Would You let Your Kid Go to Cranfills Gap School? A Vicious Teacher--PART ONE

What if your little child came home from school one day and told you his teacher had gotten mad at him, hit him with a book, and twisted his little arm? What if MANY little children came home from school and told their parents this very same teacher had gotten mad at them, hit them with a book, and twisted their little arms?

 What if it was a known fact that this teacher really did hit the students and viciously twist their little arms, that what the kids were saying was true? You would expect that you, as a concerned parent, could go to an authority figure--the principal or the superintendent--and report the incidents, and that abusive teacher would be out of a job and nowhere near little kids.

 But if your little child had the misfortune to be attending  Cranfills Gap ISD, that vicious teacher would still be in place TWO YEARS LATER!  Yes, that teacher would still be in place--- still mistreating the little kids--her students-- whenever she was angry with them.  

That is exactly what happened when former 2006/2007 Cranfills Gap Superintendent Carla Sigler was notified by many concerned parents that this teacher was mistreating their children.    

One board member, whose own child had been exposed to this vicious teacher, voted against renewing her contract, but apparently failed to tell other board members about it.  Superintendent Sigler repeatedly told worried parents that it was being handled, but in reality it wasn't! 

Another board member-- to whom parents had complained when Superintendent Sigler repeatedly failed to take care of the issue-- also voted against renewing this abusive teacher's contract for another year. But the five remaining board members apparently agreed with Carla Sigler that this teacher was not a problem.

 When Carla Sigler left Cranfills Gap ISD in June of 2007, she arranged   that this same vicious teacher would still be in place.  And guess what? Before the year was out, that same teacher was once again mistreating her students-- the little kids. 

Only after an outcry from enraged parents was this teacher forced to resign. But, again, guess what?  This vicious teacher is currently still in place until the end of the 2007/2008 school year.  This is the shameful way the Cranfills Gap ISD chose to handle the vicious teacher issue.

Some of the parents have been so concerned they have come and sat in the room to keep an eye on this teacher.  And folks wonder why so many students have left the Cranfills Gap School District! Who could blame them?

Scholarship Clarification

Scholarship Clarification:        

At the Cranfills Gap Academic Achievement Awards Banquet in 2007, former Cranfills Gap School Superintendent Carla Sigler awarded the Highest Academic Achievement Award to fourth-ranked student Justin Witte.

Carla Sigler purposely did not make any mention of the academic accomplishments of the three students ranked higher academically than Justin Witte.  Carla Sigler thus deprived Valedictorian Kaitlan Head, Salutatorian Sarah Sellers, and Honor Student Ashley Crye of the honor and recognition they had earned, worked hard for, and deserved. 

If Carla Sigler had mentioned that these young ladies were all three academically ranked higher than Justin Witte, how would she explain the fact that she gave the Highest Academic Achievement Award to a student who ranked  FOURTH in his class? Ah, there is no way to explain it, so she made no mention of their achievements and didn't even mention them at all.   

Everything Carla Sigler did was for a reason.

 In my opinion, the reason Carla Sigler made no mention of the three students ranked higher than Justin Witte and awarded him-- the fourth-ranked student-- the Highest Academic Achievement Award that night was to be able to divert scholarship funds to Justin Witte for his college education.

Documentation obtained under the Texas Open Records Act shows that Justin Witte used $4,250 in scholarship funds for his college education at TSTC in Waco.  My clarification is that this $4,250 amount did not include the several hundred more dollars that Justin Witte received as the recipient of a scholarship from the Cranfills Gap Volunteer Fire Department, of which Justin Witte's father, David Witte, is the Fire Chief.  

So just how does a student academically ranked fourth in their class get the honor and recognition of the Highest Academic Achievement Award as well as lots of free money for a college education? It all depends on who you know, and what they are willing to do-- in this case, illegally and unethically--to help you, obviously their favorite student.  

And it helps to have supposedly moral and ethical Christian parents who are upstanding citizens of the town. Your mother, Kathie Witte, is a shaker and mover in the town, involved in civic events as well as being a Cranfills Gap school board member.  Your father is David Witte, the Mayor of Cranfills Gap and the Chief of the Cranfills Gap Volunteer Fire Department, also a mover and shaker and civic leader.  

 Yes, your parents are both good citizens who are willing to go along with the deception, even though it harms other people's children. Why?Because that's a lot of money,  it's there for the taking, and-- with the help of dear friend Carla-- you can take it. Besides, there will be nothing anyone can do about it, and who will ever know?

Well, God knows. And now a lot of other folks know, too. Along with the many other things that have happened, this is just another shameful chapter in the tragedy that is Life in Cranfills Gap after Carla Sigler.  

 

Complaint Against Carla Sigler

Complaint to SBEC: 

Copy to Robert Scott, Commissioner of Education

      My complaint, dated May 1st, 2008, is against former 2006/2007 Cranfills Gap ISD Superintendent Carla Sue Sigler. Carla Sigler illegally and unethically committed fraud and conspired with others to commit fraud to obtain scholarship funds based on academic achievement by misrepresentation of a student academically ranked fourth in his class.

Sigler committed fraud on May 8th, 2007, at the Cranfills Gap High School Academic Awards Banquet--a public ceremony--by misrepresenting fourth-ranked male student Justin Witte as first-ranked student in his class,  awarding Justin Witte the award for Highest Academic Achievement , and making no mention of the three female students academically ranked above him--namely: First-ranked Valedictorian Kaitlan Head;   Second-ranked Salutatorian:  Sarah Sellers;  and Third-ranked:  Ashley Crye.

To commit this fraud, Carla Sigler conspired with three individuals:  The mother of Justin Witte, namely Kathie Witte, a Cranfills Gap School Board trustee;  the father of Justin Witte, namely David Witte, Mayor of Cranfills Gap; and Justin Witte, graduating senior ranked fourth in his class.

This fraud was committed by Carla Sigler to enable her to recommend that Justin Witte, based on his being awarded the Highest Academic Achievement Award, receive scholarship funds in the amount of $4,250 for his college education.

According to documentation acquired under the Texas Open Records Act, scholarship funds of $4,250 were used in 2007/2008 by Justin Witte at Texas State Technical College for his college education.

This complaint is filed in a timely manner as this fraud had to occur over the course of almost one year before the fraud could be known.

For the 2006/2007 school year, Justin Witte attended Cranfills Gap High School, was in a Work Program and attended school for one class a few hours a day, and was ranked fourth-highest academically in his class on May 8th, 2007, when this fraud occured.

Carla Sigler, Kathie Witte, David Witte, and Justin Witte--by fraud--deprived three students of the honor and recognition they deserved and had worked hard for, and--also by fraud--deprived three students of possible college scholarship funds of $4,250 that should have been awarded to students who had earned and deserved such funds.

Justin Witte was a favorite of Superintendent Sigler who gave him $100 for his birthday. Carla Sigler's best friend is Kathie Witte, a Cranfills Gap School Board Trustee and Justin Witte's mother. In my opinion, Carla Sigler favors male students over female students.

My opinion is based on the fact that when I attended the 2007 Cranfills Gap High School Graduation, I observed Carla Sigler giving male students full-frontal hugs and kissing male students on the neck--like a lover, not like an authority figure at all.

Appalled, I considered these many full-frontal hugs and kisses on the necks of male students as very inappropriate and very unprofessional. In my opinion, these were lewd acts on "captive" students who were children. If Carla Sigler had been a male authority figure giving frontal hugs and kissing female students on the neck, the outcry would be tremendous. Perhaps it was not thought that a sexual predator can be a woman as well as a man.

In 2007, I told TEA employee Dr. Jo Frazier about these inappropriate, unprofessional displays of affection by Carla Sigler to male students under her authority; however, Dr. Frazier told me a parent must complain before TEA could take any action. Sigler's inappropriate actions toward these young male students bothered me so much I considered contacting Child Protective Services.

Documentation that Carla Sigler fraudulently awarded Justin Witte the Highest Academic Achievement Award would be the certificate of such award inscribed with the name of Justin Witte and the photographs of the happy occasion taken at the Awards Banquet by Kathie and David Witte, Justin Witte's parents.

At least thirty witnesses were present at this public Awards Banquet, including all of the Cranfills Gap ISD teachers, as well as students, parents, and interested parties.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

Dorothy Powell                                           

 

The Old Family Bible

A few years ago, my sister Sue passed on to me the old family Bible that our mother, Marie Ellison Head, had bought on January 10th, 1944, the year her husband ( and my daddy), Ralston Cecil Head, was fighting the Germans in Italy.

After the Japanese bombed America at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7th, 1941, the country was plunged into World War II.  Ralston went overseas as an Army Medic in the North Africa campaign, fighting Mussolini of Italy and Hitler of Germany. Ralston was with the Yanks in June, 1944, when American forces captured Rome, Italy.

 After the war, Ralston and Marie became the proud parents of three children....Dorothy Marie Head (ME), Sue Ellen Head, and Charles Lee Head. Our family grew over the years, as grandchildren dearly beloved by Ralston and Marie were born.

After Daddy died in 1989 and Mama died in 1994, Sue and I kept many things that had belonged to them. It was in this old Bible that Mama had recorded Daddy's service in World War II and-- until her death-- all the family information----the births, the marriages, and the deaths....literally life itself. Then the recording of our family ancestral history fell to me.

I had kept the huge old Bible---first copyrighted in 1923, actually a School and Library Reference Edition, bound with black leather and gold lettering, and weighing almost twenty pounds--stored away.

Yesterday I decided to put the Bible on a tall square table--somewhat like a podium-- in the living room. As I placed the Bible on the little table, it fell open --quite fittingly--to the 94th Psalm.

Buster: Bumbling Keystone Cop

I had the pleasure--actually, it was a real DISpleasure--of meeting the notorious Buster Mangham, the "FAKE Jack Webb"--I know you remember the television show "Dragnet" with Jack Webb, that famous crimefighting lawman whose saying was,  "Just the facts, Maam, just the facts". 

 Last summer, Buster--as I said, the "FAKE Jack Webb"--- wrote a Letter to the Editor about my niece, Kaitlan Head, that was published in the Clifton Record. Kaitlan was the 2007 Cranfills Gap High School Valedictorian illegally banned from her own graduation by corrupt former Cranfills Gap School Superintendent Carla Sigler and derelict Cranfills Gap school board members Kenny Wiese, Jeff Rose, Kathie Witte, Shelly Stuart, Virgil Tindall, and Ray Sorrels in May, 2007.

Buster's Letter to the Editor did not contain facts, though he said his letter was "Just the facts."  His letter was not based on fact at all, but on hearsay and misinformation. It was unbelievably irresponsible for the Clifton Record, a small-town newspaper, to print such unverified lies as actual accusations presented as fact. Printing Buster's false accusations and inaccurate information understandably cost the Clifton Record a lot of readers.

Buster based his letter on false information that came to him as hearsay from supporters of Carla Sigler. If Buster had really been interested in the truth, he would have wanted to hear what Jesse Best, who broke up the fight between the two girls, had to say about it. Jesse said it was just a fight,  that it was blown way out of proportion, and that it was not an attack by Kaitlan on Sarah--- as Buster would have you believe.

Buster could have heard Sarah's own statement of the fight, read twice in public by Carla Sigler-- and available to the public at any time-- if he had really wanted to find out the truth. Sarah even admits to striking the first blow by hitting Kaitlan and taking the verbal altercation to a physical level, escalating words into an actual fight.

 There was no attack as Buster incorrectly says there was, but he conveniently forgets that it takes TWO to make a fight. Sarah should have also been punished, but the only one punished was my niece, Kaitlan, and that illegal punishment was done with malice by vindictive Carla Sigler and the school board.

Anyone that really wants to know the truth can find these facts easily. In my opinion, however, Buster is not really interested in knowing the truth. I think Buster would rather believe what he has been told by his friends--his "sources"-- all Carla Sigler supporters to the rotten core--whether it is the truth or not. I don't think Jack Webb, Dick Tracy, or any real law enforcement official would want someone who is so incompetent, biased, and uninterested in finding the truth ---as Buster Mangham seems to be--- anywhere near their investigations.

I was really disappointed when I finally got to meet the infamous former lawman Buster Mangham. I was expecting someone of real standing and stature--someone along the line of crimefighters Dick Tracy, Jack Webb, or some of our real-life legendary lawmen. The Buster I met was an uncivil, uncouth, loud-mouthed old geezer with thick glasses and a beer belly.....more like the prejudiced bigot Archie Bunker than Jack Webb! 

Buster reminded me of the comical, incompetent sidekick of Mayberry Sheriff Andy Griffith ---Deputy Barney Fife, who shot himself in the foot all the time. Seeing Buster, I also couldn't help but think of the old-time fumbling, bumbling Keystone Cops. What a joke of a lawman! Laughable and sad, all at the same time. Sad that it shows that nothing's changed and it's not going to change. And that's really sad for Cranfills Gap.

  

 

Statement by Sue Lee

NOTE:     The following is the original statement sent by Sue Lee to the Bosque County News for publication--all or part---concerning the investigation of former Cranfills Gap School Superintendent Carla Sigler and Cranfills Gap School Board members Kenny Wiese, Jeff Rose, Kathie Witte, Shelly Stuart, Virgil Tindall, and Ray Sorrels by the Texas Attorney General's Office. Only a portion of this statement was published by the Bosque County News.

Charges that violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act had occurred on May 25th, 2007, in the handling of the case of banned valedictorian Kaitlan Head were brought by her aunt Sue Lee, also a Cranfills Gap School Board member, against Sigler and other Cranfills Gap School Board members. These charges had been investigated by the Bosque County District Attorney, who subsequently found the charges to have merit and turned the investigation over to the Attorney General's Office.

The following are the words of Sue Lee:    

"In January 2008, Assistant Attorney General Harry White, of the Criminal Prosecutions Divisions of the Office of the Texas Attorney General, and Investigator Lance Idol, of the Criminal Law Enforcement Division of the Texas Attorney General's Office, came to Cranfills Gap  to talk to school board members concerning violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act that occurred at a May 25th, 2007, school board meeting. Mr. White and Mr. Idol met individually with Cranfills Gap School Board members Kenny Wiese, Jeff Rose, Shelly Stuart, Virgil Tindall, Ray Sorrels, and Sue Lee. Board member Kathie Witte was unavailable.

The Assistant Attorney General and the Investigator spoke to the other board members before they spoke to me. Mr. White and Mr. Idol told me--and with their permission, I wrote it down---that while there were serious violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act to warrant this investigation, there was not enough evidence to sustain a CRIMINAL PROSECUTION, that the Attorney General's Office could not prove intent to violate the open meetings act, as the other board members said they had tried to call the school attorney in the second closed session, but could not get hold of him.

I asked Mr. White what was he talking about, as we had never tried to call our attorney in the second closed session.  Again, Mr. White said that the board members had said they had tried to call their attorney but could not get hold of him.

 It is not true that the board tried to call our attorney and could not get hold of him in that second closed session. At no time did we make any attempt to call our attorney--EVER--in that last closed session, and the attorney was not present. That was the violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act!

You can't legally go into closed session for Consultation with Attorney and not talk to your attorney! We had talked to the school attorney on the phone not twenty minutes earlier, to see if the board could close this meeting to the public. We could not! Our attorney said it had to be held in open session if so requested by the Head family.

Now the other board members are saying we tried to call our attorney during that second closed session, but we could not get hold of him?  He is now suddenly unavailable? I don't think so!

We NEVER tried to call the attorney, and he was not present! What we did do in the second closed session was illegally discuss the Head case and what we would do about it!  New evidence that the Heads never got to see was presented illegally. Board President Kenny Wiese actually asked me, "What is it that your brother (Kaitlan's father) wants?"  I told Kenny that  Kaitlan's father wanted Kaitlan to get her diploma, her valedictorian status, no DAEP as punishment--- as it was not deserved, as three days suspension was all that the law allowed as punishment for fighting---- and to participate in graduation.

Under the Texas Open Meetings Act, you cannot deliberate or discuss in closed session a case that has been called for open session. BUT WE DID!  Many people are not aware that Kaitlan was not going to be allowed to graduate if she did not go to DAEP,  as ordered by then-Superintendent Carla Sigler.

 It took a letter from the Head family stating that Kaitlan's rights would be violated if she did not receive a hearing before graduation to even get the May 25th hearing. Carla Sigler told Kaitlan she could have a hearing on June 1st,   SIX   DAYS   AFTER   GRADUATION!   What's the point of a June 1st hearing---Graduation is already over!?!

Carla Sigler illegally refused to put Kaitlan's case on the May meeting agenda, even when asked to do so by then-School Board President Jerry Jennings and two other board members. School Board policy states that any board member can put anything on the agenda. Sigler instead posted a May meeting that would only canvas the school board votes and install new officers. At that time, I told Carla Sigler, "It looks like you are trying to run the clock out on Kaitlan."  Sigler replied, "That's a possibility!".

The Bosque County District Attorney and the Texas Attorney General's Office spent a lot of time on this investigation. I am sure they did a thorough investigation. The Gap school now has a really good superintendent, Mr. James Scott. He has already implemented plans to help enrollment and community forums to help relations with the community through open communications."

*****END OF STATEMENT BY SUE LEE*****

FED-UP!!!!

My last entry was the article printed in the newspaper Bosque County News that stated the Attorney General's Office had found Texas Open Meetings Act laws were violated by former Cranfills Gap School Superintendent Carla Sigler and Cranfills Gap School Board members Kenny Wiese, Jeff Rose, Kathie Witte, Shelly Stuart, Virgil Tindall, and Ray Sorrels in the May 25th, 2007 special board meeting. 

Sigler had attempted to expel valedictorian Kaitlan Head, strip her of her valedictorian status, not allow her to participate in her graduation ceremony, and not allow her to even graduate from high school for a fight Kaitlan had been involved in with salutatorian Sarah Sellers on May 9th, 2007.

Even though Sarah admitted starting the fight by escalating it from a verbal altercation by striking the first blow, she was not even sent to the office and received no punishment at all. Kaitlan was the only one punished, and she was punished excessively and beyond what state law and Gap school policy called for.

 Sigler refused to grant Kaitlan an appeal of the decision before June 1st----SIX DAYS AFTER GRADUATION!!!  Kaitlan's father then hired  attorney John Cullar, who forced a special meeting on May 25th, 2007. Kaitlan's family desired the meeting be held in open session, which is their right under the open meetings act.

 At this meeting, Sigler and the school board violated the law by going into closed session TWICE--- even though told by Kaitlan's attorney John Cullar and Evan Moore of the Bosque County News that it was illegal ---each time, supposedly to call the school attorney, who was not present.  

In the first closed session, the school attorney was called. He advised the board they were breaking the law by going into closed session if the Head family wanted it held in open session. 

In the second closed session--twenty minutes later-- the school attorney was NEVER CALLED----NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO CALL HIM, though it was stated that was the purpose, another violation of the law. Instead of attempting to call the attorney, more violations then occurred in closed session when the board discussed the Head case and Sigler presented illegal, irrelevant, and inadmissable "new evidence" against Kaitlan.

I believe Sigler wanted only school board members --and no one else--to see it. If  presented in open session, this "new evidence" would have been disproved and disallowed, and Sigler couldn't let that happen. Sigler and Gap school board President Kenny Wiese insisted on having the second illegal closed session ---where no attempt was made to call the attorney, who would have most likely told them that legally the "new evidence" was inadmissable, irrelevant, had been disproved, and could not be used against Kaitlan. 

That supposedly "new evidence" had been illegally withheld from Kaitlan and her attorney by Carla Sigler and the Gap school board. This "new evidence"  was never seen by the Head family until they obtained it in the fall of 2007 from new School Superintendent James Scott.

 The school attorney could have told them that this "new evidence" legally could and should have been presented in the open session.  The school attorney knows the law and is paid big bucks to advise the school board, so that laws are not broken, unintentionally or on purpose. But I don't think Sigler and the school board cared whether they broke the law or not.

 Sigler and the school board knew that Kaitlan Head had retained an attorney who had threatened a lawsuit if Kaitlan was denied due process under the law and had forced a special meeting. It is incomprehensible and just not credible that the school attorney would not be present at that meeting. But he was in fact not there.

The school attorney would have advised Sigler and the school board on the legality of all their actions, if he had been there in person. But he was not present. Why wasn't he there, in person? I believe he was told his presence was not required, so laws could purposely be broken, and Kaitlan Head's case could be handled any way Sigler and the school board chose to handle it---- whether legal or not--- and then they could later plead they didn't know their actions were illegal. 

 I don't think Sigler or the school board cared whether Kaitlan Head, child and student in their care, was treated fairly under the law. I also think Sigler and the school board had illegally discussed the case without board member Sue Lee present, had illegally "premeditated" the case, and had illegally reached a decision before the meeting.

 I also think the school board had decided previously to vote as one---against Sue Lee--- that whatever they decided beforehand would be the outcome, no matter what occurred at the meeting or who objected. (Proof of this is Virgil Tindall being heard on the tape recording of the meeting----in open session----asking Jeff Rose to tell him how the school board is supposed to vote on this one--asking are we for it or against it?)

 It is my opinion that Sigler and the school board thought they could do whatever they wished to Kaitlan Head and to Sue Lee--whether it broke the law or not---that there was nothing anyone could do to stop them-- and that there would be no consequences for their actions.  

 To my dying day, I will believe the malicious, illegal actions that Carla Sigler and Cranfills Gap School Board members Kenny Wiese, Jeff Rose, Kathie Witte, Shelly Stuart, Virgil Tindall, and Ray Sorrels took against child and student Kaitlan Head were done purposely in vindictive retaliation against her aunt, Sue Lee. Sadly, many of the facts of the matter support my belief.

In a recent meeting, Assistant Attorney General Harry White told board member Sue Lee there were serious violations of the law that did warrant an investigation. He also told Sue that board members had told him they had attempted to call the attorney in the second closed session, but could not get hold of him, so there was no proof of intent which is necessary for a criminal prosecution. 

 Board member Sue Lee was present at the second closed session and  knew that NO attempt had been made to call the attorney. Sue Lee knew that stating there was an attempt to call the school attorney was a LIE. Gap school board members lied to effectively remove the intent necessary for a criminal prosecution. Thus, the case against the Cranfills Gap school board ends with serious violations of the law, but no criminal prosecutions.

A comment was left under my entry of the newspaper article by someone calling themselves ""Fed-up". An answering comment was then left by Sue Lee. Here are both comments.

Comment by Fed-Up:   

       "It should also be noted that the Bosque County News doesn't always report the facts. They report the story the way it's going to sell papers. Evan Moore has admitted to that and people other than CGISD have had problems with him over it.  

  I think the Attorney General's Office knows what they're doing. If someone tried to cover something up, they're likely to find out, don't you think? That is their job after all.   

 How do you know laws were broken? Were you personally in that closed session? If you weren't there, this is just second-hand information, and that's only worth a hill of beans."

Answering Comment from Sue Lee:        

    "This is Sue Lee!  I was there! They did break the law! The assistant attorney general told me the other board members said we tried to call our lawyer but could not get hold of him. THAT IS A LIE! 

 I was there, we never tried to call the lawyer at all--NEVER--in that second closed session. Looks to me like the other board members covered their butts!  COWARDS!  

I'm pretty fed-up too --with everybody! Why don't you try to find out some facts before you get so fed-up!"

FOOTNOTE    from ALittleRanchGal:      

  How do I know laws were broken?  Well, for one thing the Attorney General's Office said so. If the Attorney General's Office says laws were broken, then laws were broken.

 For those uneducated, idiotic ignoramuses who don't know, "violations" means  "breaking the law."   "Violations" does not mean "vindicated" or "cleared of wrongdoing."  There was plenty of wrongdoing and plenty of serious violations, and the Attorney General's Office said so. 

 Either Fed-up is pretty darn  stupid not to understand that, or Fed-Up refuses to acknowledge that laws were broken, or  Fed-up is calling  the Attorney General's Office a liar.    Which is it?