I’ve now attended four school board meetings and I’ve finally been removed from one by sheriff’s deputies this past Monday night. I wasn’t the only one that was removed, Teri Margason another concerned parent was also silenced by the “ding-ding” and call to the deputies to be removed from the building. The reason? Addressing a problem with the school board being represented by someone that was not elected, and is directly violating policies by “intercepting” communications to his ex-wife on board business.
Teri was originally escorted from the building because of her prepared comments that addressed this situation and informed the public of what was going on. Upon her exit, I asked her for the copy of her speech as I would finish it when I spoke. Shortly after I started I was also silenced and asked to be removed from the building.
My name is Teri Margason, and I am speaking as just one representative of a large group whose motto is Take Back Perry Schools. People are tired of hearing about the silent majority, so I am here to tell you that we ARE the majority and we are anything BUT silent. Tonight, I want to address one thing that really concerns me.Â
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An ex-husband of a board member has been sending out profanity-laced emails, containing rambling accusations, libelous statements against township personnel and former government officials, and verbal threats against Perry citizens. Some of these residents now have concern for their personal safety and have come forward to our group for that reason. This person does not hide the fact that “he” is responding….he clearly states, “This is Mark”. Mark Thompson’s emails are in response to citizens who write letters, not to him, but to all 7 board members, asking questions. Some of Mark Thompson’s emails have been carbon copied to the 4 of you, yet none of you have responded that he does not represent you. He has told many that he intercepts the confidential Friday packet sent to board members from the administration, saying anything that comes into his home where the two of them live, is his property. He also intercepts all of his ex wife’s township emails and replies as he sees fit. He says that because he is not a board member, he does not have to comply with any standards of ethical behavior, and he says, and I quote, “If you wish to speak to her, you go through me.”
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Do you think this is appropriate?? Even if they were married, it would be inappropriate. As much as I disagree with the all things you four board members have done recently, I can’t believe you haven’t put a stop to this! Is this really what you want for our community? Who is the real board member here….Mark or his ex wife? Is Mark Thompson who you four women hold up as your champion and your leader?
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The time will come when these emails are read out loud or published, because this township has a right to know what you are thinking and saying behind closed doors. If the ridiculous ramblings of Mark Thompson represent the reasons you placed Dr. Williams on leave, no wonder you are dragging your feet on discussing your so-called investigation! How demoralizing for all of you personally, and how embarrassing for Perry Township as a whole.
As I was trying to finish Teri’s letter, Susan Adams informed me that I shouldn’t be addressing this to the board and talking about these things here. I responded that I thought the 7-member board should be aware of how they were being represented by the public by one of their board member’s ex-husband. Susan Adams said I should be taking it up with Mark directly and silenced me again.
As I was walking out, I decided to take Susan Adams up on her suggestion and follow-up with Mark directly. As he was still standing at the back of the room at the left aisle entrance holding up the bricks with his back. I walked over to him and got close enough so our conversation would just be between us. I asked Mark how he’d like me to address my concerns with him, and he said I could do whatever I wanted. I then asked him if he thought what he was doing was appropriate. He turned around and faced me and decreased the distance between our bellies and faces, then proceeded to increase the volume of his speech. That’s when the three sheriff’s deputies surrounded us and told us we’d be leaving now. I advised the deputy that I was only doing what the board president suggested and he then interrupted me.
He stated that this was a public gathering, I tried to interrupt him, but he told me I needed to stop talking. I let him finish and he continued to say I was disrupting the public, he was hired to do a job and he was doing it. He’s now “de-escalating the situation” and we’d be leaving. He finished talking and I then asked if I could speak. He agreed.
I said that I just wanted to make it known that I realized it was a public meeting, which is why I went over to Mark quietly and spoke quiet enough so as not to disturb those around us. I was purely following through with the advice provided by Susan Adams. That’s when Mark became more agitated, faced me and increased the volume of his responses to which everyone in our small circle could have seen.
The deputy then began to say something, I said I wasn’t interested in anything else he had to say and left the building.
The fact that Teri Margason had to be removed from the meeting by security just made my night. Maybe even my week. I still smile just thinking about it. Thank you, Teri, for bringing such joy to my life.
Thanks Teri you made my night too. This was my first meeting and I made some observations whether they are right or wrong I will never know, but I really think it started out as a gang of 3 women and they needed the fourth, I get the impression that one of this women may have been railroaded into voting with them to put Dr. Williams on leave. I just hope that she is strong enough to come forward and be the voice either way. Tell us the real deal or reverse her vote I think she is being bullied by the 3. That is the impression I got. Thanks again Teri, the truth was shead and hopefully soon all the public will see it, and I think that in the end the dirt will be on the 4 not Dr. Williams I truely think they are the ones that have something hide, hopefully we can find it soon.
I would just like to applaud you and Teri Margason for standing up for our entire community. We all deserve to hear exactly what is going on, and I sure hope we will hear it all very soon. I’m hoping to be able to attend the next board meeting and/or rally with my mom because I haven’t been able to recently. I would also like to finally leave my name. At first, I posted as “Anonymous Senior” because my mom is a teacher in the township, and I wasn’t quite sure if it would bring her any trouble with my strong opinions…after talking to her, I realized she was proud of me and proud that I stand up and voice my opinion. She told me I should go ahead and put my name out there in the open. So for future reference, I will be posting as Megan Casey, rather than “Anonymous Senior”. Thanks and keep doing what you’re doing!!
Parent===You must be a lonely person. Do you enjoy your supremely jealous attitude or are you so miserable that you want others to suffer with you? Get a life and act like a parent with some self respect or keep your comments for the likes of Mark Thompson. He’s the type that would appreciate them apparently.
I have seen nothing in the Ind’pls Star regarding the Dec. 18th meeting. Has there been anything? If not, I’m surprised. Have other media reported on the meeting?
Thanks Teri and Jason for speaking out about this issue. I have personally received voicemails from Mark Thompson after I tried to contact Barbara about school board business. He also tried to get me in trouble at work because I had called on my lunch hour from my work phone. He’s out of control and I think the school board needs to take some action to stop him and to discipline Barbara for allowing him to interupt school board business. The school board deals with some confidential issues and information, it is VERY disturbing to find out that Barbara Thompson’s ex-husband is allowed unlimited access to all of that information.
It seems that the rules are changed at every Board meeting. At the meeting on November 27th, a Perry Township employee witnessed Mrs. Adams coming out in the audience during a break and handing a paper to Mark Thompson. Bill Brown read his comments, then Mr. Thompson was called on and read his comments from the paper that Mrs. Adams had given to him. Mr. Thompson was allowed to slam Mr. Brown by name and was not escorted out; yet, at Monday’s meeting no one was allowed to mention names. These women accuse Dr. Williams of bullying, but what are THEY doing? I hope they will tell us the NEXT set of new rules prior to the beginning of each meeting.
I have to wonder about these four women selecting a QUALITY superintendent to replace Dr. Williams. It won’t happen. Some administrators, teachers and families are going to bail out of the township. The next superintendent won’t be nearly as competent, he/she will not hire quality individuals to replace those who have left and our property values will decline because the school system will have deteriorated.
We need to continue to fill the auditorium at board meetings. We can’t let this die down….they MUST be accountable to their constituents.
Since when did it become “illegal” to speak at a Board Meeting? The last time I looked, this was still America and free speech was still a right. However, that right only seems to apply to four board members. Why is Nancy Walsh allowed unlimited time to address the audience, yet audience members are given only 2 minutes to speak? When that time is up, if the speaker doesn’t immediately leave the microphone, the deputies are called to escort that person out of the building. Why? What law has been broken? This is a public meeting in a public place paid for by our tax dollars, so I do not understand how four board members have the right to have people removed. What’s next? Will people be jailed for merely showing up for a meeting?
To Parent: A person who would smile at ANY part of what happened Monday evening is truly pathetic. This is a sad time for all of Perry Township because of the behavior of these 4 women. Furthermore “Parent” (who was obviously ashamed to leave a name) ~ if this kind of thing makes you happy, it looks as though you are in for more of that “joy” in your life for at least the next several weeks. To my terrific Dad….thanks! It’s nice to know that no matter how old I get, my Dad will still stick up for me!
As a former board member, it IS very disturbing to hear that Mark Thompson is intercepting the Board Packet or e-mails directed to his wife. That information is strictly confidential for a reason. Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely stunned by the whole situation, but his admittance of this fact should be further investigated. There is sensitive and confidential information, including personnel information, in those packets. If he is reading the information, then I would consider that a violation of the right to confidentiality of anyone mentioned in that packet, and that opens the township up to even more litigation than these four have already exposed the district to.
Also, if he is using the township server and/or his wife’s township e-mail address to send e-mails containing unacceptable language, I believe that is also in violation of district policy, and he and his wife should be held accountable.
They seem to have no problem holding the microscope to Dr. Williams’ actions, so they shouldn’t have a problem with having a microscope held to their’s.
By the way, congratulations on keeping this website respectful and objective, it shows that even people who disagree are interested in keeping all of the information out there for both sides to see. That’s the way it should be…
Should we be equipped with a copy of the school board byLAWS? Perhaps as we address the board we should be just like the lawyers; in accordance with section ABC paragraph 123(etc etc.) I am allowed to speak on this issue, or these violations have occured. I think we need to be versed on the laws to use as we speak. Can anyone help out there?
P.Bryson, we are still attempting to get a copy in electronic format that we could post in its entirety on this site. Oddly enough, a copy in that format doesn’t seem to be available. The document is hundreds of pages long. I’m now trying to get a hardcopy and I’ll just pull out specific sections and share on this site.
Susan Adams claims to be the “Director of Facilities Management” for Decatur Township Schools:
http://www.indiana.edu/~syschang/decatur/leadership_team04/pages/adams.html
This is interesting as she is not listed as an administrator on the district’s website:
http://www.msddecatur.k12.in.us/admin.html
My understanding is that she is a part-time energy management consultant. How competent is an individual as an educator (or a counselor for that matter) if they have experience and degrees, but are not employed to work directly with children. Maybe she should stick to monitoring the thermostats in MSD Decatur and stop destroying our school district. I am curious as to why MSD Decatur took her district provided laptop away from her. Was it a violation of their acceptable use policy? Did she receive a laptop computer from MSD Perry? Is she using an MSD Perry provided laptop for work in another school district? Is she violating the acceptable use policy for MSD Perry?
Maybe we should go to the webpage listed above and send her an email with some questions
I don’t care who you are or for which side you stand, but I’m disgusted by your lack of respect for officers. The officer is doing his job. That demands respect. Would you talk back or interrupt a cop that pulled you over? I especially despise the fact that you are proud of doing such by posting it publicly.
I don’t appreciate the school board’s actions. I despise the immature, disrespectful attitude some people on both sides have taken.
I had absolute respect for the officer that was doing his job and taking care of the situation involving Mark Thompson and myself. My father was a police officer for a number of years and believe me, I know the junk they have to put up with in the line of duty.
When he asked me to stop speaking to let him talk, I did. When he was finished I politely asked him if I could speak and say what I mentioned in my post.
The reason I told him I wasn’t interested in hearing anything else he had to say was because he was obviously a friend of Mark’s because the other two officers asked both of us to leave, but this specific individual wasn’t guiding Mark to the door at all. Another person that observed the entire situation then advised the officer that if he was going to enforce the rules he needed to do it for both individuals, if he wasn’t going to do that then she wanted his name and badge#.
Those are the facts. There was absolutely no disrespect on my part towards this officer. I understood though that at that moment there was nothing else he needed to say or that needed to be heard by me. I was following his orders and leaving the building.
I appreciate the clarification.
Enough is enough! The 3 School Board members who are not part of the so-called (for good reason) “Gang” are trying to run the meeting as a civilized thing that it should be, and then the other four come forward and insult the taxpayers and parents in the audience with charges of being thugs and bigots, and then everyone asks why the “Minority” is so upset. It’s obvious that there is a witch hunt going on on the part of the “Four”, and they want to spend a lot of my property tax money to perform it. Now I read that one of the four works for Decatur Township, which I view as an interesting twist as well!
As for the press…I was hoping that the SOUTHSIDE TIMES would have had something in their “Unbiased” reporting about the award that Mr. Maple spoke of to be awarded to Dr. Williams…guessit wasn’t newsworthy enough, but it sure contradicts the charges against him regarding his lack of interest in the Northen community. Also…why is only Channels 13 and 59 interested in this story. And finally, why has WIBC, “The Voice of News”, seem to ignore our situation. I called into Greg Garrison’s show a couple of weeks ago, and suggested he do something about this on the air, and he has yet to. Interesting!
Good Luck in all the efforts you are involved in!