Tag Archives: Main Line

deadly decision (updated 6/4/15)

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 UPDATE 6/4/2015

No winners here. This young woman, now pregnant with another child has been sentenced to prison for the death she caused with the accident.  This is in published media reports, so it is public knowledge.  I hope this woman can get through this.  I still feel the same about her prior behavior, but there are no winners in this case. At least this time family members could be seen with her.

Here is the coverage:

Philadelphia Inquirer: Mother gets jail after deadly, drunken crash.
Laura McCrystal, Inquirer Staff Writer

Last updated: Wednesday, June 3, 2015, 1:08 AM
Posted: Tuesday, June 2, 2015, 4:18 PM

image: http://media.philly.com/images/Court2.JPG

Meredith Williams-Earle (in black and pink dress) leaving courtroom with her husband, Timothy Earle (left), and her attorney Christian Hoey. (Laura McCrystal/Staff)

 On the morning of Aug. 6, 2013, the Lower Merion mother took a prescription sedative, swigged champagne, and filled a plastic cup with whiskey as she headed out the door.

Then she strapped her 2-year-old son into his loosely fastened car seat in the back of her Toyota Prius and set out to drive him to day care. At Spring Mill Road and Morris Avenue in Bryn Mawr, Williams-Earle sped through a stop sign and slammed into a flower delivery van.

Its 72-year-old driver died at the scene.

FROM BEFORE:

meredith 3When Meredith Williams-Earle, a high school Latin teacher who lives in Bryn Mawr near Historic Harriton House, got into her car on August 6th, she was above the legal limit for alcohol and had Ativan (Lorazepam) in her system.  Not only that, but she had one of her children in the car.

What happened next, no one except her would know for sure, but media reports (based upon police reports) indicate mweshe blew threw a stop sign at Spring Mill Road and Morris Avenue and struck and killed an older man in a delivery van.   Main Line Media News reported she was going 42 miles per hour.

I know where those roads meet quite well.  I worked in one of the Tower Bridge Buildings in Conshohocken for a decade and that is how I traveled back and forth. I remember hearing about the accident on KYW News Radio in my car when I was buzzing around on August 6th and thinking “wow that sounds like it could be bad.” You see, initial radio reports were in the form of a traffic advisory, no mention of anything other than something like it being called a serious accident.

mwe4

I was also saddened to learn that not only was this 30 year old mother a meredith 2teacher, but a graduate of my alma mater The Shipley School as well (and no I have no clue who she is, and I do not believe she was even born when I graduated high school). So bright, a mom, lived in a nice area, so what went wrong? Because something did.

meredithI am asking because the media has been floating photos of her out on the Internet and well, there seems to have been a metamorphosis.  She went from being a pretty co-ed at UPenn and pretty young teacher to the mug shot above.  You don’t travel from point A to point C without a point B. (And I am sure some reader somewhere will roll up and give me grief about writing about this, unfortunately.)

Bryn Mawr woman charged with DUI in fatal crash that killed Conshohocken man

Published: Friday, August 30, 2013 By Linda Stein
lstein@mainlinemedianews.com

Meredith Williams-Earle, a high school Latin teacher who grew up in Bryn Mawr, was trembling as she sat next to her lawyers at a preliminary hearing Thursday related to an accident that took the life of a 72-year-old flower shop delivery driver.

Williams-Earle, 30, who teaches at Interboro High School, was driving a Toyota Prius with her 2-year-old son in a car seat when she allegedly ran a stop sign and struck a van at 10:28 a.m. on Aug. 6 at the corner of Spring Mill Road and Morris Avenue in the Bryn Mawr section of Lower Merion, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office……..Officers spoke to Williams-Earle at the scene and smelled alcohol. Her eyes were glassy and her speech slightly slurred, police said…..Later…Williams-Earle allegedly admitted to Officer John Kuvik that she had taken Ativan the night before and felt dizzy that morning, according to the criminal complaint. …..a friend told her that alcohol reverses the effect of that sedative so she had drunk some leftover Champagne, the complaint said….defense lawyer Joseph Hylan argued that his client had lived in Lower Merion her entire life, was a graduate of The Shipley School….She lives with her husband, mother and two young children, on the 700 block of Harriton Rd.

DSC00662Ativan and champagne are a heck of a combination.  And the drug is prescribed for anxiety, correct? So I have to ask in the pill happy nation in which we live, who was monitoring this young mom and for what? What she one of the millions of women detrimentally affected by depression after having children? Was something going on regarding the home front? This is a woman who doesn’t appear to have had many brushes with the law so to speak (although I did find record of a speeding ticket in Radnor Township in 2011.)

Also something that bothers me is she did the “perp walk” caught on camera alone.

Where is her familial support?  Wouldn’t you think a young mom like this would have had either her husband or mother there?   A friend? A grandparent, aunt, uncle, someone?  The media reports that she grew up in Bryn Mawr and lives in that house currently with her husband, mother, and little kids.

NBC10 Philadelphia: Teacher Charged in Deadly Drunk Driving Crash         

By     Lauren DiSanto    |  Friday, Aug 30, 2013  |  Updated 6:16 AM EDT

A Delaware County teacher is charged in a drunk driving crash that killed a 72-year-old Vietnam War veteran.

Meredith Williams-Earle, who teaches at the Interboro School District, was charged today with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence and recklessly endangering another person.

My initial reaction was to write a much more harsh post.  I have a huge problem with drinking and driving.   There are just too many tragedies.

But as I have read and seen the media coverage and read the comments left by people on websites with articles on this, the conclusion I come to in my opinion, is this is a woman in crisis. And these charges she is facing unless a county judge grants leniency is up to 3 years in jail.

My instincts (and I do not know her or even of her), is this is a person who would not survive jail.  And what good is justice if it creates more motherless children?

I have to think that this is a woman who needed help but no one was listening, or listening closely enough.  How do you live in a house with someone (again media reports other adults in her household, a husband and mother) and not know someone is in trouble or self-medicating?

Ativan is a high potency drug often used as a sedative. It is also  is used in the short-term treatment of anxiety and insomnia.  There could be any number of reasons she took it.  She could have been prescribed it or someone stupidly could have just given her some to take the edge off. We live in a nation of extreme pharmacology and well, pills are the new jellybean at times I think.

Sedatives are things I find both serious and scary.  If she was taking this drug for whatever reason she should not have been in a car, let alone left alone with the potential for pulling a Karen Ann Quinlan by mixing hard core prescription drugs with alcohol. And whomever this “friend” was who suggested she mix Ativan with champagne is a huge loser.   A friend is the person who says if you are dizzy let’s get you to a doctor, not have a drink and you can get in the car.

This young woman faces a boatload of charges (see docket sheet) –  two counts of homicide by vehicle, three DUI counts, recklessly endangering another person, reckless driving, careless driving, failure to stop at a stop sign, speeding and improperly restraining a child.

This is what you call a real tragedy, boys and girls. A 72 year old man not wearing a seatbelt and everything that was going on with Meredith Williams-Earle.

Meredith Williams-Earle is a woman in crisis.  I don’t know why no one has addressed whatever is obviously going on with her, but I wish they would.  I do not think she is just some run of the mill gal who likes to play with drugs and alcohol.  I believe, right or wrong, that she needs serious help. And support from her family.  Because if she had help and more familial support or even familial awareness I am not sure she would have been behind the wheel the fateful day of August 6th, are you? But I wasn’t there, I don’t know, and can only guess and opine…as can all of us except immediate family.

There are no winners here, only quite a few take away lessons of life. This story makes me sad.

the art of custom cabinetry, woodworking, and furniture

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custom-kitchen-lg-aCabinet makers, custom furniture builders, and artisan wood workers are a dying breed.  It takes real artistic talent combined with years of work. Some people call themselves cabinet makers and so on, but they really aren’t. Seriously, it is an art form.

I love custom woodwork and cabinetry.  It’s luscious and beautiful.  baker

I do not often promote businesses and if I do I must have personal experience with them.  I am going to introduce you to one.

Sherman & Gosweiler Fine Cabinetry and Woodworking. They have been in business  since 1976 and I LOVE their work! If you can dream it, Dick Gosweiler can build it.  Whether it is an urban space like a chic Manhattan apartment or townhouse; a penthouse on Rittenhouse Square; a second home in Bay Head or the Hamptons; or even a simple mahogany-bookcasesfarmhouse in Chester County this is who you want.

In addition to making your dreams for your home come to life this company also can olengdo period reproductions.  One of my particular favorites are the mantelpieces and mantelpiece surrounds they have done over the years.  I mean don’t you just hate to see people put gobs of money into either a new house or an extensive renovation only to cheap out on a stock mantelpiece and/or mantelpiece surround for a den or living room or great room?

On my wish list for my home someday I would love one of their mantelpieces.smuckler

Anyway, just was thinking about house stuff and thought I would throw this up here.

Sherman & Gosweiler have a website and a Facebook fan page. If you need their services they can be reached at (610) 270-0825.  They are located at  401 East 4th Street in Bridgeport – that is their physical shop, but they travel pretty much anywhere for installations and whatnot.

What they say about themselves is as follows and utterly true:cherry-dining-table

Since our inception in 1976 we have always had the same philosophy: To craft beautiful and functional cabinetry delivered on budget and on time.  We are committed to making the entire experience easy and pleasurable for our clients. From creating a great design to a trouble-free installation, we are available to answer your questions and coordinate with other tradespeople on the job. Let us show you why scores of interior designers, architects, builders and hundreds of homeowners have put their trust in us.

catching up

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clover 1Wow!  I took a bit of an electronic vacation.  It was, after all a glorious weekend.

Among other things, I went to Clover Market on Sunday. Some of my favorites were there like Nannygoat Antiques , Brandywine View Antiques, and Lura Jewelry.    I saw a lot of my friends from where I used to live, and that was super nice.

I did however realize while I was there and as I left, I truly am a Chester County gal now. I thought the traffic and the sheer rudeness of the drivers would make me lose my mind. And the unbelievable cacophony of noise. I loved living in Lower Merion for many years, but wow. Not any longer. They can keep it. I realize I was in a business district in a festival setting, but I am simply not made for a lot of this any longer I guess.

When I got there, I got stuck going into the public parking lot because a delivery van from Ardmore’s Party Land store was having a hissy fit.  The only problem is their fit should be with the township  because it lets visitors to the town park in what is their loading parking space on Sundays as per the signs.

I had one of my dogs with me, it is after all an outside event.  People were so intent on themselves, their cell phone conversations, etc that both of us got crowd jostled and the dog almost got trampled a few times (and was on a short leash).

And then there were the dog critics.  There was this pair of yentas I kept seeing around the market who were literally debating the pros and cons of my dog less than two feet from me.  They seemed shocked when I addressed them – “Oh, you can hear us?” one said.  Talk about an eye-rolling moment.  But I was polite and said nothing further and remarkably was able to keep my mouth shut….

I was also amused to see some dealers with some items that looked remarkably like some items once available at my favorite picking barn.  Yes, Smithfield Barn items…at a mark up.

However and most truthfully, one of the great things about going to things like Clover Market is it is a great place to not only discover new craftspeople, but re-purposing ideas.  I will admit that some need to go easy on the pastel painting of wooden items and I think I am so over chalkboard paint at this point.

traffic

But I do not miss Main Line Traffic.  Or some of the people.  When I hit a certain spot on Goshen Road or on Sugartown Road I feel like I can start to breathe again. I know these overpriced and overdeveloped Main Line communities seem to live to look for more infill development ideas, but wow, there is something to be said for trees, lawns, open space and actual gardens and nature.

While I was at Clover a friend of mine told me about a blog I had never heard about.  They have a Facebook page too.  Called The Divorced Dating Experiment. They said another blog had reviewed them – justsnarky.  (justsnarky was the blog to be kind enough to stick up for me when the hat harridans struck last year after I dared comment on some of the women with tattoos sporting serious taxidermy on their heads.)

Anyway, I decided to take a peek at The Divorced Dating Experiment. I found it appalling and that is all the air time it is getting.  To each their own.

I will tell you one more funny Clover Market crazy people  story before I wind this post up.  When I was leaving, two different women decided they wanted my parking space.  Both attractive blonds. One problem: they wanted my space and neither would give ground for ten or fifteen minutes and they were (wait for it), blocking me in!!!  LOL talk about a blond moment – maybe it would have helped to let the person whose space they were fighting over get out of it first?

Clover Market has two more dates this spring and seriously, in spite of craziness and dog critiquing yentas, and blond parking moments,  check it out.  It makes for a fun afternoon.  I would suggest going early if you are driving because the events have gotten crazy popular and it does get crowded. (When that Dranoff project starts, I wonder if the event will have enough parking or be forced to consider other locations?)

 

one “giant” boo-boo after another…..

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Giant as in Giant Food Stores is having one D’oh moment after the other.  I can’t take credit for the new game we are all playing. You see, my friend Ann started us all on the new game of “what did Giant misspell and mass produce and put in its stores today?”

So far this week (and it is only Tuesday) Giant can’t spell Wanamaker and Wegmans.

They have  posters in all the Giant Food Courts depicting old Philadelphia.  Only they misspelled Wanamaker. As in Wanamaker Building, John Wanamaker department store, etc., etc.  The photo here is from the Giant on Boot Road, and I have confirmation from other people who shop at other Giants that this mistake is in their local Giant stores too.

And then just now, my friend Ann noticed another boo-boo superior D’oh moment.

One would figure if you were going to tout your prices as being better than the competition, you would spell the name of whomever  or whatever correctly, right?

(Sigh, they did not)

So we are thinking someone in the Giant of it all needs spell check?

Giant was tweeted about this, but alas no response.

If you have a Giant boo-boo that you have seen, feel free to let us know!  You can tweet any Giant boo boos @gossipgirl19380 .

And here I thought I was only going to shame Giant for the lazy dairy man. A couple of weeks ago the first four cartons of eggs I opened all contained broken eggs.  So I handed them to the dairy man re-stocking the aisle.  He put one of the four dozen with broken eggs BACK on the shelf.

Giant seems to be headed towards its own Giant-shaming page, eh?  It definitely needs proof readers.

D’oh-ver and out.

why the petty?

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UPDATE:

I just received a note from someone named Megan Ebersole:

Hello- This post was brought to my attention because there is a screen shot of my images being used without my permission which is infringing on my copyright. I kindly ask that you please remove the screen shot of my images as I really don’t want this post or anything like it associated with my business.

So I have edited my screen shot from a public Facebook page to honor her request.   As for her not wanting to be associated with my blog, hey that is fine as we all know I generally take and use my own photos.   I am sorry she got caught in the crossfire so to speak.

One last question: ummm who had permission from Twitter to use their trademarked tweetie bird and symbol on cupcakes? And photograph and advertise with it?  That is what is in the image in question  (cupcakes with Twitter tweetie birds and twitter symbols) and  I looked and saw nothing.  If that photo is for anyone’s financial gain, they might wish to have a care with photos like that – the bakery in Media that produced them for AML (A Sweet Mess Cakes in Media), the photographer that shot the cupcakes and contacted me, and of course AML. I made an unintentional error, because I just wanted to show a screen shot of what I was talking about on a public Facebook page, but that whole twitter of it all? Seems a few of us had a learning curve here, yes?  I wouldn’t wish to run afowl of twitter, so I am almost glad this woman contacted me……

Original Post:

So it is a big brave world out there and every day many of us like different pages on Facebook.   Only sometimes the page owners are odd and even petty.

There is this one page called AroundMainLine.com. (“AML”) The owner is a woman named Sarah Lockard, who I have seen here and there at social events.  She doesn’t remember who I am half of the time, and that is fine – truly that doesn’t bother me.  We’re not friends, just sometimes go to the same things.

But what I do not get is why I like her AroundMainLine page  (“AML”) and a couple of weeks later I will go look at something because I will see her feed on someone’s page and I have to like the page all over again.  I have had my like unliked by her as page administrator twice today.  And oh yes, although I can’t remember ever posting anything on this page, for some reason I am not allowed to post a comment on the page even when I like it. .

Now look, I don’t have time for petty.   I get that some people are fairly ambitious social climbers, love to pretend their roots are more Main Line than they are and just need a touch up,  and at heart insecure, but this is just silly.  I hate to pile on with the haters out there, but I am just too old for this stuff.

The irony is a LOT of people have a LOT to say about her and her “work” that is not too flattering.  I really haven’t.

I discovered I was not allowed to post a couple/few weeks ago when I happened to go to this page while searching for a store on Facebook.  I saw this beautiful photo and thought “wow how pretty”.  I went to leave a comment to that effect and found I could not comment.

So I am putting it out there that this is pretty childish stuff from a purportedly seasoned p.r. chick.

Not everything she does is my cup of tea, but every once in a while I see something cute or whatever.

Grow up, precious.   Or pick up your Barbies and go home.

And incidentally, *IF* this ends up to be a total misunderstanding, I will take this post down.

just say no.

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Oh good lord!  I forgot this guy was running for Congress in the 7th (that would be Pat Meehan’s current seat.)

George Badey thinks he’s a politician, or thinks he might want to be a politician (I’m not sure.)  His only appeal, truly, is with Radnor Township Democrats, and I hear they are pretty split on him. Truthfully, the Democrats in Radnor I know who think he is ineffectual and silly far outweigh those who are enamoured (and there is no accounting for taste.)

George Badey ain’t exciting and being a bigwig with the Radnor Democratic Committee isn’t enough in my book to consider voting for him. Yes , he lives somplace like  Chamounix Road so he must have a couple wooden nickels to rub together, but really?  What has he done?

Yawn.

He is like Vanilla Junket.  If you like Vanilla Junket, by all means, vote for him.

As for myself, a new voter in the 7th?  I don’t want this guy representing me. He doesn’t currently adequately represent a lot of the people I know in Radnor who are of a Democrat persuasion, so why would I extend that reach knowingly?

This is a Main Liner who needs to stay home.

The Democrats should truthfully be embarassed that this is all they can dig up to run against Pat Meehan.  And I thought who they run against Jim Gerlach is usually pathetic. And I am saying this as someone who doesn’t have a dog in the race.  Only met Meehan a couple of times and he would not know me from Adam’s house cat.

Look, it’s an easy choice: if you have loved the last four years in this country, think the economy is fabulous, and love big government getting bigger and up in your business while they contemplate their collective navels and get nothing done, well then, Badey is your guy.

I am an inveterate ticket splitter.  I will consider candidates because of who they are and what they have done, not because I am some zombie who does as they are told.  I form my own opinions, donate money to zero campaigns.

Some boring and bored Main Liner who has not been a shining light is just not someone I am going to vote for.  He’s concerned about jobs, healthcare, and the economy?  That is quite Obamariffic of him, but not particularly original.  And for the record, saying you are concerned about something and actually having a track record of doing things that are positive for the community is something entirely different. And as far as Democrats being a “majority” in Radnor Township, check the numbers – that distinction is not by a landslide, it is by but a handful of votes – a couple people dying or moving or whatever, could completely tip the political scale back the other way.

And there is a third person running in the 7th as far as I can tell.  An indie named Jim Schneller.  Also from Radnor Township.  Google him.

Of course, the other way to look at this is the choices are so pathetic that it will make it all the more easy for Meehan.

Main Line Suburban Life > News

Badey opens Congressional campaign office

Published: Friday, June 08, 2012

Democrat George Badey opened his Congressional campaign office at 711 E. Lancaster Ave, Villanova, on Wednesday night, with hoagies, cookies, bottled water and the latest polls that show Democrats doing well. Badey is running for the 7th District  of Pennsylvania seat currently held by Republican Pat Meehan.
Several dozen people filled the office’s three-or-so rooms, then listened as Badey as he discussed numbers and issues.
Badey, a lawyer in private practice, who lives in Radnor Township, has health care, jobs and the economy at the top of his list of concerns and on his platform. His Web site refers prominently to “the hopes and dreams of 7000,000 working people in the 7th District.”

people just crack me up

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So I wrote about attending a ladies luncheon/tea yesterday.    And now the comments, they are a rolling on in.

Take this morning’s missive:

IP: 108.2.182.13, pool-108-2-182-13.phlapa.east.verizon.net E-mail: phantomnursing@gmail.com

URL: Whois: http://whois.arin.net/rest/ip/108.2.182.13

You are fabulous at supporting the popular image of publicists being shallow witches.  If you deal in public image and perception you may want to dial back on your bile – clearly you do not know who you are besmirching in your screed.  I was invited to this event this year and thankfully I did not attend as it is clearly populated by self-important, deluded cows clingy to dusty notions of “society.”

Well moooo then, people. I am not a sheep or of the sheeple, but I do like cows, and for the record goats and horses too.  A blog is opinion.  This is a blog.  This is my blog.  If these lovely critics actually read what I wrote, I liked the event a lot – it was very pretty.  Any commentary was on the cast of characters, which is not so unusual, everyone does it.  It was an aside, they were my observations as a people watcher.

I was also not a publicist for this event, I was a paying guest.  I went to support lovely women who work on the horse show.  What I found after sort of ditching the social scene for a decade was very amusing to me, and these nice women who work on these events have no control over that, nor does it reflect on them as it is simply is what it is.

Sorry if your collective feathers are ruffled, but having an opinion is completely allowed by law and society. Having an opinion does not make a person shallow, I must admit that was pretty funny as a “so there, take that!” kind of comment.  And I am sorry but wearing taxidermy as a hat to me, in my opinion, is right up there with Lady Gaga’s meat dress.

Having survived breast cancer, comments like this can’t really bother me as in the scheme of life they are rather unimportant in their ire. Life altering events are just kind of liberating that way I suppose.

These people  are however, entitled to their  opinions which is why I am allowing these  comments to be posted as they roll in.   I have been a blogger for a while, so if you don’t like what I am writing, don’t read the blog. It’s pretty simple.

And in the topic of people crack me up, check the story out that Main Line Media News has about (in essence) cheaters on the Main Line:

Data shows extra-marital cheating prospers on Main Line

Published: Thursday, May 31, 2012

By Caroline O’Halloran

The Main Line – the land of storied mansions, country clubs, charity balls and … infidelity.
According to new data from the extra-marital dating service, AshleyMadison.com, the Main Line is the most cheating neighborhood in greater Philadelphia.
More than 210,000 men and women from Philly and its immediate suburbs are anonymously registered members of AshleyMadison.com, a website that discreetly connects would-be philanderers with willing partners.
Of the 210,000, the Main Line boasts the most members per capita, followed by Old City, Huntington Valley and Fox Chase. Chestnut Hill, fifth on the list, has the highest percentage of females seeking affairs (36 percent).

more images of devon horse show 2012

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what’s up with coach touchy feely in the west chester school district?

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In January, West Chester Area School District ballyhooed the maintaining of their bond rating.  But as I have said before, if you are an issuer of debt and rated by issuer paid ratings agencies, in a sense you get what you pay for.  Wonder what today’s news will do to their rating/reputation?

Yes, I make no bones about being skeptical and somewhat jaded about public school systems in PA, and yes I am a pure product of private school.  But truthfully, that occured because at the time my parents worried about what we would learn and not learn in Lower Merion School District, and I am forever grateful they sacrificed so we could go to private school. Not that private schools don’t have coach issues – Shipley had one a year ago when a squash coach found himself in the hot seat for having an affair with a student.  I lost track of the case in September, so I am not sure what happened to the guy James Civello (the former Shipley coach)  in the end.  If I am reading the court docket correctly, he has not yet had his trial.

I am indeed critical of public school systems, but heck, all you have to do is follow a non-profit action organization called LMVUE and other grass-roots groups that fight for public school education and you will get an education of your own.

When I was first introduced to the West Chester Area School District I was appalled by what they called education in the elementary and middle schools.   Let’s start with how much bullying is tolerated in the elementary and middle schools, how they don’t really want gifted student programs, and many other issues.  What happened to the language programs in at least the elementary schools? What’s up with in essence, science in a box?  I saw first hand via a friend, what qualified as “homework” in basics like social studies.

I said it before and I will repeat myself, all I see out of West Chester Area School District is a dumbing down of students and paper pushing.   I remember spring a year ago  something coming out about rankings – I don’t remember West Chester being so hot when it came to stacking up side by side against other school districts.  According to the Philadelphia Business Journal the top ten included Tredyffrin-Easttown, Radnor, Lower Merion, Unionville-Chadds Ford, Central Bucks and others.  But not West Chester. West Chester according to the statistics was 41 in this ranking of PSSA scores.

But now we flash forward to the giant high schools, and today’s news brings the news of a touchy feely coach.  A swim coach at Bayard Rustin High School named Kenneth Fuller, who judging from NBC10’s 11 a.m. news report lives in West Goshen has been accused of doing some non-swimming stroking with an underage girl he was coaching.

O.k. …ICK.  Just ick.  I do not and never will get older guys who have this Lolita fixation.  And it is not the first teacher I have heard of doing this, as these things are unfortunately in the news far too often.  And then of course there are the incidents which never make it to the news or get reported beyond family.

For example, way back when I was in high school I used to do an occasional appearance as a catering extra hand with a friend from high school – it paid better than baby-sitting.  This one summer she and I were extra servers at a very Main Line wedding.   I was either 16 or 17 and one of the guests, a man at that time I believe close to 30 if not a little older came onto me.  It was very creepy.

What was even more creepy is when he called me up at my parents’ house a few days after the wedding like he was some teenage boy asking for a date.  Unfortunately for him, he was one of those obnoxious touchy feely men who was a known quantity on the teen girl circuit, and he had actually approached another girl I knew at the time.  I made it simple for him, I told him if he ever called me or bothered me again I would tell all my friends, my father, and all my parents’ friends.  That worked like a charm.  I never outed the guy, and see no point now since in essence my friends and I rendered him a failure to launch at the time and scared the crap out of him, but when I would occasionally see him as an adult at things with his wife and family I was hard pressed not to vomit.

So, this whole West Chester incident, while disgusting if true, is not surprising.  You just never know what lurks behind a seemingly nice package.  Human nature is a funny thing.

However, I did find what the West Chester Area School District Superintendent Jim Scanlon said this morning on the 11 a.m. NBC10 news cast somewhat disturbing.  When he was speaking about the incident he said that this Kenneth Fuller was not a teacher, just a coach.  News flash: IT DOESN’T MATTER.  What matters is that the school district hired him and if the allegations are proven true, they had this guy around students.  And besides, isn’t coaching in a sense, teaching?  Instead of teaching academics, coaches instruct/teach with regard to various sports?

Schools always protest when one of these relationships is outed that they did background checks, criminal checks, etc.  So I have to ask, is there something else they should be doing, or perhaps paying for more thorough background and criminal checks? (there are different levels of checks – I know because I used to perform them as part of my previous job.)

This distinction made by West Chester Area School District Superintendent Jim Scanlon that Fuller “was not employed as a classroom teacher.  Like all employees, Mr. Fuller had state and federal criminal history clearances and child abuse clearances before he was hired” just doesn’t sit right.  To me it is like there is a subliminal message or the school district preparing to do a Pontius Pilate.

Parents need to start asking this school district some tough questions.  And if they don’t get the answers they need, they should work to get a new school board and administration.  Yes, these incidents happen.  But the true test is in how the school district handles this issue, not just how a purported criminal act is investigated and disposed of through the judicial system.  The school district needs to be accountable for their staff….no matter who they are.

As for this coach, shame on him.  The trust of students and young people in general is a very big deal.  Not only do you have a part in shaping the adults they will become, you are the adult in the equation.  If this is true, this coach deserves what he gets.

Here’s the media on this:

VIDEO

NBC10: Swimming Coach Has Sex With H.S. Student: Cops

A swimming coach in the West Chester Area School District is accused of posing as a student’s father to get her excused from class so he could have sex with her.

By  Jackie Gailey
|  Thursday, May 17, 2012  |  Updated 8:22 AM EDT

 

Here is the press release from West Chester Area School District:

Rustin HS Boys and Girls Swimming Coach Arrested

May 16, 2012

Dear Parents,

I am very sorry to inform you that Rustin High School Boys and Girls Swimming Coach Ken Fuller was arrested this afternoon for allegations of committing Institutional Sexual Assault, Corruption of a Minor and related charges according to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.

Mr. Fuller had been employed in the West Chester Area School District since the 2009-10 season as the coach for the boys and girls swimming team. He was not employed as a classroom teacher. Like all employees, Mr. Fuller passed state and federal criminal history checks and child abuse history clearances Mr. Fuller had no reports of any improper conduct during his employment with the district.

We take student safety very seriously and are cooperating with the District Attorney and police. Mr. Fuller has been notified that he is not permitted on school property, nor permitted access to any of our students.

We are in no means trying to be inflammatory by releasing this information to parents.   We are trying to be as sensitive as possible to the students involved and impacted by this, however we would rather you hear this news from the school district first, before reading about it in the newspaper or social media. We respectfully ask for your sensitivity to this school community and privacy to the students impacted

The school district is very concerned about these charges and very much regrets any concerns they have caused students, parents, staff and our school community.

Parents who want more information about the investigation should contact Ms. Elizabeth Pitts in the Chester County District Attorney’s office at 610-344-6801. Parents may also contact my office at 484- 266-1018. We will provide counseling to students and staff.

Thank you for your support during this troubling experience.

Dr. Jim Scanlon

Superintendent of Schools

Posted: Thu, May. 17, 2012, 3:00 AM

By Sam Wood

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

By MICHAEL N. PRICE mprice@dailylocal.com

Posted: 05/16/12 07:08 pm Updated: 05/16/12 10:36 pm

A 47-year-old West Chester Rustin High School swim coach was arrested for allegedly having sex with an underage student-athlete, the Chester County District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday.