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January 30, 2012

Two file suit against Cherry Valley-Springfield School

CHERRY VALLEY



Two former employees of Cherry Valley-Springfield Central school have filed charges against the school for what they say are unfair or inappropriate actions by the superintendent and the school.



Former music teacher Liza DiSavano hired Cooper Erving & Savage LLP Attorneys and Counselors at Law to take on a discrimination case that was filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission. The supporting affidavit claims that Superintendent Robert Miller harassed at least 12 teachers and staff, most of whom are older than 50 and all of whom were older than 40, until they were “fired, constructively discharged, quit or retired.”



DiSavano, who had been teaching at CV-S for six years, said she feels like she was harassed into quitting.



For example, she said, she believes her room was being searched because her closet was left open several times and things looked to be misplaced. DiSavano said the district tried to convince her to take on part-time duties and give up her seniority.



“I am a teacher who had a 29-year spotless teaching record until Miller came along and began placing what I feel were deliberate lies and distortions in my record in order to force me out of teaching. I was a two time recipient of the Master Teacher designation from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. As a musician, I have had my published printed music and recorded music played across the world,” she said.



“There was just a lot of day-to-day nasty behavior such as Miller not speaking to me. Or when he did, he was hostile,” she added. “Things just kept culminating and he would always come up with some case to try and have me dismissed or seen as not using professional behavior.”



The 53-year-old said she filed charges not because she is looking for money, but because she is asking for justice. “At least somewhere he stands accused,” DiSavano said.



“I went to the EEOC with charges against Miller because he was breaking the law and committing a crime against me, namely harassment in the protected area of age. I charged him with breaking the law. I still say it is my opinion that he did, in my case, and that I am a victim of constructive discharge, and so are many others,” she said.



There is a real fear of terror at the school, she added.



“I realized this was not just ruining people’s careers, but was ruining people’s lives,” she said.



A.J. Bondar, DiSavano’s husband, said each day his wife would come home from work a little piece of her was missing and it would take longer for her to shake off the day. It was starting to affect their home life, he said.



“Luckily I can say we have a strong marriage,” he said.



“We could not even talk to community members about this because of the small-town politics,” Bondar said.



Bondar said his wife was broken down, one day at a time, until she could not take it any longer. It was like taking knitting needles and poking them into one of her lungs, he said.



Once charges were filed, Bondar said things became particularly hard for his wife at the school. He said he spent an entire summer writing a letter he intended to bring to a board meeting, but not until she was absolutely sure she was “getting out of Miller’s clutches.”



“We wanted to make sure he could not mess with her insurance or with her trying to get another job,” Bondar said.



Bondar said he wasn’t just going to write a letter and not face Miller and the board, so he attended the Sept. 15 meeting. He said he thought it would be poetic to be there as a gift to her on her birthday. The letter was cut from 20 pages to two, according to Bondar.



“I did not want to come off as a raging lunatic,” he said. “But I was angry and had a lot to say.”



He said the open letter was sent to parents and staff members of the district as well.



Bondar said he and his wife took the abuse for about two years, before deciding to move on.



“Jobs are scarce, especially teaching jobs and we really agonized about a big life change,” he said.



The couple now lives in Kentucky and DiSavano is an assistant professor of music at Berea College.



Most would think they would not care what happens at CV-S any more because they have moved so far away, but it is hard not to, Bondar said.



“We have a conscious. We are human and care about CV-S and our friends there and the kids that go to school there,” he said.



According to Bondar, the teachers union is supposed to be a stop gap, but it did nothing, so they felt there was no other choice but to split. He said board of education members seemed only interested in slashing the budget and not their responsibility to the children and their education. DiSavano said she was one year short of making 10 years in New York state and four years short of the 10 years required at CV-S for full retirement benefits.



“I am now at a place where music is honored and education is revered and I am glad to be here,” DiSavano said.



Bondar said the charges are ongoing and has cost them a lot of money, but feels it has all been worth it.



“You cannot put a price tag on peace of mind,” he said. “That is why we have cereal for breakfast every morning instead of bacon and eggs.”



Barb VanSpanje said she was fired from her position as an aide at the school in which she was able to help with her own special-needs child. She said since then, her child’s one-on-one aide has also been fired, and she is now fighting to get her another.



“I want my daughter to feel secure and want to go to school,” VanSpanje said. “No child should have to go to school nervous. Having an autistic child that hates to go to school — now that is just not right.”



VanSpanje said her child, Emma, does not respond well to change and she would really like her job back so she can watch the second-grader.



“I was never told what I did wrong,” she said. “I was just told I had to be fired because the other teacher aides had complaints against me.”



According to VanSpanje, she was told she would never have a job at CV-S again, but then received an email saying if the district needed a substitute she would be called.



“I have never been called in,” she said.



VanSpanje said Emma fell on her feeding tube while at school, so she has filed charges against the school for that.



“He can’t get to me now,” She said. “I’m not an employee. I’m just Emma’s mom.”



VanSpanje said she is able to stand up for herself and her daughter because she did not need her job like others working for the district do. She said she worked at CV-S before having Emma and was able to take time off and then come back.



“I cannot have a full-time job having a special need’s child,” she said. “My job is being her mother.”



VanSpanje said she believes staff and parents do not ban together at CV-S, so there are not enough people to make a difference. That, and people are so afraid of the economy and loosing their jobs, she added.



According to VanSpanje, school officials have told her that the district’s pockets are deeper than hers. However, she said that is not scaring her off.



“I am still going to fight for my Emma’s needs,” she said.



VanSpanje said she has three older children, ages 28, 25 and 21, who all graduated from CV-S. She said she has not had issues with the district until now.



“The school needs to regain stability,” she said.

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