They criticize his behavior on stage and off and the culture he created, putting actor in awkward positions
LINWOOD — A parent and multiple students have accused drama teacher/director Curt Foy of abusive and inappropriate behavior and asked the school board not to renew his contract.
Accusations made April 12 before the Mainland Regional High School Board of Education include talking to a student in a locked classroom with the blinds drawn and sending unsolicited late-night emails and early morning requests for food and beverages. Students also said Foy is unprofessional, belittles them and allows no input from the cast.
Roselyn Driscoll, a sophomore from Northfield, told the board about an experience that made her uncomfortable. She said her character in the fall play was in love with another character and had a line comparing herself to a dog.
“Mr. Foy instructed me to get on my hands and knees and paw at my scene partner. I asked if I had to and Mr. Foy said yes,” Driscoll said. “After trying to do the scene and unsuccessfully doing my blocking, since I was extremely uncomfortable, Mr. Foy dismissed my feelings and said I would feel better about it when my lines were memorized.”
She said when the scene was revisited, she continued to have a hard time getting on her knees and pawing at her scene partner and said so.
“I said I didn’t like the idea of my family members watching me do that on stage. As a compromise, Mr. Foy allowed me to only go to my knees and put my hands to me chest, and then pretend to lick my scene partner’s leg. When I said I felt uncomfortable with that as well, he appeared frustrated and treated my feelings like an inconvenience,” she said.
“His final compromise was to allow me to not lick my co-actor’s leg but merely stand up on my knees, which resulted in my face being in front of my scene partner’s crotch while he looked down at me. I said I would try it since I felt that I had no other options.”
Driscoll said on the day of in-school previews, “I had students cat call me from the audience, whistle at me, say dirty jokes from the audience or commit other acts that left me feeling degraded and embarrassed. Mr. Foy did nothing.”
She said she took matters into her own hands and refused to go to her knees on the first night of the show
“Following the scene where I no longer went on my knees, I was informed by a member of the stage crew that Mr. Foy was screaming on the intercom system, asking what I was doing. At the end of the show, Mr. Foy found me and reprimanded me for changing his blocking without his permission,” she said.
Driscoll said Foy asked to speak to her in his classroom the next day, drawing the shade and locking the door.
“This is just one of the situations of the many I have gone through in this school year alone and I think it’s disgusting that I had to go through with that,” Driscoll said. “I hope you consider this and that you don’t let any other students have to go through what I went through.”
Gina Osbeck, a member of the Linwood Board of Education and MRHS graduate whose daughter is vice president of the drama club, asked the board to “put more thought into renewing Mr. Curt Foy’s contract.”
Renewal of nontenured staff was on the agenda that evening.
“This kills me to say, because I don’t want anyone to lose their job, per se, but I think there must be a halt or a pause. I know he has been spoken to but the culture he has created since this fall has broken my heart,” Osbeck said, adding that she followed proper protocols by bringing her concerns to Athletic Director Mike Gatley, who oversees the drama program.
“What I regret is that it was not put to the board. I kept thinking it would be better in the spring,” she said.
Foy joined the staff in September 2021 after longtime drama teachers Becky Sannino and Judy Kline retired.
“I had the lead role my senior year and it was one of the best memories of my life, so I was saddened when Mrs. Saninno and Mrs. Kline retired but I was excited for new, fresh blood to come in and I had heard great things. However, it was not that way,” Osbeck said. “It was always about him and not the children.”
A member of the Mainland Performing Arts Parent Organization for four years, she said she had the worst communication with Foy that she had ever had in 20 years of volunteering.
“The first year everyone gets a minute to figure it out, but I don’t see him changing or making the culture any better because he had a whole year to do it and everyone I have spoken to says it has just gotten worse. It’s been a year of these things and I hope you will look into it before renewing his contract,” she said.
Drama club President Payton Lamp said her first three years were “terrific until Curt Foy came along.” She said he sent her a text message at 10:30 p.m. saying that she is doing a good job.
“He would then say ‘Good night, I’ll see you tomorrow’ with winky faces. The good nights kept coming from him unwanted,” she said. “He also asked me at 7:30 one busy morning to bring him food. I’m just waking up, already stressed about a busy day and to have a teacher ask me to bring him food and drink … and it wasn’t the first time,” Lamp said.
Senior Franchesca Bozzi said she really enjoyed the first three years of drama club.
“We had a family, our opinions were valued and we were able to learn and grow,” she said. “However, our fourth year has been very disappointing and heartbreaking. We don’t enjoy it, we’re not learning and we no longer have a voice.”
Bozzi said Foy lacks sympathy.
“If Curt Foy remains in his position, we are worried about what the program will become,” she said.
Bozzi said rehearsals were disorganized and ran as much as two hours longer than scheduled, causing transportation issues and conflicts with other activities.
“Some students struggled with rides home, other after-school activities and were completely distracted from school work,” she said. “There were even students who had to drop out of classes because they were falling so far behind.”
She said instead of being excited for opening night, students broke down crying at the final rehearsal from exhaustion and frustration.
Offering an outside perspective, senior Sara Thomas, a starter on the girls soccer team, said most of her friends are in the drama club but that she has always been too nervous to take part. However, she said she was committed to taking part in the spring musical.
“It’s important in high school to do things nobody really expects you to do. For me, that was the play. But what I watched my friends go through, through the fall play, I couldn’t bring myself to do the spring play,” she said. “I don’t think any student should feel hindered in what they should do by a teacher. It should be motivating.”
Osbeck said each of the students was interviewed the following day in school about the remarks they had made.
Foy did not return an email seeking comment.
Chief School Administrator Mark Marrone said he could not comment on personnel matters.
“As always, the district will investigate concerns brought before the Board of Education and address them as appropriate. The district also listens to and takes under advisement the opinions and statements expressed by community members and stakeholders made during public session. The district will not comment on issues of personnel but takes the input and concerns of the public very seriously,” he stated in an email.
FIT to meet May 5
OCEAN CITY – Fairness in Taxes will meet at 7 p.m. Friday, May 5, in the Chris Maloney room at the Ocean City Free Public Library, 1735 Simpson Ave. All are invited. For information call Sheila Hartranft at (609) 814-0056.
Community Access
Open House May 5
MAYS LANDING — Atlantic County Clerk Joe Giralo will host a quarterly Community Access Open House from noon to 2 p.m. May 5 at the historic Atlantic County Court House at 5901 Main St. in Mays Landing.
Information about government programs and services will be available under one roof with representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, state Sen. Vince Polistina, Assemblywoman Claire Swift and Assemblyman Don Guardian, county government and constitutional officers.
Call the Atlantic County Clerk’s Office at (609) 625-4011 for more information.
Spring Fling
MARMORA — The Cape May County chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians is hosting a Spring Fling festival for 11 a.m. to dusk Saturday, May 21, at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish, 200 Tuckahoe Road in Marmora.
The AOH also hosts the Irish Festival at Smithville in Atlantic County.
Mass will be celebrated from 4 to 5 p.m.
Spots are still available for craft, food and beverage vendors. The fee is $50 for this first-time event.
Email info@allirishmartyrs.org or call (609) 316-7901.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
