Troy High School dismissals prompt citizen committee creation

In wake of Cecil McDougall’s dismissal from Troy Public Schools, a committee of 58 community members has formed, The Committee for Educational Justice, which aims to be more educated and involved in the Troy Public Schools, specifically the Troy School Board meetings.

Fran McCully, Wayne Andersen and Eloise Aldrich came together after the May school board meeting in which members of the school board discussed the dismissal of McDougall. They decided to start a group discussion concerning the dismissal, and posted fliers all over town.

The group has already accumulated nearly 60 members.

McCully, who’s lived in Troy her whole life and was a Troy City Council member for four years, said that she has always encouraged people to be involved in their community.

That’s part of the reason McCully is a member and helped start The Committee for Educational Justice that meet and discuss their concerns about the Troy Public Schools. The group has met twice, with their main goal being, according to McCully, “to learn and be involved.”

McCully addressed the board at the Monday Troy School Board Meeting with her concerns about the terminations and process of terminations, specifically the termination of McDougall.

Fran began by reading a quote made by the Troy High School guidance counselor Kelly Palmer at a prior meeting, in which he said that the community had “slipped into an entitlement mentality,” and dismissed the Support Cecil movement as not knowing the true reasons and extensive history that lead to his termination.

“Is this the way a district should respond to the concerns of anyone in the community,” McCully said to the board after reading the quote. “I am not the parent of an expelled student, nor am the angry parent of a disciplined student. I am not a former or soon to be former employee. I definitely do not have an entitlement mentality, therefore that must leave me as the ‘negative social influence.’ Actually, what I am is insulted.”

McCully ended her comment there.

The next day, McCully explained her comment at the meeting.

“It disturbed me that comments like that were made to concerned citizens,” she said. “I live in Troy and you hear things over the years and there’s a process to go through and people complain and complain but they never go through the process.”

According to McDougall’s personnel file, over the years, McDougall had many complaints and concerns about him made by observers, administration, and other teachers. The reasons listed as to why McDougall was dismissed are listed as: failure to create an environment conducive to high expectations; failure to create an active learning environment; poor supervision of students; inadequate lesson planning; inadequate assessments; failure to hold students accountable; unprofessional behavior and unsafe conditions in the shop area.

“When [the school board] fired [McDougall], I heard from some sources that he was in trouble and I wasn’t sure why,” Carl Peterson, member of the Committee for Educational Justice, said. Peterson took two adult education shop classes from McDougall.

“I have never heard of any bad situations with Cecil McDougall,” Peterson said. “No one that I ever spoke to had anything bad to say about Cecil. I feel that the guy is a true, 100 percent asset for the city and the school especially.”

“I built all my furniture for my dining room in the adult education shop,” Eloise Aldrich, a former employee at Troy High School and former student of McDougall, said.

Aldrich worked for the army for 20 years and moved back to Troy, her hometown in the 1980s. Aldrich worked in the kitchen and as a custodian for Troy High School for around 19 years.

According to Aldrich, during her last few years of employment, her main task was to clean the shop room.

“There was nothing that I saw that was a real safety hazard,” Aldrich said. “And even if there was, that’s the custodian’s job to report that.”

Not all of the concerns of the committee have to do with Cecil McDougall. Wayne Anderson, a retiree and longtime educator, said that his main concerns are with the school board itself.

“Francom has way too much power,” Anderson said. “They gave Francom the power of principal and superintendent, so he’s basically his own boss.”

Anderson also has concerns about the treatment of students at the school.

“It seems like that if you’re not one of the elite students, that you don’t get as much attention there,” Anderson said.

In regards to the May school board meeting, where McDougall was dismissed, Anderson said, “After seeing all of the support at the meeting they should have seen that and maybe gave him a year probation.”

McCully said while the Committee for Educational Justice has become involved in controversial issues, the main objective is to become more aware of the actions made by the school board.

“I know they’re looking at us and thinking it’s trouble, but we are just trying to learn and trying to be involved,” McCully said.

For more information on The Committee for Educational Justice, contact Aldrich at 406-295-4494.

Reporter Bethany Rolfson may be reached at 293-4124 or by email at Reporter@TheWesternNews.com.