Monday, December 28, 2009

Excerpts from DDB's Autobiography on Justice for Hamidur Rahman pt 3

This follows part 2. Hamidur Rahman was a boy I met in passing. I had nothing to do with his death. However, had my abusers not been so bent on abusing me, I believe Hamidur Rahman would be alive today.
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I was unaware of the cover up as it was happening because I had been focused on other things and it hadn't occurred to me it could happen the way it did. I had known I was being unfairly shuffled off from my night work at Hurlstone AHS. I was also aware of being undermined by some of my colleagues at Canley Vale HS. I had thought they were independent and the result of natural office politics. I was arrogant and felt that the worst case scenario for me in dealing with my abusers was to wait them out. I had turned to my father for advice, but he had already disowned me because of his choices he had made many years previous.
Richard P had been undermining me at Hurlstone. I believe it was because I am fat. Our first meeting in 1996 had not gone well. I was one of many interested persons applying for a residential boarder tutor position at Hurlstone. Richard stared at my belly for awhile, and said that there were long walks involved with the position. I said I was up for it, but I didn't progress for interview that year. In 1997, I applied again. Richard was not acting as position supervisor this time, and I went to interview and got a position. I was the only male Math Teacher, and the only Math teacher interested in working with Mathematics. Richard had apparently undermined the previous Welfare Head Teacher (Boys) and he replaced him before I began work in '98. Richard's first move with me was to declare my position was probationary subject to my proving my fitness. On my first night as supervisor, Richard made a show of keeping me up beyond the 11pm lights out and made me watch as he opened a child's locker which turned out to have drug paraphernalia (items like a dirty bong or two). It was about 1am before I was allowed to go to sleep prior to a work day. I could do that because I was untreated for my sleep apnea, and for the first 36 years or so of my life I never actually slept, but rested. It was never announced, but I was off probation and highly respected for my math teaching.
I was asked to apply to transfer to the school by the new Head Teacher of Math. Richard seemed unhappy about it, and he would often pull me aside and raise some concerns he might have with my professionalism. He would say I should take care to tutor more than invest time in residential welfare, pointing to times when I had clearly gone above and beyond and should have been congratulated for. I would cover for my colleagues who seemed to work hard at doing the bare minimum, but I had wanted to devote my life to a worthwhile purpose and I felt Education was it. So I would be left alone by my colleagues seeking to skip prep(study supervision) times, or I would go to more than a few parent teacher nights placed around the state and Richard would tell me I needed to go to at least one parent teacher night, or mustn't skip prep when I hadn't. I was concerned that Richard might be fabricating a case against me, but I could do nothing, so I kept smiling and talking up the work and Richard. Richard was eventually made permanent in his role, much to the amusement of staff who could remember his five or six previous attempts at getting the position. At one stage, Richard had apparently been told that he would never get the position because everyone knew he wanted it and no one would respect him because of what he had done previously.
Helen was also apparently fabricating things at Canley Vale HS, but she only took the position in 1998 and I had been fielding abuse from Geoff, then Principal at Canley Vale HS, and Helen kept blaming Geoff for decisions she was making, or statements. She would tell me that Geoff was concerned that I might not be teaching my class properly. Helen would use examples like "Reading the newspaper in class." In fact, I would occasionally read from a historical column on something relevant to the class, a birthday of someone or some event that happened long ago. There were others who actually read the papers and ignored their classes, so the comment from Helen was particularly offensive. If I was forced to send a student to Helen they would return with an attitude that they had somehow gotten me into trouble. Helen would later raise some wild inflation of events to me, and I had thought it was the student's doing. It was only later that I realized Helen had an agenda and she wasn't being hard on me because she wanted the best of me, but because of other, more personal reasons.
Things would have been merely difficult for me, until I applied to transfer to Hurlstone. Firstly there was an unfortunate meeting between the Head Teacher of Math at Hurlstone with Campbelltown PAHS Head Teacher of Math. I ws later to find out the Capmbelltown HT Math was a colleague or cousin of Helen's. Further, the Campbelltown PAHS HT only knew part of my role in whistle blowing on an apparent pedophile which the Department had apparently covered up after the Woods Royal Commission branched into teaching. I had been promised the President's position by the incumbent who was Head Teacher Math at Hurlstone. He also promised to advise me on my resume. But after the meeting with Campbelltown HT Math, I was not invited to interview after he declined to advise me on my resume. I asked why, and was told it had nothing to do with the Campbelltown meeting, but from Canley Vale. I knew it was either Geoff or Helen. Geoff was friends with the Principal of Hurlstone and had nobbled me at interview. Helen was claiming to act on Geoff's orders. Hurlstone's HT Math wouldn't say who. I had told Helen of my fears regarding the Campbelltown meeting, so I began to think she was the one who had talked to Hurlstone and burned me.
After the failed application, Richard began inflating things I couldn't ignore. He ordered me to appear before the Hurlstone Deputy Joe on a fabricated matter. I pointed out the things I had ignored previously in a written submission. Including Richard's opening a toilet door I was using for year ten students, or undermining me when a student had spent a night with his girlfriend and I had found out by taking a role. I pointed out that Richard's behaviour may be bigoted or wrong headed, but it was not professional and was certainly personal. However I would behave professionally. I was later moved from my accommodation to be adjacent with junior boys. I had no problems with that, but my new accommodation was beneath the boiler room. Other staff alerted me to porn being stored in the ceiling, and they got rid of it for me, as i couldn't climb into a roof space and i was concerned that the porn would be 'discovered' by Richard and I would be blamed. Richard then decided that there was a leak into my room from the boys showers or toilets, and so I was moved to emergency accommodation and my goods were left in the staff common room. During the Olympics, the staff common room was used by the Olympic Road traffic Authority who were also given access to my toilet and shower. I was told by Richard that my accommodation had been fixed by the end of the year, but in the last week, he said there was another leak. He pointed to where what looked like a glass of water had been thrown on the ceiling and wall. I spent the holidays in an unlocked common room which had mosquitos, mice and other vermin. I then had to find accommodation outside the school until the repairs were made. The repairs were made, but then another teacher nearing retirement was given the place. Then they said they might not retire after all.
It was after I found out that another teacher was to be given my accommodation for a time that I had the meeting with Hamidur.
I asked the Principal of Hurlstone if I had any complaints about my work. I was assured that there had been none. I asked when I might return to my duty at Hurlstone and was told I might never work there again, and that i had never been promised I would. I approached the local director of schools and he said he could do nothing for me. however, he allowed me to call the principal who purchased an air conditioner I had left behind for a reduced price. Then in 2002, Hamidur died. I had dropped all hope of working at Hurlstone again by that time, and had also felt I was a marked person who would never get a promotions position either. Helen told me to come with her to a Higher School Certificate markers meeting. She offerred me a lift from a nearby railway station. She lived nearby, but it was a long trip for me. The Campbelltown PAHS HT Math was there, and I saw them together for the first time. I asked if they were related, and they laughed together and said that I couldn't prove anything. Helen seemed really upset with me for not extending an olive branch to Campbelltown.
Some things I didn't pay attention to. When the Principal of Canley Vale walked to school with me one morning, claiming he had car maintenance, I took the opportunity to share unimportant conversation with him. He also tried to give me a lift in his car when it was raining, but I politely declined. Once, Canley Vale Deputy Kathleen asked to tag along with sport and watch Volleyball with some year 10 kids. I accepted and asked if there was anything I might do and she said it was ok. At the end of the year (02) Geoff had decided to retire. I had completed a team leadership course outside of school hours. Helen led me to Geoff's office and Geoff and Kathleen then told me they had spoken with the local director of schools Hedley. Hedley was directing me to attend Healthquest to see if I was fit enough to teach. Hedley's direction was followed by observations Geoff had made with my walk to school, with declining to accept a lift in his car and with Kathleen's observations of my sport supervision. They listed some allegations Helen had made about students complaining about my teaching Math. I asked Geoff why this happened just before he retired, thinking that any appeal attempt i would make might be overturned because Geoff had retired. He said, I was thinking a lot about this over 8 years, and finally decided I had to do this. Kathleen said I was so fat it was disgusting. Geoff and I ignored her. I pointed out that the faked observations were a denial of natural justice.
Beginning 2003 I approached the new Canley Vale Principal Pat, and asked him to reconsider. He pointed out it wasn't geoff but Hedley who made the call.
I engaged a lawyer to see if i could avoid the Healthquest meeting not because I was concerned about my fitness, although I knew i was fat, but because of the inflated aspects of the referral. A few thousand dollars later I attended Healthquest, having been assured by Pat that if unfair things had happened in the past, they would be kept in the past. I was told to use it as an opportunity to possibly lose weight. The doctor of Healthquest asked me attitudinal questions regarding child protection which I patiently answered. They got me to urinate in a small cup, which I did, nearly hurting myself in the process as there was no surface with which to place the cup and I was very fat and holding it with my hands was nigh impossible. The doctor checked my genitals and declared they were small (a symptom of obesity). The doctor offered me a retirement pension or the ability to go back to work. Taking Pat's promise as read, I accepted going back to work. My employment was marked as my having a disability with no special provision.
I complained to the Director General of Education (Boston) and was referred to a family friend who Assistant Director General. Legal office from the Department of Education called me to tell me that the Department would never talk to me again as they had labeled me a nuisance complainer. I asked why, and he said it was because of the death at Hurlstone. I pointed out I had nothing to do with that, and was many miles away when it happened, and the legal officer quipped "Can I quote you on that?" Then the legal officer said the conversation I was having with him was unofficial, but if I ever sent another complaint to the Dept. of Ed. it would be recorded but ignored.
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The story continues

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