Board was Right to Not Re-Hire Teacher, Student Says

Editor's note: The following Letter to the Editor was written and submitted to Chatham Patch by Kevin Orozco, a student at Chatham High School, regarding the recent Donaldson hearing for teacher Daniel Thomas, whose contract was not renewed for the 2013-14 school year.

To whom it may concern,

My name is Kevin Orozco, and I am a student at Chatham High School about to enter my junior year.

I was unable to attend the Donaldson hearing for Mr. Daniel Thomas Monday before the Board of Education. I believe I am one of the reasons why Mr. Thomas did not get re-hired.

I was in his Financial Literacy class back at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year. For the first month of school, I was hospitalized in a mental hospital after battling depression and attempting suicide.

When I returned to school, many of my classmates told me Mr. Thomas took attendance every day. He went through his list and said everyone's name, When he got to my name he would say "Kenly? Oh yeah, I forgot. He doesn't go here anymore."

I didn't say anything, I kept my feelings to myself. I was going through a lot already and didn’t want to deal with something else.

I will never forget the day that Mr. Thomas made the suicide joke. One day he said, “If you’re ever in debt, you should go to the train tracks and kill yourself. Right, Kevin?"

I have no idea why he said my name when he said this to the class. Everyone started laughing. I felt horrible. It made me feel like I was unworthy. This man was making jokes about something so serious. Suicide is something that no one should joke about.

This time I didn't keep it to myself. I told my therapist about this, and I had a hard time dealing with this event. I also told my therapist about him calling me "Kenly.”

I was told they talked to him and that he wouldn't call me that anymore, but things did not stop there. He often would look at me during class and give me weird looks, looks that made me feel like I was less than those around me. He made racist comments, and homophobic comments, too. He once screamed at me because I went to the bathroom and came back after the bell rang, this man screamed like is he was enjoying it. I am a gay male myself. I admit I dress very differently from everyone else in CHS, because I want to be different. I want to be myself. No other teacher had ever giving me a hard time, but Mr. Thomas did.

When it came down to getting people to tell the school about these events that happened to me, almost no one wanted to speak up. No one wanted to stand by my side and tell the truth, but I did. The Chatham Board of Education might not want to tell the people the reason why he is not getting re-hired but after seeing the way he pushed for this hearing, I believe people should be allowed to know the truth. People should know why this man should not be near children.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kevin Orozco