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On February 1st, 2023 Casteel High School Yoga Teacher Maryjojce Ramirez was informed that her syllabus was in violation of district policy for make-up work when students had an excused absence. After she was notified that she was not permitted to withhold points from students for make-up work submitted as a result of an excused absence, as she had been doing to my daughter, Ramirez ignored this fact, and not only did she continued to violate policy, but then started to also deduct class credit from my daughter by withholding participation points when she was not considered absent.  Later Ms Ramirez was further notified that per district policy, any student that is excused for early release after the midpoint of the period is considered present, and cannot be penalized for the early release. Again Ramirez chose to ignore the fact that she had been informed she was further violating school policy and continued to do so.  Additionally, Ramirez refused to allow my daughter to make-up the points she wrongly withheld due to an early release. 

Principal Phillips was notified, and after I made several attempts to schedule an in person meeting between the three of us, Ms Ramirez refused to meet.  Eventually Mr. Phillips confirmed the policy on make-up, yet according to Ms Ramirez, (per email) “Mr. Philips and I (she) came to an agreement that for (your daughter) to earn more participation points back, she will do extra make-up work.”  This was not acceptable and when I informed Mr. Phillips of Ramirez’s claims, he eventually corrected her. However, it was not until March 6th that Ramirez was required to alter her syllabus to comply with policy and return all points wrongfully deducted from my daughter’s grades as a result of her repeated violations. Ramirez was so rude, condescending and unprofessional from then on when addressing my daughter in private, and in front of her class, to such a degree that her classmates would regularly comment to my daughter about her inappropriate behavior. 

Before Ramirez was instructed return the points she had withheld, my daughter had received full points for virtually every day she was present. However, after Ramirez was required to return the class credit she had wrongfully deducted, I noticed that participation points were continually being deducted for unwarranted reasons. Many of these points were eventually returned only after Principal Phillips was notified that Ramirez had been wrongly withholding points.

One day my daughter came to class early to discuss why she had lost points, and Ramirez made her wait several minutes before acknowledging her presence after she had asked multiple times to speak to her about her grade. After finally speaking to my daughter and delaying her from getting dressed in time for class, Ramirez decided to deduct 25% of her participation points for that day, despite the fact she arrived to class early. Ramirez said she removed the class credit because my daughter was not dressed on time.  

To be clear, although my daughter was delayed, it was a result of an intention in good faith to discuss her grade with Ms Ramirez before class. This caused her to be dressed about a two minutes late, and although she was dressed and prepared for class before instruction began, Ramirez found another reason to deduct points.

Additionally, Ramirez had always allowed students to submit make-up work weeks beyond the minimum district mandate of 24 hours per excused absence, yet the one time my daughter was one day beyond the district required minimum for submitting make-up work, after Ramirez was forced to return the points she wrongfully withheld, she refused to give my daughter any points for the assignment.  

On May 11th, 2023 my daughter was picked up early from yoga class, after Ramirez introduced a group project that was due five days later.  The grade for this assignment was to be issued by the fellow group members from one to ten points.  The next day my daughter’s group members told her that Ramirez had instructed them to reduce points from her grade because she left early, knowingly and deliberately violating everything she had been told. 

Because Mr. Phillips told me Ramirez had denied ever telling the students to lower my daughter’s grade, the group members were interviewed then re-interviewed by Mr. Phillips.  Despite the fact that verbal and written statements have been documented by video recordings, and the official witness statements have been obtained, Mr. Phillips claims that the student witnesses never told him, or ever wrote in their statements that Ms Ramirez told them not to give my daughter full points. The following photos and videos have been officially submitted as evidence to the CUSD in unredacted form…

To clarify, the group was given five days to complete this project. There were sixteen poses performed, and my daughter was responsible for six, the other students in the group had five each.

I have provided a detailed timeline to the District (CUSD) describing most of the inappropriate behavior, multiple violations and continued attempts by Ramirez to unjustifiably reduce my daughter’s grade at every possible opportunity she could find. Every action unjustly taken against her by Ramirez has been reported to Phillips and documented by email, official witness statements, and/or recorded conversations, and additional witnesses are willing to come forward if needed.

As a whole we believe there is substantial evidence to prove a case for bullying and/or harassment against Ms Ramirez. Furthermore, we believe the evidence provides proof that Principal Phillips has lied about what student witnesses told him and officially stated in writing, and our District administrators are fully aware of this.

Additional supporting evidence submitted to the CUSD will be posted soon.

Please feel free to share your thoughts about the evidence as it is released with Mr. Phillips or Ms Ramirez, and/or the administrators that are claiming “Mr. Phillips did not lie”, and have officially declared this situation resolved without acknowledging any wrongdoing whatsoever including, but not limited to, bullying or harassment.

Principal Jason Phillips, phillips.jayson@cusd80.com
Yoga Teacher MaryJoyce Ramirez, ramirez.maryjoyce@gse.cusd80.com

Superintendent Frank Narducci, Narducci.Frank@cusd80.com
Assistant Superintendent Craig Gilbert, gilbert.craig@cusd80.com
Assistant Superintendent Wendy Nance, nance.wendy@cusd80.com
Dan Serrano, serrano.dan@cusd80.com
Ken James, james.ken@cusd80.com

I invite you to join me in seeking accountability by sharing any instances of inappropriate conduct mishandled by school or district administration that you or your student may have experienced. Together, we can work towards creating a safe and supportive environment for all students. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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