by Tawsha Brinkley-Davenport
In just one short week, Joanna Hall, the principal for Bennett Elementary, had her reputation tarnished by Facebook keyboard warriors.
On April 14 the Broken Bow Police Department reported the Oklahoma Department of Human Resources (OKDHS) had received an anonymous tip that Hall was grooming a fifth-grade student at Bennett Elementary.
She has had a pristine record, with hundreds of students and parents respecting her as an outstanding educator. Hall currently has been a principal at Bennett for eight years. Before that, she was the principal at Battiest school for two years and prior to that, the special education teacher at the Broken Bow High School for 10 years. Before coming to Broken Bow, she was at Spiro as the deaf and hearing-impaired teacher for 10 years.
“To date, nothing, I mean nothing, has ever come up like this in my entire career,” said Hall.
On April 15, the Broken Bow Police Department interviewed the mother, Lara Caldwell Dickerson. According to the police report, “she wouldn’t identify the anonymous person.” According to the police, the mother of the 11-year-old told officers someone had called her on April 13 and said that Hall was having an inappropriate relationship with her son. The mother said her son had been taken out of classes to “rope” (as in cattle roping, a traffic cone).
The mother claimed to the police a similar report was made a week before about Hall.
The police report states, “The mother stated that (anonymous) told her that a report was made with ODHS and the BBPD last week. (week prior to April 13).”
The officer did search radio logs through the last month and found the police department had never been called to Bennett Elementary to make a report on Hall.
“I found out about it Monday evening, when one of my colleagues noticed it during our play practice on the TRA Teachers R Accountable Facebook page. The woman that created the page, Melody Minchew, was calling out Bennett Elementary. We read it and couldn’t believe what we were reading and all of the nasty comments below her post,” said Hall.
First Facebook post
Minchew’s first post involving Bennett Elementary was the Savage logo then she posted, “School Administration better come forward at Bennett school in Broken Bow and stand up for whats right and protect ur students or I’m physically coming to help those kids myself! Every teacher named by victim/victims that knows something and hasn’t reported I’m asking for ur license and for u to go to jail, and please understand prison loves seeing a kid crime!” said Minchew’s Facebook post.
“The comments below the post mentioned myself, and my assistant principal. I immediately called my superintendent, Carla Ellisor,” said Hall.
She suggested that Ellisor on April 15 send her home.
“It was the thing to do, and Carla would have done it anyway. I left my keys on my desk. I left all of my tech if it needed to be searched, like my laptop etc., because I had nothing to hide. I wanted to be transparent. I asked (SRO) School Resource Officer Frank Griffin to stay with me, so nobody could say I hid anything. Then you just go sit at home and wait. And that is the worst part. I knew I had not done anything wrong.”
She was confident it would be resolved.
“It was definitely a weird feeling to be in. I am a cancer survivor. I lost weight. I couldn’t eat. My diabetes was all over the place. I was afraid it would trigger a cancer recurrence. Stress isn’t good for you, it’s going to trigger it back. I didn’t leave my house except to go to the police station,” said Hall.
The Broken Bow superintendent put out a press release on April 15.
“This morning Broken Bow Schools was made aware of an allegation that a Bennett Elementary staff member may have acted in violation of board policy and/or regulations. Broken Bow Police have shared with me that DHS has been notified, and the district is fully cooperating with authorities,” said Ellisor.
On her page, Minchew posts a sentence or two, then those following her page may become upset over a topic, hers being particularly child abuse. Many hateful comments may follow her posts, even though there is no evidence presented.
As soon as Ellisor released the press release about Hall’s administrative leave, Minchew posted this on the TRA page: “I have wrote and deleted and rewrote this post but I’ll say this! I cried with Laura (the mother of the student), and we made a game plan because I too was once in her shoes! The only difference is I had no one!
“I wanna give a massive shout out to this momma, she heard, she hurt, she reached out, she believed, she listened, u reported, u went full force to be heard and I am so so so proud of u Laura Caldwell! In one day u got things done! As far as Kayla (assistant principal Bennett) u should have been asked to leave the second u supported your sister (ex-Haworth cheer coach Terah Wright charged with child abuse) that is assured of having sex with students now u was gonna hide this Miss Hall thing, u gotta go!!” said Minchew.
Many negative posts followed this by many different people. Minchew then posted about Hall.
“Now the judge will not sign a protective to keep Bennett student safe because ther’s no proof this happened??? What is wrong with you teachers call BBPD and ask for Officer Brown tell him what u have seen go on at that school with this child!”
The same day the mother posted on the TRA page, accusing Hall of grooming her son, having alone time with him in her office behind closed doors.
Hall was appalled by what she read.
“The stuff that the mom reported as a report on the Facebook page was hearsay, like someone had taken it and twisted, the CPS stuff for instance that was posted. There was no private time I had with her son. I have huge windows in my office that have blinds that are never shut. A door that is never shut. I also have a large staff that comes in and out all day long. In between my office and the school secretary is the large copying machine and staff vending machine. There is always someone going to both of those during the day. My office area is a busy hub,” said Hall.
Teachers would bring the student to her when he was agitated.
“I never once asked him to be brought to me,” said Hall.
Interviews
According to police, “During the teacher interviews at Bennett, the student does have some anger issues and ADHD and that sometimes he will get unruly in class and start to disturb the other students. It is during that time the teacher will take the student in question to the office for Hall or the assistant principal McGee to calm him down because they know that they are able to get him to calm down and return to the classroom with no issues. They (teachers) said they think roping is a calming method for him that Hall was able to determine that could help him because he enjoys roping. The teachers never saw or heard Hall be inappropriate with the student or any student.”
“Because I have been a longtime special education teacher, I have worked with populations of kids with social diverse emotional learning needs. I lean on that experience to redirect and calm down students who are in process mode. I show them something that will divert their mind from the problem they are fixated on, that is causing them to escalate. With some kids, it is the turtles in my office. Some are the toys on my desk that I have there just for that reason. With other kids, it is just letting them sit awhile and draw. With this particular student, it was letting him show off a skill he was really good at. That was roping.
“The activity was always done in full view of the cafeteria workers during lunch and with other students. And it was only a handful of times we did the roping. I never tried to counsel him, either. I listened to him like I do my other students. As educators we all listen when kids have problems, but we aren’t counselors. I never thought I was counseling him, nor did I want to,” said Hall.
The most hurtful of all were the sexual allegations.
“It just gutted me, made me physically sick. And to be accused of one of the most heinous crimes you can commit to a kid is criminal. I literally just don’t have the words to say how devastated I am by this,” said Hall.
The mother of the child, Laura Caldwell Dickerson, posted on the same TRA page that she was contacted by a mother at Bennett school.
“Kayla (McGee asst. principal) and Hall covering things up but yet no one reported it. Now who’s to say today if I didn’t keep him home she would of raped him if she hasn’t already and it would be that schools fault,” said Larua Caldwell on Facebook.
Then the sister of the student posted on the TRA page.
“This is my baby brother that Joana Hall has been sexually assaulting. He is a baby. 11 years old. We will absolutely not stop until they no long(er) have a license or are behind bars. As well as all of the teachers who have been gossiping about it inside & outside of school. A school’s reputation should NEVER be put above a child safety,” said MaKayla Skye on TRA Facebook.
“The call I received was that Hall had sexual misconduct with teacher but she has bought him and his loyalty and will not talk bad about her so I will be his void and will protect him and demand phone Snapchat records and an investigation even if I have to call OSBI,” stated Laura Caldwell Dickerson on TRA page.
When a former student came to Hall’s defense on the TRA page, Minchew posted this: “But not least everyone who cares have gathered the comments of all the now men but once boys Miss Hall has helped by having a lot of alone time with them in her office! Which shows grooming/favorites is definitely a pattern, Wow!”
Hall is given all clear
After two days of waiting, the Broken Bow police called her on April 17 to come in for an interview.
“The interview didn’t last long at all. They told me they had already interviewed the student. He had also been interviewed by Kids Kottage in Idabel, where the investigators there had found no evidence of anything at all. The Broken Bow police had found no evidence of any wrongdoing. They proceeded to tell me my entire staff was interviewed and found no evidence amongst them of any wrongdoing. After my interview, I was given all clear,” said Hall.
She was so relieved, but the damage had already been done to her mental health, to her reputation, to her family and friends. She is trying to make sense of it all.
On April 18, she ventured a little back into the world to some of her familiar surroundings.
“Friday, I resumed my activities with my theater group, because I felt safe with them. They are a wonderful group of people I feel comfortable with. It was such a relief to know I had finally been given all clear by the BBPD and the investigators. But I am still struggling, it’s hard,” she said.
All of this could have been avoided.
“None of it should have been on social media in the first place. What did it accomplish? Who did it help? People should ask those questions before they post parents’ names, or children’s names, teachers’ names, entire school systems. Just who are you hurting and why? So sad that it was ever put on social media. That isn’t helping any kids. Social media isn’t the place to discuss any type of abuse. It only hurts and creates victims. Now everyone knows who this student is, and he is now a victim in this story,” said Hall.
“Sadly, people feel safe behind a keyboard and don’t realize the depth of trauma or hurt they cause on that TRA page by posting basically lies backed by unseen evidence. Only backed by one woman’s words. No official documents are provided. Nothing, just Minchew’s own hearsay. What I have lived through for the last few days not only did this hurt me; it hurt my family and friends. They read all of the lies on Facebook knowing it wasn’t true, but I didn’t want them to engage in the fight.”
Attention grabber?
“When I look at that TRA page, it reminds me of a woman expressing anything to grab someone’s attention by saying, ‘I have seen the CPS reports myself. I have tips from the courthouse myself. I have tips. I have sources’ and on and on. It is similar to a heckler at a circus trying to lure an attendee to a freak show. A modern-day hook,” said Hall.
She supports the law enforcement and is so thankful for their investigation into this matter.
“I would like to thank the Broken Bow Police Department, and all of the investigators, for the thoroughness of their investigation. I appreciate their efforts to protect the children of our community, and the great job they did in clearing me.
“I would also like to thank the community for the outpouring of love and support I received, which was overwhelming,” said Hall.
Main goal to help children
“I am all about protecting children, but I am about protecting children in the right way. Minchew’s posts, her TRA Facebook page, cause nothing but drama and heartache. More unforgivably, it hurt my kids at school by creating a very stressful environment. They didn’t understand what was going on. The stress Minchew created is what I really can’t forgive her for. The environment she created at my school. The stress she put on my teachers, which affected the kids, which in turn created a toxic environment, none of them deserved. That is the biggest thing I can’t forgive her for: hurting my staff and my kids at school,” said Hall.
Minchew continues to post about it.
“Kids Kottage DID NOT release that forensic interview to the newspaper! The family has not even heard the results of it! So, while everyone enjoys reading all the lies on fb and In the newspaper u are make our children targets even worse!
The newspaper never stated that it received anything from Kids Kottage, of course. The agency submitted its report to Broken Bow police, who then included in their report what the agency had stated.
It was in the April 16 police report that the Kids Kottage statement read: “(Student) stated that someone called his mom and told her the principal “Hall” had said inappropriate things to him, which he stated is not true. (Student) stated he takes water to ms. Hall to help her, she has diabetes. He talks to her about school, home life and roping. (Student) stated Hall helps him with roping during recess and after. It started about a month ago. SA screening no concerns at this time. Unable to confirm any allegations.”
Hall is seeking legal action against Minchew.
“She needs to be stopped. Bullying in any form needs to be put to an end. The only way to do it is to speak out about it.”
