The Cost of Cutting Corners and Dismantling Diversity
Content Note: This article features a true story about school bullying, negligence, LGBTQ+ issues, religion, and suicide.
On September 27, 2018, Logan Bailey, a 14-year-old freshman at Haas Hall Academy (Rogers, AR) attempted suicide. I’m going to tell his story here, but I want you to know a few things first, to give you some peace while you read:
- Logan survived.
- Logan’s mother has assured me that he has strong family support and professional medical care.
- Logan is no longer a student at Haas Hall. His family withdrew him during his recovery.
I suspect that reading this post will be just as difficult as writing it has been. Do you have coffee? I have coffee. Deep breaths. Here we go.
Logan Bailey “won” the enrollment lottery to attend the Rogers campus of Haas Hall Academy — an open-enrollment public charter school — on February 21, 2017. Logan’s science teacher was Mick Frus, for whom Logan says he quickly developed a strong respect.
Logan’s grades were generally in the B/C range. However, in March 2018 (for reasons we’ll explore shortly) Logan’s science grade slipped to a “D.” Mr. Frus immediately emailed Logan’s mother, Jodi Bailey Taylor, to set up an Academic Improvement Plan:
“You are receiving this email due to your scholar having a low grade in 8th Grade Science. Your scholar will be bringing home an Academic Improvement Plan (AIP) for both of you to acknowledge and sign. It will show my recommendations to bring their grade up. In the AIP section of the document, the scholar and parent/guardian must document and explain in detail what they will do at home and their accountability to make sure the goals and recommendations are being met.”
Haas Hall’s Academic Improvement Plan (AIP) is described in the student handbook as a way to support children with low grades by requiring them to attend after-school, peer-to-peer study sessions twice a week, as well as mandatory weekly AIP meetings with their teacher and parents. The handbook allows for students to be suspended or expelled if the terms of the AIP are not met.
In practice, Haas Hall usually gives parents of failing students an ultimatum: Either withdraw your child or we will expel him. Even successful students and their parents — who fiercely defend the school’s exclusionary practices — understand this unwritten rule. Haas Hall can’t put it in the student handbook, but it’s certainly part of the school culture.
Really, the school insists, it’s better for your child if you withdraw him now, rather than force him to suffer the stigma of expulsion.
But it’s not about the child. It’s about the numbers Haas Hall is required to report to the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) each year. Haas Hall reports zero suspensions and zero expulsions to the ADE, which means it avoids scrutiny for potentially illegal discipline policies — and the school receives incentive money for being the “best” school in Arkansas.
Logan and his mother (like the rest of the Haas Hall community) believed that expulsion was hanging over their heads if Logan didn’t get his science grade back up before the end of the school year. Logan wasn’t breaking school rules or causing problems — he just wasn’t getting very good grades.
At the same time, Logan was dealing with uncertainty about his sexuality. Other Haas Hall students were calling Logan cruel names and bullying him based on their perceptions of his “not fitting in.” Logan didn’t tell his mother, though — he only mentioned it to the staff of Haas Hall.
It is very common for teens who are questioning their sexuality to hide bullying from their parents. They are often scared of being rejected at home for their developing sexual identity, or embarrassed to discuss private things with their parents. Instead of telling his mother, Logan chose to tell his science teacher about the bullying.
Telling a trusted adult is the FIRST thing that experts recommend to children experiencing bullying. Logan did exactly the right thing. From that point on, it was the administrative structure and school culture of Haas Hall that failed Logan Bailey.
Logan’s science teacher referred Logan to Haas Hall’s guidance counselor, Caroline Sawyer. Ms. Sawyer, who does not hold an Arkansas school counseling license, divides her time between the Springdale and Rogers campuses of Haas Hall Academy, which is currently “cited” in the ADE’s Standards for Accountability (SFA) system as having an inadequate ratio of guidance counselors to students, according to state law.*
If the administration of Haas Hall had checked Logan’s enrollment paperwork, they would have found that Logan’s mother had not given them permission to put her child into guidance counseling sessions at school. Believing that a child’s parents should have final decision-making power over their child’s medical care, Jodi Bailey Taylor filled out a form for Logan’s file stating that Haas Hall should contact her if there was ever a problem, rather than putting her son directly into counseling at school.
Nevertheless, nobody from Haas Hall Academy contacted Jodi about Logan’s bullying issues, like they did when he got a “D” in science class.
In violation of his mother’s signed form declining counseling services, the school’s guidance counselor began meeting with Logan in February, 2018. Logan continued to meet with her after summer vacation, too — even though his mom filled out the same form declining school counseling services again for his ninth-grade year. In all, Logan met with the Haas Hall guidance counselor 12 times before he attempted suicide, but his mother was never informed.
Of course, Logan’s mother wasn’t helpless. She was certainly as capable of dialing a phone as the school was. However, even when she called the school, there was never an adequate response.
On the morning of Logan’s suicide attempt, Jodi Bailey Taylor learned (from a different science teacher, Claire Glover) that Logan had skipped school a week earlier.
Knowing that unexcused absences are a warning sign of bigger problems, and shocked that the administration hadn’t already contacted her regarding Logan’s absence, Jodi called the school immediately. She left a voice mail, and followed up with a text message directly to the headmaster.
At that point, though, it was really too late. Logan Bailey attempted suicide later that same afternoon.
School — even a school with a “zero tolerance” anti-bullying policy — can be a dangerous place for students whose perceived sexuality does not conform to heterosexual norms. According to the 2017 “National School Climate Survey” published by GLSEN, students who are bullied for their sexuality experience higher levels of depression, higher rates of school absence, lower grades, and higher rates of school disciplinary measures than their non-victimized counterparts.
One effective way to build a healthy culture that lowers the rate of LGBTQ+ bullying among students (and increases their academic performance) is for schools to support the formation of a Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) on campus.
Haas Hall students have tried to form a GSA twice in the past six years. In 2012 and again in 2015, GSA students lined up faculty advisers (with support from the Human Rights Campaign) and submitted their application to become an official club. Both times, Dr. Schoppmeyer cracked down and refused to allow it. In order to deny “school club” status to the GSA, Dr. Schoppmeyer had to dismantle the Harry Potter Club, the Doctor Who Club, the Young Democrats, and the Young Republicans. Still, these were sacrifices Dr. Schoppmeyer was willing to make in order to keep the GSA out of his school.
Even though individual Haas Hall teachers wanted to provide support for LGBTQ+ students, and did their best to encourage a culture of acceptance, Dr. Schoppmeyer’s message was clear: Advocating for a GSA at Haas Hall will get you kicked out — whether you’re a student or a faculty member.
Schoppmeyer’s decision to forbid the presence of a Gay/Straight Alliance at Haas Hall Academy aligns with his religious beliefs as a member of the Roman Catholic church, and an alumnus of private Catholic schools, including Subiaco Academy.
The Catechism of the Catholic church teaches its members that homosexual attraction is “disordered.” Therefore, the church encourages Catholic schools not to allow students to use LGBTQ+ labels to describe themselves — let alone form themselves into clubs.
Of course, Haas Hall Academy is not a Catholic school. It’s a public school, and therefore subject to the laws that separate church from state across the US. It should be using evidence-based research, rather than religious belief, to establish policies for its students. If having a GSA on campus makes students demonstrably safer and more academically effective, then public schools should not let religious beliefs stop them!**
We know that Logan Bailey had some low grades. We know his science teacher referred him to the school counselor about bullying, with regard to his sexuality. We also know he skipped school, at least once. That’s quite a bit of straw for one camel to carry.
Here’s the final straw that broke the camel’s back:
Logan’s mother, Jodi, asserts that Haas Hall Academy allowed an uncertified parent volunteer, Nicole Johnson, to “diagnose” Logan with dyslexia and to inform Logan before anybody contacted Jodi. In her own words, Jodi writes:
Logan came home from school one day and said, “Oh mom, by the way, I’m Dyslexic.” He went on to say that to get the diagnosis he would need to go to Mrs. Johnson’s house for testing.
Was this a casual tone in his voice as he told me?
Was this a voice of relief I am hearing?
Was that worry in his words?
He needs to go to her house for testing?
Say what?I needed him to tell me that sentence all over again. And again and again and again. I couldn’t tell what he was feeling, thinking or believing about himself.
I most certainly stood there with the “deer in the headlights” look. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I hadn’t received a letter from the school asking he get tested. I hadn’t received a phone call or email from any of his teachers suggesting that he had any specific problems or issues that would lead them to believe he had a learning disability.
I said to Logan: “Well buddy, why is it that Mrs. Johnson thinks you are Dyslexic? This hasn’t ever come up in your entire school history. Why now?”
Logan had said Mrs. Johnson had asked him one day if he likes to read. He had replied no, he didn’t feel like he was that good at it. That he was a slow reader.
Well — if he doesn’t like to read and he tends to be slower at it then by all means, let’s put a label on that. Dyslexia.
Mrs. Nicole Johnson. Mother of a student. Employed to some unknown extent with Haas Hall Academy. Labels herself as “the cool mom”. Is not a teacher to my son in any of his classes.
To be fair, Mrs. Johnson was the mother of the girl Logan used to date. He had been to her house before. But if she was supposed to be representing Haas Hall Academy by offering to test Logan for learning disabilities, she and the school broke state law in the process. Most significantly, she informed a child of his “diagnosis” before testing him, and NEVER notified his parent.
If Haas Hall Academy had not cut corners by making legitimate dyslexia testing available only once per school year; if Haas Hall had contacted Logan’s mother before sending Logan to a school counselor; if Haas Hall had separated academic grades from the threat of expulsion; if Haas Hall had met state requirements in terms of staff background checks and counselor-to-student ratios; if Haas Hall allowed a Gay/Straight Alliance on campus to support its youngest, most vulnerable newcomers; if Haas Hall’s headmaster had addressed these problems, head-on, in parent/teacher conferences…
Well, if wishes were horses, we would all ride.
But instead, on September 27, 2018, Logan Bailey put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.
While her son, Logan, was recovering in a medical facility, Jodi Bailey Taylor sprang into action. First, she asked disgraced former journalist, Larry Henry, the headmaster at Haas Hall Academy’s Rogers campus, for her son’s entire school file. After a month, she got Logan’s academic records — but still no copy of his guidance counselor’s notes on their meetings.
Meanwhile, the unlicensed guidance counselor was also trying to help on her end. She sent the state-mandated “Suicide Prevention Packet” to Mr. Henry on October 2, asking him to distribute it to all Haas Hall faculty. Logan’s attempt had happened during Suicide Prevention Month, after all. There were resources available. Still, it appears that even the guidance counselor’s efforts toward suicide prevention went ignored by the headmaster.
Jodi called again. She emailed. She wrote to Superintendent Schoppmeyer and every person listed as an administrator on the Haas Hall website. Then she tried again. She asked to be included on the school board agenda for its next meeting, but was denied even this “public” opportunity.
More than a month after her son attempted suicide, Jodi Bailey Taylor sat in the lobby of her son’s former school and group-texted the headmaster and guidance counselor. She intended to wait until they came down with her son’s complete counseling records. It took the headmaster, Larry Henry, an hour to get down to her, and even then, he still didn’t bring Logan’s counseling file.
Finally, on December 18, 2017, an attorney for the Rose Law Firm — Mark Henry (no relation to Larry) — emailed Jodi Bailey Taylor, on Haas Hall’s behalf, that he was reviewing whether the guidance counselor’s notes were “confidential communications that we cannot release under federal law governing counselors.”*** (Interestingly, the Rose Law Firm says they billed Haas Hall for this research two and a half months earlier — before Logan’s suicide attempt — on September 4, 2018.)
Ultimately, Mark Henry did release some hand-written notes from Haas Hall’s guidance counselor, Caroline Sawyer.
Jodi objected, immediately, that these notes were not complete. Nowhere did they mention Logan’s sexuality, nor his bullying.
And in all this time, even Logan’s former classmates and their parents stayed quiet. Nobody reached out to offer support, or bring food, or help Jodi find a therapist for her son. Why?
Headmaster Larry Henry falsely told the other parents that Jodi had asked for privacy — that she didn’t want to hear from them.
In fact, Jodi never asked for privacy. She would have loved support. But letting parents communicate honestly about what was happening at the school? Mr. Henry and Dr. Schoppmeyer weren’t about to let that happen without a fight.
On January 16, 2019, Jodi Bailey Taylor and I found each other on Facebook. I had been writing snarky blog posts about Haas Hall, and she had been writing heartbroken Facebook posts about her son’s experience at the same school. We were fated to find each other, really.
Jodi and I started talking in the comments on her public posts, and also by private message. After a few hours, we realized that there was a Haas Hall school board meeting scheduled for THAT EXACT EVENING at 5:30.
Even though she had been denied a place on the school board’s agenda, Jodi Bailey Taylor decided to drive to Fayetteville for this school board meeting. I sent her my phone number, in case she got escorted out by the elbow and needed me to come bail her out of jail.
Just as the meeting was supposed to be starting, Jodi messaged me. “Is it at the scholar center or the school?” I went to the Haas Hall website to check.
They had cancelled the school board meeting! Were the school administrators watching Jodi’s Facebook page to gauge how much trouble she was likely to cause? Yes. They were, indeed, watching her Facebook page.
Haas Hall’s attorney, Mark Henry, sent Jodi a “cease and desist” letter the VERY NEXT DAY that included a screenshot of her Facebook post and a warning to stop talking to me immediately. After all, I’m not a real journalist, and I don’t represent any “reputable news organization.”
Look. Haas Hall Academy calls itself a public school. Its school board and administrators act on behalf of the citizens of Arkansas. Is this how we want Haas Hall Academy to represent us, in dealing with children, parents, and the general public?
Wouldn’t it be better if they tried to fix things, instead of trying to cover up their mistakes? Or if they don’t, shouldn’t we be able to trust the Arkansas Department of Education and State Board of Education to step in and fix the problems from their position of authority?
Looking at you, Asa Hutchinson and Johnny Key.
*Yes, this means that the State of Arkansas knows that Haas Hall Academy doesn’t have enough guidance counselors to be an accredited public school. Haas Hall Academy also currently flags for missing employee background checks and inadequate course offerings in the SFA system. The ADE has even received multiple “whistleblower” complaints from Haas Hall faculty in the past three years, attempting to get the school investigated for its illegal behavior. Nevertheless, the ADE opts to keep these complaints and citations to itself, rather than disclose them to the State Board of Education who actually has subpoena power and the authority to reconstitute the administration of any public school if necessary.
**The separation of church and state extends to other Catholic practices at Haas Hall, too. If you are a non-Catholic student at Haas Hall who objects to Catholic influences like Haas Hall’s “Baccalaureate Ceremony” each year, you can challenge these religious practices in court.
***Too bad Haas Hall isn’t so particular about FERPA when it comes to allowing a volunteer — Susan Bendure — to be the APSCN director, am I right? If you are a Haas Hall parent or student aged 18+ who objects to having your FERPA-protected files accessed and controlled on a daily basis by a non-employee volunteer (the superintendent’s sister,) go here to file a complaint.
****Yeah, that’s kind of my thing. I’m a blogger, writing about education because it matters to me, basing my work on public documents. Anybody could do what I’m doing, if they felt like it. And we all probably should, because otherwise we’ll get snookered by fraudsters and profiteers.
