and would include “speeches, accolades, declarations and honors bestowed upon her including the construction of an outdoor wellness area in her name on the grounds of one of the district’s three schools.”
She contrasted that with the senior awards ceremony, noting almost $300,000 in scholarships were to be presented to almost 200 students, with no parents, family members or classmates applauding for the young men and women who have worked four years to be rewarded for academic, athletic, artistic, theatric, musical and any other accomplishments.”
Dougherty said the protest really had organic beginnings, starting with conversations about Taylor’s perceived failures and mishandling of sensitive issues. She said the irony of naming a wellness area in the superintendent’s honor was not lost on her, calling it “off the chart.”
Another protester claiming Taylor badly mishandled tragic events that took place among the student body was former high school student Brianna Thomas.
Wearing a T-shirt stating “Fight Stigma” before swapping it for a red one to show solidarity with the Red Raider Nation, Thomas, 24, said she was forced to drop out of school after Taylor failed to appropriately address her concerns.
“I would have graduated in 2014 but due to the issues that I suffered at the hands of the school I dropped out in 2012,” Thomas said, noting she earned a GED.
Attending the event with friend Rebecca Read of Upper Township, Thomas called the gala an insult to those who have suffered.
“The reason for being here today is to let the Ocean City Board of Education know that we should not honor or repeat the kind of leadership that has led to a detrimental effect on student safety and mental health,” Thomas said, noting six students in the district have committed suicide.
Thomas was one of the former students who demanded change at the school in 2014 and 2015, after two student suicides traumatized the school and deeply shook the community. At that time, multiple people, including Thomas, told the Board of Education stories of bullying at the school.
Thomas said she was not one to suffer silently and that she and her parents had spoken with Taylor multiple times before she ultimately decided to drop out.
In April, Thomas and other alumni started the Change.org petition calling for an investigation of faculty, guidance staff and administration over multiple incidents spanning a decade that were alleged in the petition. Many of the allegations were made anonymously, which Thomas said protected the individuals and would not compromise potential criminal investigations.
“It’s sad that Dr. Taylor announced her retirement and a couple of days later we went live with the petition with all of these students who were brave enough to share these things that have happened, and not only has no one taken accountability or done anything to fix it but now they are going to honor somebody who was a major part of it without even giving the students who told their stories any recognition for coming forward,” Thomas said. “They don’t really care about student mental health.”
Thomas said the district “pretty much swept everything under the rug” back in 2014-15 or “set up some things that looked really good on paper but didn’t benefit students the way they should have.”
“They gave us a list of things that they intended putting in place to help students but it seems like either those things never came to fruition or just didn’t work the way that they were set up because no one cared enough to monitor them the way they should have been,” Thomas said.
After being told about plans for naming a wellness area in Taylor’s honor, Thomas was incredulous.
“To hear that her name is going to be attached to a wellness center when there are so many kids who she didn’t protect during here time, it is a slap in the face,” Thomas said.
