ATKlNSON ANDELSON

PAGE:

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AiKINSON, A~DELSON, LOYA, RUUD & ROMO

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April 26, 2006

QS542VI

Mr. Greg Rolen

General Counsel
Mt. Diablo Unified School District
1936 Carlotta Drive
Concord. CA 94519
Re:

Matter ofWoodsideEiementary School Complaints

Dear Mr. Rolen:

You have asked rn.e to review aud supplement the investigation of two interrelated
inquiries pertaining to interactions between Joseph Martin ("Mr. Martin"), a fourth grade teacher
at Woodside Elementary School, and
(
his student. The:. first complaint
was bought by the aunt of
a Ms.
The gist of the inquiry by Ms.
was whether Mr. Martin was crossing traditional bolllldaries between an educator and the
educatot:'s students. This inquiry was supplemented by concerns raised by Ms.
after she
. had a conversation with Ms. Nina Pate ("Pate"), a third grade teacher at Woodside Elementary.
Ms. Pate reported to Ms.
an incident between Mr. Martin and
in:volving a
rehearsal for a skit. Ms. Pate also mentioned her concerns about Mr. Martin overly focusing on
when he visited her classroom.

When Mr. Martin. and

s parents,
and
were apprised of Ms.
inquiries, th~y became agitated and wished the District to detennine whether Ms. Pate
or Ms.
had committed slander when they made certain foundational assertions about Mr..
Martin and how
came to be in his class. Some oftheir feelings may have been fueled by
Mr. Martin, who also asked for a similar _investigation of Ms. Pate and Ms.
Executive Snmman
I. The allegation by Ms.
and the subsequent coWl.ter-allegations made by Mr.
Martin and the
were made in good faith, and out of general concern for
and Mr.
Martin. 'Ib.e allegations were not borne out, at least to the extent that any unprofessional or ..
illegal activity was committed.
.
. .

AIKlNSUN ANDELSDN

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ATKINSON, ANOEI..SON, LOYA, RUUD

PAGE

& ROMO

Mr. Greg Rolen

-April 26, 2006
Page2

2. The investigation revealed what appears to be a. series of mis-perceptipns .by many of

the parties involved. compounded by a moderate le-vel of misjudgment by both Ms. Pate and Mr.
Martin. These xnis-perceptions and misjudgments reinforced each other and resulted in an
almost "perfect storm" of Illisunderstanding. In the bac~ground stands the tragic illness of Mr.
His illness, and the parties' response to itt served. as the motivating force behind these
complaints and heightened the emotions of all of the parties.
3. This investigator firmly believes that the further pursuit of.this matter will serve only
to tonnent the
fcunily and that for this reason this matter should be concludea. This
conclusion is further buttressed by the heavy burdens child abuse reporting statutes place on
educators who suspect child abase and the Distrlct,s interest in not penalizing those who '\'oice
their good faith concerns.
4. The original investigation by Prinoipal Jennifer Sachs came to similar conclusions.
Ms. Sachs did an admirable job of defusing a situation that had the threat of becoming quite
volatile. Her recommendations that Mr. Martln. needs to be reminded of professional boundaries
are con:firmed by this xeport.

The Nature of the Inv~tigation

To conduct this investigationi the investigator interviewed the following individuals: .

1.
prepared.).

Ms. Jennifer Sachs (Principal). (A separate summary of her statement was not

2.

Ms.

i:(mother of

3.

Mr. Joe Martin (fourth grade ~acher).

4.

Ms.

5.

Ms. Alyssa Nelson

Np Intcniew of

The interviewer did not interview

This is not the usual methodology for

an investigation of this nature and PlY decision not to interview him was not made lightly. The

factors that helped fo~ this decision ,\rere as follows:

1.

His mother,

did ~ot wish xne to inter-view him.

2.

s perceptions of Mr.
would not have contributed materially to the
resolution. of the second inquiry initiated by Mr. Martin.

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ATKINSON, ANDEI..SON, LOYA, RUUO

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& RoMO

Mr. Greg Rolen

April26, 2006
Page3

3.

There was no evidence or allegation that

was at risk .Tom Mr. Martin.

4.
An i~terview with
has the potential of upsetting him when he ls already
burdened by the illness and impending death of this fatbt:r

5.
Questions from this investigator were therefore posed to
mother, who bad no reason to misrepresent his responses to me.
respopses in response to the questions.

through his
provided credible

Jn addition to the foregoing interviewsJ this Investigator examined the class~oom of Mr.
Martin. I also reviewed a. Memorandum dated March 2, 2006, and prepared by Ms. Sachs, as
well as a statement prepared by Ms. Nelson, which is dated _February 28) 2006.
!!af:kgrozntd to the :First Complaint

Woodside Elementary School is located on 761 San Simeon Drive in Concord. The
principal is MS. Jennifer Sachs. Woodside was recently recognized as a California Distinguished
School. This matter began when Ms.
the "aunt, of student,
approached Principal Sachs and expressed her concerns about the relationship between Mr.
Martin and
She thought Mr. Martin was playing favorites with
and saw him on
one occasion with his ann around
At the tiine she spoke to Principal Sachs, Ms.
bad not told
or
the parents of
Ms.
thought that Ms.
was naive and her life overwhelmed
by the terminal illness of her husband. Ms.
said she did not intend to bigger a formal
investigation. She said she just wanted to give the Principal a."heads up". However, her fears
where heightened when she also spoke to Ms. Nina Pate about her concerns. Ms. Pate, acc:ordfng
to Ms.
had concerns of her own. Alyssa Nelson had mentioned that she saw Mr. Martin
and
wrestling and tickling each other outside o.fMr. Martin's classroom.

Ms. Pate was concerned _also by what she thinks a.s an undue interest by Mr. Martin in his
male students. In a statement that she took to be ulobbying'\ Mr. Martin expressed an interest in
having two male students of hers as Mr. Martin,s students ln the following yea~:. She said that
according to her observations, the students that stay after in Mt. Martin's class are almost always
boys. She indicated that one student who stayed especia11y late in Mr. Martin's cla~s (thJ:ee
hours) was a boy. Frequently, the classroom door was closed when the students were in class.
Almost always, according to Ms. Pate. the male students were by themselves.
The int~rviews of Ms.
~d Mr. Martin put the concerns of Ms.
and Ms.
Pate in some perspective. Mr. Martin essentially admitted to playlng fa.vorltes-with
He
eve.u had a. discussion in class to criticize persons who teased class favorites like
Ms.
said she has asked Mt. Martin. to pay special attention to
given the "illness of
father. .Mr. Martin
mentioning his name on a
. has paid particular attention to

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Mr. Greg Rolen

April 26, 2006
Fag~4

radio prograin, visiting him at a play and visiting the

ho'USe for such activi?es as_ shooting
a video for his class. He }las had dinner with
family on more than one occi;}Ston, often
at the invitation of
fatller. These social activities continued even during my
jnvestigation.

At first glance, Mr. Martin's and

account of the King Kong rehearsal is
materially different than that given by Alyssa Nelson. However, a closer look indicates that the
accounts can be partially reconciled.
had his arms aroWld Ms. Martin's neck because, as
''King Kong", he was choking him.. There was tussling going on between them because
slipped during his 'attack" and Mr. Martin str~ghtened him. There is some discrepancy in the
accounts with Ms. Nelson re,Porting tickling, and
and Mr: Martin denying tickling.
There are two possible explanations for this difference. First, the fake and playful ''attack" could
have appeared to be tickling. Secondly, a brief tickling is detail that could have been lost in the
memory of tho participants.

Findings .as To the Fit"$t Allegation

There was no allegation made and no evidence found that indicates :Mr. Martin engaged
in any activity that was illegal or that should subject him to administrative action. His actions
toward
appear to be well meaning and followed a request by
mother.
However, the Principal was correct in noting that Mr. Martin should refrain from activities that
are not educationally sound, such as: (1) Closing the door to a. classroom when he is alone with a
student, (2) E.ncoqraging onlY. male students to engage in befor~ and after school activities; and
(3) Devising skits between a teacher and a student that results in physical contact between the
two, no matter how'lnnocent.

A.

The Counter-Allegation

Mr. Martin and the

have made a counter-allegation concernitig Ms. Pate. They
contend that she possibly engaged in falsehoods ;.n her con~ersation '\-\~th Ms.
They
allege that there were two falsehQods: (1) That Mr. Martin inte~ened in the process of creating
class rosters to insure that
would be in his class; and (2) Mr. Martin paid undue attention
to
when he visited Ms. Pate"s class, and aftenvard when
was in his class. Mr..
Martin asked whether these falsehoods constitute actionable defamation.
Sta~em.ents like "undue attention" and '1oo.much attention", are expressions of opinion or
conclusion and, on their face, not actionable as statements of fact. (See,. Gregory v. McDonJ1(11l/
Douglas (1916) 131 Cal.Rptr. 641.) Opinions that carry implications of fact can be defamatory
tmder the right circumstances. (Rodl'iguez v. Panayiotu (2002) 314 F.3d 979.) The
"implication, l1erc could be that Mr. Martin was spending too much time with
in order
to afford Mr. Martin an opportunity to engage in unseemly activities with
However, I
do not believe that this implication flows from words like "favoritism" and "too much timen.

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Mr. G.reg Rolen

April26, 2006
Page 5
In addition, Ms. Pate's explanation of Mr. Martin's excessive scrutiny of
in her
classroom has an alm.ost atmospheric quality, a listing of glances and smiles is far fr<?ID a
concrete factual assertion. There is almost certainly no method to test the certainty, the truth or
falsity of the underlying data.

.Ms. Pate's alleg~d statement to Ms.

that Mr. Martin uintervened" in the student
selection process to insure that he would get
is a little more troublesome. Ms.
told this investigator that Ms Pate had told her that Mr. Marlin had intervened. When Ms. Pate
was asked about l1er alleged statement to Ms.
her previously held easy manner faltered
and she did not answer the question directly. Her failure to respond to the question directly is
puzzling because it was Ms. Pate herself that can be said to have intervened in the selection
process to direct
to Mr. lvfartin,s class. After. all, Ms. Pate said she had spok~u with the
and Mr. Martin about Mr. Martin being the teacher of
so that he could have a
reassuring male role in his life and a "fun" olass to attend.

It is entirely possible that Ms.

misinterpreted Ms. Pa~'s other remarks to her, In
any event. and fo.rtunately for all concerned, Ms. Pate~s remarks do not appear to be actionable
even if they are arguably false. In this pase, the import of the words does not suggest any
beliavior by Mr. Martin that could be categorized as illegal or a defect of character. They simply
and mistakenly ascribe a deviation from the class selection process. I also do not believe there is
a reasonable implication of impropriety from the statement.
This being said, a statement may not be actionable and yet be tmwise or unprofessional.
ltis not in the best interests of the District for a teacher to approach a non-guardian directly and

voice unsuppoJ.1ed suspicions. Principal-Sachs addressed this issue and admonished Ms. Pate
for her actions.
Given this admonishment, I do not believe it is in the best interests of the District to
. pursue this matter further. I base this conclusion on several grounds. First, tllis matter is an
almost 1'perfect storm" of false leads and reasonable misimpressions. Mr. Martin had a history
of focusing on male students. It is u.ndisputed that he was focusing on
to a great degree.
s behavio~ was deteriorating in fue relevant time period. A relative had raised conc<~rns .
. Mr. Martin candidly admitted that there were things he could do differently so t];lat the
background of suspicion concerning him could be ameliorated. These steps include kt:epittg his
classroom door open when a stude.nt is present after hours, having more than one student in the
room; if possible and, according to Ms.
putting a little more distance between him and

Under these circumstances, it was reasonable to raise concerns. All it turns out, almost aU
of these signs of untoward behavior had a more or less benign e'J:(planation. The law pertaining
to the l'l'lising of allegations about improper conduct in a workplace dqes not turn around whether
a.n allegatioll or suspicion was "correct" or "incorrect~', but whether the allegation and any

AJKlN~ AN~L~N

ATKINSON, ANPELSON, LOYA, RUUD

1-'Ab"t.

& RoMO

Mr. Greg Rolen

April 26, 2006
Page6

investigation was in good faith and mad~ with an absence of malice. I ~elieve the allegations

here met such a standard.

Tins is particularly so when the allegations are put into ilie proper P,erspective. It.should
be stressed with some emphasis that no one in this investigation stated that Mr. Martin was
engaged ~ impropet behavior with
However, this report would not be hqnest and its
conclusions not fully supported if I did not report that the circumstances surrounding these
allegations did not at least suggest the subject matter of potential child abuse. In such cases, the
Child Reporting statutes and the immunities they afford to investigators of suspected child abuse
are compeUing. Mandated reporters are given widepranging immunities in the reporting and
investigation of ~uspeeted child abuse. (Ooveroment Code section 11166; Krilrorian v. Barry
(1988) 196 Cal. App.3d 12l t, 1221.)
It would not bo difficult for Ms. Pate to argue that her conversations with Ms.
.
were a.n investigative discussion pursuant to a report of reasonable suspicion of child abuse.
Given the wide definition given the term "reasonable suspicion of child abuse, by the courts,
Ms. Pate's discussions with Ms.
should be given a broad indulgence. It would be
inomisistent with the underlying purpose of the child abuse reporting requirements to pursue any
further action against Ms. Pate beyond the admonishment she already received from the
Principal.

Finally, and to underscore this conclusion, this report would be remiss if it did not
mention the adroit actions taken by the Principal to defuse a matter that was potentially explosive
on l1 number of levels. Her "air clearing'~ meeting with: rul of the participimts limited the impact
of any misinformation an.d allowed my investigation to proceed with rero.arkabl}'little rancor and
a good deal of cooperation.
WITNESS INTERVIEWS
Interview of Nina Pate

Ms. Pate was interviewed in her classroom. Ms. Pate has been a schoolteacher for ten
(10) years. She has worked for :three (3) years at Woodside Elementary School. Prior to that, she
taught at Bancroft Elementary School for two (2) years. Prior toBancrof4 she worked at Monte
Gotdon, where she was both a teachet and parent volunteer. (As a parent volunteer, she
conducted K-1 perceptual ana .motor skills tests.) She received her teaching credential from
California State University, Hayward.
Ms. Pate worked with Mr. Martin for one year, teaching fourth grade. She has taught
third grade for two (2) years. When she taught with Mr.. Martin, they planned same activities
together including lesson plans and field trips. They WOfked well together. Ms. Pate believes
Mr. Martin has taught for fourteen: (14) years.

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Mr. Greg Rolen

April 26, 2006
Page7

There has been a background to Ms. Pate's concerns about Mr. Martin. As a geneml
propositio~ she believes that his class activities (Halloween, Holidays, Spring Festival), are
overdone and possibly diverts students from more constructive lenroingactivities. She gave one
example of the class ~aking hundreds ot snowflakes to pin on the wall to serve as holiday
decomtions.
often helps Mr. Martin in his classroom. She said ~Ir. Martin stated that
he helps with such ohores as sharpening pencils. Ms. Pate became concerned that most of the
children who stayed after school wereboys and that these boys were by themselves.

Ms. Pate remembers one incident specifically. About two years "80, Ms. Pate was
staying quite late after school. It was a Thursday. She had been teacl1ing courses for the
University of San Diego on Tlnusday evenings. The classes are geared for professional growth
for teachers. She has been teaching these courses for about len (10) years. The subject includes
classroom management. Two years ago, she taught in Room ll-4. Mr. Martin taught in a nearby
classroom. H-1. Ms. Pate entered H-1 to retrieve an object she needed for class. It was in
December, between 5:30p.m. and 6:00p.m. Class had been out for approximately three (3)
hours, The door was closed. When she opened it, she saw that a boy '\VfJS by himself with Mr.
Martin. Mr. Milrtin \las standing next to the boy. Ms. Pate said there was a long and awkward .
. silence when she entered into the classroom. Ms. Pate said that Mr. Martin is a workaholic and
often stays late. However, it is against conunon sense for a teacher to keep astudent in a closed
classroom for hours apd she bas not heard of other teachers engaging in such activiti~s.

. Ms. Pate said that Mr. Martin was very ''touchy feelyn with other staff members. He
frequently hugs teachers and is quite friendly. He brlngs chooolates for teachers. To get Ms .
.Pates attention, he will rub he.r arm.

In the spring of 2005, Ms. Pate placed third graders into fourth grade classes. Fellow
teachers, Ms. McDonald and Ms. Robinett assisted in the placement. The teachers were
iuterested in a balanced placement. Balance includes boy/girl mtios, highJlow academics,
higbllow behavior, number of Gate students, and number of IEP students are among the. factors
they used. During the selection process, the name of
came up.
was in
Ms. Pate's third grade class.
bad a brother i.n kindergarten named
. The father
of
is
is dying from
.
Ms. Pate had told Mr. Martin about Mr.
rs condition and told Mr. Martin that he
might be a good Influence on
in the coming year. After Mr. MM'tin was told that
would be in his class, he would focus his attention on
when he canie to class.
The focus was pronounced enough that on one occasion,
looked back to Ms. Pate to
"check in", as if soliciting a cue from her as to the appropriateness of' Mr. Martin's behavior.

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Mr. Greg Rolen

April 26. 2006
PageS

Ms. Pate was also unsettled when Mr. Martin "lobbied', her to place two students in his
class. The pictures of the two students, along 'With other students in the c~ass adorn one o~ h~r
walls. Mr. Martin pointed to th~ pictures of the' two boys (both are good looking) and satd 1
want them in xny class next year." Ms. Pate said she does not recall any .9ther teach~r ever
lobbying her for students before. (The two students are nan1ed
and
.)
.
Ms. Pate sajd she was approached by
about Mr. Marthi. Ms.
expressed .her concerns about Mr. Martin playing favorites with
and how, on o.ne
occasion, Mr. Martin had his hand on
shoulder. It was during this conversation with
Ms.
that Ms ..Pate told her of her concerns with Mr. Martin overly focusing on
during-his visit to her classroom.
Interview of Alissc Nelson

..

Ms. Nelson has taught fourth grade for three (3) years, She also received her teaching
credential :&om California State Hayward. She has taught fourth grade for (2) two years. (She
was in advertising for seyeral years before that.) She coordinate.s her work with that of Mr.
Martin. She works closely with him in the d~veloproent of math currlculumt while the
coordination for language arts is a looser affair. (They don't coordinate in social studies
activities). They coordin~te on such special days as "RanchoJ' days and "Gold Rush', da.ys.
Ms. Nelson believes Mr. Martin is an unconventional teacher. She believes he
approaches the boundaries of proper relationships with students. He is a sort of a father figure to
many of his students. He hugs his students. He often has children alone in. his classroom after
school. Th.ey are almost always boys.

Ms. Nelson's classroom is three or fo~ portables down :from Mr. Martin's. One daY. she
her students were coming around the "gapu fonned by the side of a .Portable and a building
where the student restrooms are located. She was directly in front of her classroom portable.
She looked down open air aisles. towards Mr. Martin's classroom. Mr. Martin was standing on
the small, raised landing in front of hls cla~sroom door. His back was towards the closed door.
Standing directly in front of him was
standing on his chair. While she watched,
appeared to jump from his chair, and landed onto.Mr.. Martin..
wrapped his
arms around Mr. rdartin,s neck. Mr. Martin and
began to briefly tickle each other.
Both wete laughing. At some point.
moved his arms to around Mr. Martin's waist. At
that point, Mr. Martin saw Ms. Nelson and her classroom standing there. When Mr. Martin saw
them, he unwrapped
s arms from around his waist.
~d

After the incident,. a few ofMs.'Nelson's students approached her and asked her what Mr.
Martin and
was doing. Ms. Nelson was disturbed by what. she had seen, enough so that
she appro.ached Ms. Pate. She then talked to Mr. Martin in as diplomatic a manner as. possible.
She asked Mr. Martin what they we.re doing. He said they were practicing for a skit involving

AIKl~UN ANVtL~UN

1-'AI:il:.

ATKINSON, ANDEL.$0N, LOYA, RUUD & ROMO

Mr. Greg Rolen

Aprll26; 2006

Page9
vocabula~

and that
was playing "King Kong11 Mr. Martin admitted to her that the
rehearsal m~t have looked "strange".

Ms. Nelson saw fuat there are students in Mr. Martin's before and after school. Almost
always tbe students are boys, and almost always they are by themselves. She said that on one
occasion, a student named
told her that
told her that Mt. Martin and
play laser tag before school. Ms. Nelson said that on one occasion a student in her
classroom named
donated $40.00 from his birthday fi;md to the victims of the
Katrina Hurricane. Ms. Nelson told Mr. Martin' about
's contribution. Mr. Martin \\as
xnoved by this story and gave Ms. Nelson a sea~ed card to give to
, Ms. Nelson secretly
opened tbe card.. In the card were chocolates and .a note from Mr. Martin to
that said
words to the effect of "You are such ill1 amazing boy. There will always be a spot for you at our
basketball game. Love, Mr. Marlin/' (Mr. Martin periodic.ally plays a basketball game with
students during the morning recess.)
. Interview of

The interview of Ms.

was conducted via telephone. Ms.
is a parent of
two students at Woodside :Elementary.
is in the fifth graae. Ms.
has a
daughter in the third grade ruuned
Prior to this year. Ms.
knew very little
abo't.Jt Mr. Martin. She knew that he was popular with his students. A few months ago, she
became concerned that Mr. Martin was showing favoritism to
This favoritism included
Mr. Martin mentioning
name when Mr. Martin was on a radio morning show. On one
occasion, she saw Mr. Martin with his hands on
shoulder. She also noticed
mood was changing. He had become angrier and started blaming other children when things
didnt go his way. He was more sensitive to criticism fro.t;n other students.
Ms.
approached Nina Pate and relayed her concerns. Ms. Pate responded by
saying "'I know what you mean." Ms. Pate then subsequently told Ms.
about the "King
Kong" skit. Ms.
then approached the principal to indicate her concerns. Shemade this
approach with first notifying or s.eeldng the approval of Ms.
Ms.
described Ms.
as ~narve" and ovenvhelmed by Mr.
s illness. When Ms.
told her that sh~::
had relayed concems to the principal, Ms.
said she was ''totally comfortable'' with Mr.
Martin and
Ms.
said it was not her intention to have het con~ems turn into a formal
investigation. She said her original intent was to send a kind of "cheek" or ''block" to Mr.
Martin, indicating that people were watching. Since the time .of her conversation with the
principal, she has had a ''clearing the air,, meeting w.ith Mt. Martin. It took place in his
classroom. mid lasted about thirty (30) minutes. Mr. Martin said he would like to straighten
things out. He said that at the time Ms. Nelson and her class saw him and
on the
landing, they were practicing fox a skit. He said he recognized that things didn't look right. He
also said that he needs to pull back beoa.nse of

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&. ROMO

Mr. Greg Rolen

Aprl126, 2006
Page 10
Ms.
said fuat after this meeting she trusted Mr. Martin a little bit more. She said
that she had no concerns about her daughter taking Mr. Martin's class.

Inter-View o~
I .met with Ms.
at her place of business, a law firm. She was asked. first about
He is a happy, sensitive kid. l-Ie liltes math and computers. He is very social, with lots
of friends. His mood has begun to change in the last year. Ms.
husband,
suffers
from an autoimmune di~ease called
. He will, in all likelihood, die from it in the
next few years. His physical activities are limited and he sometimes bas to have his breathing
supplemented with oxygen.
has been affected by his f~ther's illness. He does not know yet that his father is
dying, but he knows that he is very sick.
now has a temper. Ms.
is concerned
about him. At the beginning of the year, she approached Mr. Martin and told him about Ivfr.
She asked Mr. Martin to watch for
s niood changes and to "help
along,,
She asked Mr. Martin to give "
a good school year."

Ms.
said she is not concerned about
spending too much time in Mr.
Martin's classroom before school. SI1e said that Mr. Martin bas taught
ho\v to play
chess. These games are 'Very brief, because
arrives at school very close to the tixne class
starts. Because he walks
to the gate where Kindergarten is taught and waits there until
the gate is opened, he seldom arrives to Mr. Martin's class before 7:55. C1ass starts at 8:05.
has only stayed after school two to three times to help Mr. Martin decorate.. (Ms.

states that
is a natural organizer.)
Ms.
that
is concemed about being perceived as being a teacher's
pet. He was concerned about his name being mentioned on the radio by Mr. Martin and spoke to
him about it. Ms.
has previously spoken to
about the "King Kong, skit.
said he jvmped on Mr. Martin during the skit.
made no mention of either tickling the
other.
Mr. Martin and the :
family have a social relationship. Mr. Martin has been over to
the
residence on many occasions. The alUlual classroom video was shot at the
residence.
was one of the stars of the video. Ms.
indicates that she has graded
papers for Mr. Martin on more than one occasion. Mr. Marlin has attended a play that
was in at the Willows Theater. (Ms.
invited Mr. Martin, but Mr. Marlin had made it
. known previously to
that he would be interested in going to see
s play;) Mr.
Martin has also had dinner withthe
at Fudruckers, and at the invitation of Mr.
recently at "Sweet Tomatoes.,
.Mr. and Mrs.
recently had a meeting wlth Mr. Martin to seek advice for
's
persistent behavior problems. Mr. Martin suggest~d a chore lis~ an earned allowance, and time

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ATKINSON ANDELSON

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ATKINSON, AHOELSDN, L~YA, RUUD & ROMO

Mr. Greg Rolen

April 26, 2006
Page 11
outs. M;,
said jhat her cousin,'
was well intentioned but that she confused Mr.
Martin's perceive.d hmposexuality as an indioator that he could also be a pedophile. Ms.
has a relative who is gay and knows that there is such correlation. She said that
has a
friend named "
',.
states that she was-sexually abused as ;t child and that she is
aware of this issue. She said that one of the signs of'child abuse is that a child will act out. _She
believed that
behavioml problems were possibly attributable to molestation. Ms.
said that
behavioral.problems predate his attendance in Mr. Martin's class and it
was this behavioral problem that fuduced her to approach Mr. Martin in the first place, early in
the year.
Ms.
100%.

stated that they are friends with Mr. Martin and trusts Mr. Martin with
Interview of Joe Martin

Joe Martin has been a teacher at the Mt. Diablo Unified School District for fifteen (15)
years. It is the only District mwhich be has taught. He received his teaching credential from
Califoroia'State Pniversity, Hayward. He also attended school at Diablo VaUey.College. He
taught at Holbrooke.for three (3) years. He also taught at Valhalla Elementary School for nvo
(2) years. He bas taught at Woodside for the last eleven (l:l)'years. Mr. Martin said he designed
the ('King Kongu skit. In the skit, Mr. Martin played the Mayor of Concord.
played King
Kong. To be more convincing as a King Kong,
had to get on a chair. The skit was
designed to demonstrate three words, "homage", "fiercen and "crest'". Durlng the dialogue.
"fierce" refon:ed to King Kong. The mayor is paying "homage" to King Kong, but enrages King
Kon~ w,llen he touches his crest.
According to Mr. Martin,
lost his balance on the chair when the two were
rehearsing outside of his classroom. Mr. Martin put his hands out to steady him. Mr. Martin
said there was no tickling. His memory appeared to be uncertain Md said he was not sure
wh~ther
put his anns around him, or not.

Mr. Martin said that occasionally students stay after school in his class. He remembers
one student, in the last two years, who stayed in his cli!Ss until 5:00p.m. because his mother was
very late in picld.tt.S him up. The student's name was "
n. He also mentioned that some
students from the YMCA program on campus visited his classroom. He said that this after
school activity woltld occur once every t\vo months so.
would sometim.es coJUe to his
classroom before class to play chess. The visits were short in duration, often less than five
minutes.

or

Mr. Martin said that

was a class favorite but that he was due it; given .his. .
situation at home, his willingness to work, and his charismatic personality. On one occasion,
told Jilin that classmates were bothering him, calling him a teacher's pet. Mr. Martin
then .discussed the issue with the entire class. Not mentioning
by name, he said that the

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ATKiNSON, ANDE:I..SON, LOYA, RUUD & RoMO

Mr. Greg Rolen

Aprl126J 2006
Pftge 12

resentment of some $tUdents in the class was inappropclate and that the respect shovn by Martin
to hard WQ:rkel'$ W<IS jU$tified.

I,nterview oC
was questioned about the skit by his mother.
confirmed that he and Mr.
Martin were rehearsing a skit about KingKong. The purpose of the skit was .to demonstrate
three vocabulary words. When
t(crest" was touched he was supposed to he enraged
and start choking Mr. Martin. When he was doing this. he lost his balance and Mr. Martin held
out his anns to steady him. There was no tickling.

I hope this investigation is helpful to you. Please call lvith any questions or concerns you
may have regarding this matter.

MSW/vn1.