Whistleblower Silenced For Reporting Abuse

 

"One of the greatest impediments to preventing student abuse is the culture of secrecy in which so many schools operate."

 

“Working with special needs children was my calling, they took away my calling.” said Chelsea

 

The calling to work with those having special needs came at an early age for Chelsea Maslanka; her mother having worked in a similar capacity when she was a child. It was during these childhood years that she first witnessed the joy that simple acts of kindness and caring could bring for those with special needs. For the few like Chelsea, the need to nurture and help is part of their core; an immutable set of traits that provide them the ability to show true kindness, empathy and love for others in need.

 

She is one of the rare people that never stops giving of herself to those in need. She was the rock for her partner as he battled Stage 2 Adrenal Cancer with a 50% survival rate; caring for him and being a mom to their then 2 year old daughter at the same time. She channeled this compassion for life and others into operating a farm/animal rescue called Lucky Creek Ranch in Mcnairy County Tennessee that barely provided her enough money to survive and feed her own child. Yet she still chose to open her home to a foreign exchange student from France that she saw being mistreated and neglected. She knew that while she may not be able to buy her fancy things or place her in the lap of luxury; she could at the very least give her a sense of family and love while she was so far from home.

 

Along with necessity as the sole breadwinner, it was also her need to nurture and provide love that led her to employment with the Mcnairy County School system as a Special Education Assistant; a job she loved and described as her calling. Because she knew that for some of these children, the 6 or so hours they spend at school each day may be the only chance they have to experience caring and love. However, almost immediately after accepting the position she found herself immersed in an uncaring factory mentality of abuse and neglect by teachers, aides and administrators. Children locked in high chairs or wheelchairs for hours at a time, or entire days as it was easier than having to care for them and allowed neglectful staff members time to play on their phones. Children struck or thrown in a padded room for minor offenses, children constantly threatened with a paddle, reminded of how much it would hurt, children publicly ridiculed by their teachers and shamed in front of their entire class for small errors etc. At her core, she knew this was wrong, and that parents would be outraged to know how their children are being treated.

 

As a mandatory reporter of child abuse she began to document what she was witnessing and reported it to the Principal of her elementary school, Mrs. Pamela Simon; who at the time, acted as if she cared and gave the impression that she would take the appropriate action defined by state law. This would require her to contact the parents of children that were suspected of being abused, law enforcement, and child services etc. However, unbeknownst to Chelsea the secretive culture of keeping things in house, hiding abuse and sweeping problems under the rug ran miles deep at this institution. So instead of following procedure the Principle gave a slap on the wrist write up to the employee that was reported on and whom admitted that she hit kids. She later relayed this information back to Chelsea and stated nothing further would come from it and that this staff member would continue working with children in spite of her admission to being an abuser.

 

Chelsea also did not know that reporting  would instantly create a hostile work environment wherein she would be ostracized, and punished. Within hours she was dropped from a teachers only group chat, within days she was uninvited to the Christmas Party, she was segregated, her schedule was changed to put her on the run from classroom to classroom throughout the day essentially negating her ability to have a lunch. She was tasked with doing both her work and the work of other aids whilst these other aids sat around and played on their phones, she was moved to the severe disability room etc. Staff members would bring gifts or food for all the other Aides or Teachers and make a big deal about “forgetting to bring one or some for her”. It really became a perverse and abusive environment for this young lady as she was continuously punished for reporting the abusive and neglectful treatment of students at the hands of teachers and aides.

 

But she was determined, and refused to let the continued mistreatment by her coworkers prevent her from being there for the kids, so in the words of Dory “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming” she smiled, treated her tormentors with kindness and continued to do her job so these kids could see some love each day. This only infuriated her tormentors more and in an escalation of aggression, one of them decided to take out that frustration on this young woman’s daughter. Apparently the inability to phase this young lady and force her to quit created such anger that a member of the abuser clique "allegedly" lashed out by kicking her daughter (a pre-k student) in the back while telling her to Shut-Up for crying, causing pain and bruising that lasted over a week. What type of morally bankrupt, unhinged sadist could kick a 4 year old in the back to spite her mother? Perhaps she was trying to put in some work for the kinder-sisters gang and increase her social status amongst the other abusers? I’ve no idea, I just find it so sad when people like that slip through the cracks and end up working with children; a true wolf in sheep’s clothing.

 

As a result of this overt abuse and criminal assault, the child’s father met with the Director Of Schools, Greg Martin and showed him a video of the child explaining what occurred, explained that the child had visible injuries and demanded that action be taken to remove his daughter from contact with that employee, remove that employees access to children and move his daughter to another class; all of which the Director agreed to do that day. However, within two hours of the meeting the Director reached out to the child’s father on the phone and stated that he would not do any of that due to classroom quotas and would simply speak with the principle the following day. The only action taken was that Chelsea was called into the Principal's office later that week and chastised because her partner reported the abuse and assault on his daughter to the Director of Schools and not to her and the Vice Principal. The next day, being a Friday, Chelsea was banished to a vacant computer classroom and told to stay there alone for the entirety of the work day. As the day progressed she asked the Vice Principal numerous times if there was somewhere else she could be to actually do her job, but was told to get back in the computer classroom and stay put alone for the day.

 

The following Monday, when she arrived at school, she was ambushed by the Principal and told to follow her to the county administration offices for an impromptu meeting with the Director of Schools. At this meeting and in a clear act of retaliatory firing and whistle blower silencing she was immediately told that she was being terminated for old Instagram modeling photos, that “parents” had reported them to officials and that they could have a negative effect on operations. It should be pointed out that Chelsea was not listed on the school website as an employee, did not interact with parents, did not walk children out etc. In fact no parents knew of her existence as an employee, except a teacher (also a parent) that Chelsea had reported for abuse, and that admitted to the Principal that she struck children.

 

So a week before Christmas, this young lady is terminated for doing the right thing; for standing up for the kids, for being their voice and for showing the kind of respect and love we hope all those that work around children have. As a result, Chelsea was forced to sell personal belongings, livestock and pets to insure that the family could still have a meaningful Christmas and survive while she secured another job.

 

I don’t want this campaign to come off as a plea for help from a destitute family, as they are proud, hard working people that believe the difference between right and wrong is simple and distinct. I suppose, like the majority of folks I get tired of the have nots consistently being treated as a meaningless and disposable item if they are unwilling to sacrifice their integrity by turning a blind eye to corruption and wrong doing. Those less fortunate, those without means always find themselves at the mercy of those with the means and power; even when the powerful are doing the wrong thing by acting in a way that is contrary to the best interest of others. I’d like to believe that we still have compassion in this world and that people can view a set of facts and make a common sense determination if an injustice has occurred; if a person has been punished for being honest, for caring about others and for putting themselves second. I’ll let you judge the value of this young ladies actions and the hardship it has placed upon her family. The funds for this campaign will be delivered to her family to help sustain them during this hard time and may they also serve as recompense for the suffering endured as a result of being punished for doing the right thing.

 

In fact the entire situation epitomizes the statement that “no good deed, goes unpunished”. The family followed the rules, reported the abuse to both the Police and Child Services (Detective Nathan Harrison, Selmer Police Department, Case #21-01669), but perhaps as a sad testament to how broken modern society is, they said they would get to it after the holidays. So those teachers that admitted to hitting children, will continue to work with children for the foreseeable future as both law enforcement and child services believe their personal New Years Eve parties, family trips and get-togethers are of more importance than actually taking action or investigating. In fact it has been 3 weeks at this point and no one has even interviewed her daughter, but child services did finally call and set up an appointment for the 11th of January, nearly a month after the little girl was kicked in the back and bruised by her teacher.

 

So I leave it up to you, the viewer, fellow parents, and other underappreciated and abused employees to determine if what this young lady has gone through, the abuse her daughter suffered and finding herself jobless right before Christmas warrants a donation on your behalf.