FREEPORT, Maine — A veteran Freeport Middle School teacher is facing a misdemeanor charge of terrorizing for allegedly making a threatening remark in class.
Police say 58-year-old David Mason, of Yarmouth, was issued a summons on Feb. 14 in connection with the incident earlier in the month. The seventh-grade teacher was suspended after school officials received several complaints from parents and students.
Mason’s attorney, John Richardson, told the Portland Press Herald that Mason made an unfortunate tongue-in-cheek comment that has been blown out of proportion. Richardson would not further characterize what Mason said, but called it an isolated incident.
Richardson said Mason has taught for 30 years and is on paid administrative leave.
It is SO easy for kids to make a complaint and potentially ruin a teacher’s career – and they know it. If nothing comes of this, I hope the school and newspapers will print that story, too.
The Sad thing is, it could happen to any one in any field of work. Teacher’s can be an easier target now a days. It was so hard to get a teacher fired when I went to school. My kindergarten teacher use to slap my knuckles with a ruler because I’m left-handed. This was back in 1976. I even had proof of what she was doing. The abrasions and bruises on my hand said it all. My mom even reported her. Still the school board did nothing. I hope for this teacher’s sake that what she said was miss interpreted by the students. Or not stated at all. If the allegations are false,I hope the parents,students and school board gives her a public apology. I hope as well that BND will report that story .
I also was hit was hit by a spinster teacher, [that should have been retired long before], with a metal edged ruler on the knuckles in the second grade. My mother backed her up against the wall and told her to never do it again. This teacher was also very cruel in not allowing a boy in her class to use the rest room. He was made to move his desk to the front of the room in front of everyone and sit there. He wet his pants. How humiliating. I’ll never forget this old biddy.
My GREAT Uncle was Principal of an elementary school many many years back and knocked a kid out who wouldn’t shut his mouth when he was trying to talk to him. My Uncle told the kids Parents what happened, the kid admitted to being disrespectful and that was it. No way would that fly now without assault charges, jail time, etc.
And rightly so, Even through he got away with it years ago, it was still abuse.
A grown man knocks out an elementary student, and you are nostalgic for that? The word “brute” comes to mind, and damn straight, I’d have sued his butt off….even way back then!
Nor should it anthing other than assault. A teacher/principle has absolutely NO business striking a student. If ANY adult layed a hand on my child he’d be throwing down with me in the parking lot!
dont be silly, how will littering the schoolyard with duck feathers settle anything.
Lighten up tough guy.
he should be arrested now , there is no statute of limits on that
you people are crazy. sorry that you didnt live in a world where right was right and wrong was wrong.
A grown man knocking a child out is always wrong. Always.
if that kid was weilding a gun would that be wrong? I think not.. apparently you have missed the papers or national news about a kid in Ohio that broke into the high school cafeteria shooting a handgun, fired 10 shots killed 2 kids, and injured many others. just broke in and fired randomly!! did’nt know the victims at all! this is a 17 year old kid…
kids are screwed up now-a-days.. parents are too affraid to discipline their kids, or claim their child has ADD/HD and excuses all their actions.. sorry but their actions are un-excusable.. correct them when they do something wrong, help them make good decisions, praise them for advances, and point the way for their interests.. HELL…. BE A PARENT!!
Well, he’s kinda dead now so that won’t happen. If you find comfort in knowing the accuser is dead though, so be it.
good for him knocking that punk out.. I’d have done the same thing.. apparently the little snot could’nt see reason, so he was made to see reason through force, maybe that kid knew nothing but force..
Actually the statute of limitations on assault is 15 years.
The teacher that did the hitting to me was fresh out of collage and it was her first year teaching. The school I went to had a lot of bad teachers. One Fourth grade teacher got away with dragging male student a round by their hair. The gym teacher made me do leg raisers in a dress exposing my private region to the whole class. She did this because I refused to wear pants due to my then religious beliefs. I had high scores in my grades, but when my mother got my handicapped brother in school. They claimed My brother was retarded so I was retarded. They did this as a punishment to my mom for fighting to get my brother an education. Students were allowed by the teacher to bully me to teach me to lose weight. Even though she was told by my mom that I was on meds that caused weight gain. The students were allowed to eat their snack in front of me, while I was not allowed to have mine. All those teachers had a complaint folder that was very thick. Still they were never brought up on charges or fired. Even after being reported to the school board.
Your words tell me that you still live with the trauma. I am sorry that that happen to you.
From what I hear teachers today can’t look crossed eyed at a student who’s doing any darn thing they want without being accused of “Abusing” that special little flower. And we wonder why kids aren’t learning? Really? I’m not in favor of beating children but in my day we all did learn a great deal on those rare occasions when some punk said or did something bad and was handled (Gently compared to what my father would have done do me had he seen or heard me doing likewise) swiftly and justly. We all thought, “Hmm…I’m not going down that loser’s path” and we didn’t, so we got educated instead. Sometimes fear can be a real good motivator.
Consequences swift and just need to occur. No NOT physical nor as the case may be here “threatening” even in jest. However in the atmosphere we see here with folks jumping on the bandwagon to hang this teacher for “Saying” something inappropriate is it any surprise that NO ONE working in a schools today even wants to be involved in disciplining students AT ALL? Nope. Schools that don’t discipline (I’d say most don’t or don’t do often or harshly enough) don’t/can’t teach. This is why our schools are failing. Anyone think Johnny Rotten could make it through a day at a school in Japan? Not a chance.
Schools and teachers that are not backed by parents don’t teach. Parents that don’t teach personal responsibility, self-respect, pride, and self discipline at home should reasonably expect that their sons and daughters will encounter some form of hostility or frustration from peers and teachers at school. Then much the same in the future from the many bosses that will dismiss them from the premises every time they get fired for being impossible to work with. Then they can go back and raise their own little flowers while living at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. What a happy little family that shall be.
Very true!
If you could hear what some of these kids do now-a-days you would be amazed.. If my child EVER spoke like what I have heard out of some of their mouths I’d be forced to do something drastic to change that attitude.. boot camp or something close to it… I put up with this childish dis-respect all day at work, and will not tolerate it at home. funny part is they go to school and see their frinds, and classmates act out, and they get ideas.. gladly, my daughter knows better, and knows if she ever did act out like that there would be severe consequences. Time for Parents to step up and be a parent.. implement some house rules, give your kids chores, make sure their homework is done, and check it..
I can’t speak for the teacher, but I know their job is hard enough without this kind of harassment.. maybe this teacher had finally had enough.. who know we all lose our tempers every once in a while..
I would rather have had the police come and take me away vs. my parents getting a call or letter from the school telling them what a little A hole I was acting like. Now it seems like kids can do no wrong because they are innocent little angels and/or victims.
Thank you
False allegations can be a problem, particularly when backed up by one or two other children. In this case it seems that the complaints come from a classroom of children. There is no indication in this story that any child defended this teacher. I find this unusual as most teachers have at least one or two students who like and respect them. The teacher’s lawyer did not say that the teacher did not threaten, the lawyer said he is confident the “exaggerations” will be put to rest.
The school and the teacher’s attorney will hash this out, and hopefully when a resolution is reached we will hear.
If I were this teacher, I would fire my attorney and look for another.
The big problem with this story is the vague Information. Stating “Several” could hold different meaning in numbers to different people. I get what you are saying. There was a large amount of complaints. I agree with you on her getting a different Lawyer. I hope this works out for all parties involved.
He says the 30-year teaching veteran with an exemplary record has received support from students and colleagues.
Schools now especially elementary and middle are nothing more than glorified daycare centers.
I actually had a teacher, when my daughter was in 2nd grade back in the mid 80’s, tell me that she was nothing but a glorified babysitter, I told her if that’s how she felt then she was in the wrong profession.
funny that’s what I get told as a corrections officer…. it is a LOT like it though. kind of like Highschool all over again except the students are 18-80 years old and have “nothing to do”.
Your crazy. We work very hard for what little money we get. With budget cuts and poverty we also often buy our own materials and out students supplies. We are still filling ivy league colleges.
Apologies if you misinterpreted my comment. I’m actually sticking up for Teachers as I come from a family of them. I am well aware of the issues you pointed out.
A teacher using “your” where “you’re” should be used? Your is possessive, as in “your car” or “your classroom.” You’re is a contraction of “You are” as in “You are crazy” or You’re English is abysmal.
I think we need to hear the exact quote before we rush to the defense of this teacher.
So true, how one false statement in print can ruin a reputation. Just one generation and things have changed so much, some for the good and some for the bad. Extremes is what we have today. Everyone has to take everything to extremes, no gray area. Black and white. If little johny brings a toy gun to school for coyboys, he was definately going to try to hurt someone! If he brought a knife to cut his apple or sandwich, he was intending to stab someone, no exceptions, even if he was never in a fight and a straight A student, in kindergarden. There is not a teacher or principal that is capable of judging a situation and calling it for what it is, normal child behavior, instead that have to hold to that black and white copy of school guidlines that apply to all. Even a kindergarden with autism that hasn’t been formally diagnosed yet, because he was vaccinated late, and got it late. Touches another kindergarden girl and kisses her on the cheek gets kicked out for sexual harrassment and inappropriate touch. Once he was diagnosed they cannot kick him out so easily. He is then protected under a disabilty act. One would just think that teachers can use logic and knew when someone is doing something intentional to harm a child or a child to harm another intentionally.
And it is SO easy for a teacher to extinguish a child’s love of learning and self confidence with name calling. You want to know how that works? I have a suggestion for you if you have a 7th grader move to Medway and put them in their middle school. Get back to me then on these ‘poor’ teachers.
I am a teacher and kids have no respect. I have been threatened, called names, and beaten by student who return day after day with a smile on their faces. Why? Because a crack doctor gave them a diagnosis and the IDEA allows them to behave the way they want without suspension if their diagnosis is the reason for their behavior. Meanwhile they are all so strung out on drugs its crazy. This would have never happened 30 years ago.
I agree with you 100%. Parents seek out a diagnosis for their child and then that diagnosis becomes the excuse for the child’s bad behavior!
I have a daughter with Aspergers. That diagnosis led to therapies to teacher her what was expected in society it was never an excuse for being rude, disrespectful or a reason for me not to parent her. She got a scholarship to college and is doing wonderful. She never had an IEP and just last year got a 504 plan to follow her to college.
A lot of doctors have no problems pulling out the prescription pad and deal with everything that way. I’m not saying that is wrong I am saying there are other avenues to be investigated before drugging a child, occupational therapy was a huge gift to my child. It helped more than any drug ever would have!
With that said there are teachers who have no business in a classroom teaching.
And so hard to fire bad teachers because of unions
Unions only protect those who where fired without “just cause”!
Save the witch hunt rhetoric!
True. Unions also hold up firings when there IS just cause. I’ve seen them go to bat for employees caught with illegal drugs in company vehicles, employees who violated written safety policies, and employees who steal from their employers. Unions also ensure guaranteed raises for workers. Regardless of whether that worker is a top performer or a total slacker, they all get the same raise every year.
Unions served a sueful purpose when workers were subjected to inappropriate wages and safety problems, but they have gotten completely out of control in many areas.
When a company has to go through a time-consuming and expensive grievance process to fire a union worker who violated the very safety rules that were put in place to protect him/her, there is a problem.
Companies SHOULD have to go through a time-consuming process to ruin someone’s life.
Ben Franklin said of the criminal justice system; “better to let six guilty men go free than to jail one innocent.” Today, with computerized records and no frontier where one can flee their past record, it makes sense to be ABSOLUTELY SURE that the record is correct and the employee deserved firing. The record in today’s world IS a jail.
I’ve been union, and watching unions since 1966, and I have yet to see ANY union defend an employee after they have been convicted in court of the crime for which they were fired… NEVER. If you have a specific example of that happening, please forward me a link. I would be VERY interested.
Lemming schools in NYC
what about Lemming schools in NYC? Is that supposed to mean something? Are you stating a case? Say something more.
Google it
I did and after clicking thru 5 pages of results, not a single result had any relevance to this comment.
Conversely,if you’re not “in” you can get the bum’s rush in a hurry.Years ago,when I lived in an apartment my neighbor had a union job.He was loud,abusive,bullying and a drunk.I hate to think what his wife and kids lived like.I almost never saw them.He finally got fired and whined about how “the fix was in” and he was going to “teach them a lesson”He got evicted shortly thereafter.Thank God.I’m sure both sides couldn’t wait to get rid of him.
Because working for $7.50/hr is a living wage right?
People get paid what they are worth. Should people get paid according to their needs or skills?
Ive done search for welding they want people to have every qualifications that there is, an only wanted to pay 8 bucks an hr.
I guess the work isn’t too complicated requiring a vast array of skills.
The work I do is very complicated it pays $52.50 per hour
The more qualifications a person has for welding the more pay they should get. I take it you never welded either yes i was a welder for BIW for 20 years an i have all kinds of welding qualification when i was there. Welding is a skill an a trade
Well if you want to trust employers to pay people what they are worth than why have minimum wage at all?
So you are one that would fire some one on hear say ?
ive seen lots of people fired at BIW an some was for steeling stuff an it was cough right on a camera an the union said fire them
sad to say they don’t, I’m in a union.. and I have’nt had a raise in over 4 years.. I should be a grade 16 step 4 by now.. but I’m only step 1.. will they help me in the cause of an allegation/administrative punishment? yes, I can have a union rep present at any possible “meeting” to discuss performance/administrative leave instances. will they keep me employed? no.. will they fight for my job.. maybe, but I doubt it.. if you’re in the wrong, and they see no re-course.. you’re on your own, and better get a lawyer on retainer..
I see 20 teachers agreed with you.
It is hard to fire teachers because of lazy administrators. They have-as is right and just- to document and work with the teacher. I have seen teacher files with as few as 4 papers in them for a 30 year career and the administrator wanted to let them go. The union didn’t, couldn’t, stop it, but that didn’t make it right. BTW, all the 4 evaluations were good. But a couple of students said….
Wrong,, there are steps in place once they go thru the steps they can fire them. There was a union rep from the Bangor area at one school they had a bad teacher an every one knew it so the super went to the union an wanted to fire that person they said ok you knew the steps . They went to that teacher an told the teacher that the teacher needed to improve or you will be fired . That teacher did not improve so come time to fire the teacher the super change his mind . So whos fault was it for the the teacher not being fired ?
It is virually impossible to fire teachers. Tenure is the system of choice for unions. It allows award winning teachers to be laid off while poorly performing teachers have security
That is a school board cop out. They don’t want to make the hard decisions. Want to know what will happen to this guy? He’ll end up taking a pay off from the school and the school will sign a letter saying they won’t give a bad recommendation so they are free to go teach somewhere else.
Kudos to Freeport school system for putting their students interests FIRST!
’30-year teaching veteran with an exemplary record’ — means nothing if the alegations are true. No child should face threats from a teacher; it is tough enough for many children today to get through the school day facing threats from bullies.
A 30 year vet? Man, time to retire..you don’t need to put up with this foolishness.
A similar story to this a few months back, in Belfast I think.
I never did hear the outcome but my post will be the same, I wonder what those kid’s did all
year long to push that teacher to respond with threats.
Just saying
My husband was physically abused by his elementary school teacher for years. This man ruined his childhood, made him hate school. The stories he has told me were terrifying. He never told anyone because his parents were friends with the teacher and his wife. He would come home with bruises and when his mother asked about them, he wouldn’t say a word. My kindergarten teacher let the other kids pick on me and bully me. Some people shouldn’t teach.
What did she do threaten to spank them and take away their birthdays? Or threaten to bury them with homework? I am glad I didn’t pursue a teaching degree, I would’ve been fired before I started…..
GOD only knows what the nuns did to the Catholic kids
I was late for Trick or Treat at the hands of a Nun while attending CCD class.Some of the houses were offering apples by the time we arrived.50 years later -I’m over it.
And the Catholic kids excelled academically…
A nun threw a Bible at my husbands head when he was in second grade because his mother was late with tuition. He did not excel academically in that environment.
I’m sure the Union will protect the teacher. Students/kids are secondary to the UNION
its the union job to get all the facts first . How do you know that the kids are not making it up because that person mite be getting after them to do there work ?
I hope the union protects the teacher. That’s it’s job. I wonder how much abuse this teacher was forced to withstand from his students before he finally retaliated in kind.
So would it be ok for a child to retaliate against a teacher for being abusive? What would be ok for a 13 year old to do to a teacher for calling them and their classmates lazy, stupid, ugly, dumb, retarded? What about telling a 13 year old they would never amount to anything and they would be lucky to work with the other retards at McDonalds? Or how about kicking a kid in the head? Or how about dumping flavored water on a student? Or telling a student that nobody wants them, when the teacher is aware the child hasn’t got the best home life? Or calling a student a liar about a medical condition the student has? or how about grabbing a childs hood on his sweatshirt choking them and tearing their skin on their chest because she doesn’t like the students wearing ‘jackets’ during school?
The list goes on and this happened over the course of 2 months….then I pulled my child out of school but the teacher continues to berate, belittle, and harass students daily.
Reason she is still there? Oh that would be because the school board has no nuts! They don’t care about the kids and are afraid of the union. How much are children supposed to take before they break?
If everything you say is true, then this teacher should not be allowed to teach. All the article states is that the teacher made a threatening remark to a student. I have heard of teachers being berated and disrepected by students to the extent that the teacher makes a remark they regret. If what you say is true, that is not the situation in this case.
Then again, there were the two 11 or 12 year old boys who were leaving school this afternoon screaming and chanting, “F you, USA.”
I talked with an old person at a school once an he said the teachers an the school princible said he would never amount to any thing but they would give him a job at school cleaning the school
strange that they cannot print the name or the allegations against her.
Someone read Portland area papers and report back, please….. …
When I was in grade school the nuns used to make threatening remarks every day and they were not suspended. I even got hit over the head with a hand bell after hearing a threatening remark from sister Claudia. Seems people can’t take pressure anymore…that’s why the go out and shoot people for revenge.
How do you all know it’s a she and not a he? The only two people that are referenced with a personal pronoun are the superintendent and the lawyer.
My first reaction is, what made a veteran teacher fly off the handle? I think there’s a lot more than meets the eye here and hope he wasn’t falsely accused by a questionable parent or spoiled kid.
Having said that, my own child–then a second-grader–came home really upset one day in the mid 90’s and told me that a homeroom teacher had gotten angry and thrown chalkboard erasers at several students in the class that morning. Since I knew all the kids involved, I was livid. None were in the least sense troublemakers, and apparently what started it was inconsequential. I called the school immediately, and incredibly, they acknowledged that it had happened, but that was it. No apology, no explanation. I still remember that teacher–hi, Linda S.!–and I’m sure the kids involved all do too. She was a nasty piece of work that had zero business being around kids, yet got protected by the administration.
So. If Mr. Mason is innocent, I hope it comes to light quickly and that we’ll get a full report on it. But I do wonder what actually happened.
What need to be done is to put a cam an a mike in every room to see what really happens i bet it would surprise you an put it on the internet
Upon reading all of the comments posted thus far related to this issue, I would urge you to re-read those comments posted by Harry H. Snyder III. In my view, Harry’s posts are the most carefully thought out, the most balanced, and the most convincing. Many years ago, I had Harry in several of my graduate classes that I taught at UMO. While some of my colleagues considered Harry to be “too disconnected from the mainstream” to be taken seriously, I have always admired Harry for his candor and his willingness to “raise the questions that needed to be raised” with respect to controversial topics. Congratulations, Harry, and thank you for continuing to stand up for what you believe in. BD.
Wow, 30 years down the drain over one comment? Seems a bit odd that he’s even on admin. leave. Must have been a lulu.
But when kids do the same thing, they get a slap on the wrist, if that. This teacher probably put up with a ton before he finally lost it. Some of these parents who are complaining ought to take a day and teach his classes, then see if he was really in the wrong. The experience would be eye-opening, I am sure.
like i said put a cam an mike in every class room
Kind of a non-story to have so many comments.
How can anybody have an opinion about this incident, when you don’t even know what the incident was ?
Maine: The way we jump to conclusions and passionately express opinions based on little to no information !
And just exactly what is a threatening remark ? Some kids would take ” there’ll be a test on this tomorrow ” as a threat ! How about the rest of the story !
I had a black teacher in grade school, 60’s in Presque Isle @ Skyview, who threatened us and to go from the stapler in one hand to the brick on her desk, if she had to ,i got wailed with the big stapler once among other stuff,fortunately not the brick ,she also told the class one day,” she had a dream” the night before, that she was walking through a garden and got bitten by a snake and quote” i know who that snake was” while glaring at me! LOL ,I think its safe to say she hated me :) Fortunately for all concerned, her husband got shipped out by the Air Force to Taiwan.
They really should have told people what the remark was. Now we’re imagining all sorts of things. If several complained, it might have been bad.
What if a kid said the same thing? The kid today would be in for a psychological evaluation and expelled. Plain and simple teacher was in the wrong.
5 years ago my child started in Kindergarten with in the first month, my child came home saying my teacher hates me. I thought it was just difficult for him to break away from me. As the year continued with his comments about the teacher disliking him. A child in the class eating my childs food. Day after day my child would say MOM you forgot snack again. When I addressed it with the teacher she just dismissed me. The teachers snacks were finally taken and now she believed me. I ran into the student teacher in that class room years later. She said Mrs.&*&*^*^. really did not like your child and was extremely unfair to him, always blaming him for things that he was not involved in. So sad welcome to MDI public school system.
Line up parents on the sides of the students or the teacher, when in reality you should be taking a long look in the mirror. Bad kids = bad parents.