in Schools
Follow up to the situation regarding former EHMS Teacher, Derek Spitzer
The Park City School District issued a second release on former teacher Derek Spitzer, who was fired for inappropriate communications with a student and taken into police custody. You can download the press release here, or read the contents below:
Follow up to the situation regarding former EHMS Teacher, Derek Spitzer
What can we do to prevent future inappropriate email interactions?
The Park City School District uses Google as our email provider. A technology review is in process and PCSD is currently testing a Google product that will allow keyword filtering which in turn will alert us if/when there is inappropriate content. Additionally, Park City School District is currently working with Barracuda Network (the district archiver) to investigate the level of controls that might be available as the information is being sent and/or archived.
In addition, the district wants to reinforce that students need to be reminded, they are a first line of defense and that contacting a trusted adult if they receive “any” information that makes them feel uncomfortable is important in combating this issue. We have also provided services through our counseling department. Counselors and teachers read a prepared statement regarding the recent incident at Ecker Hill to EHMS, PCHS and TMJH Students over the last three days.
The following information was shared:
Facts about Mr. Spitzer-
- He was a music teacher at Ecker dismissed from his job earlier this month.
- He taught at different schools in the Park City School District over the last 12 years.
- He was arrested for inappropriate electronic communication with a student.
- He used his position as a teacher in an unacceptable way to deceive a student.
- The student was very brave and courageous. The student did exactly what they had been taught to do.
- Out of respect for the student, there willbe no speculation as to who the student is.
- Students are to discuss details of the allegations with parents and not here at school.
- No one ever wants to be named or the subject of a rumor. Even if joking, these statements can be hurtful to students and can be considered harassment. They may also discourage students coming forward now and in the future.
- If there is something the school needs to know, please inform the school right away.
- Students should trust their instincts and keep open communication with trusted adults
- Tell a trusted adult, if they don’t listen tell another trusted adult. “It doesn’t stop until you tell.”
- Remember the information and skills that have been taught by parents and counselors through the elementary years.
- Students will be asked to imagine if they were the one that had been taken advantage of by a teacher this way and were in this student’s place. Think about what they would be going through and what this student might be going through. Think about what it would feel like to hear their name in rumors.
- There are extra counselors available if anyone needs to talk to one.
Please mark April 21, 2016 on your calendars as the district will be hosting Detective Christina Sally from the Summit County Children’s Justice Center to discuss what parents can do to be involved in conversation with their children and adolescents regarding keeping themselves safe. In addition, PCSD will have an update to technology filters and future prevention. The meeting is scheduled for the lecture hall at Park City High School at 6:00 PM
in Sundance
Robert Redford Calls it Like He Sees It
I’m not much of a Sundance person. I usually see many of the films, but not until they’ve found their way onto HBO, Netflix, etc. Yet, I always watch the opening day interviews with Robert Redford. Why? Because he calls it like he sees it. He not only provides a view into the “State of the Film Industry” but a view into the state of the world. He’s usually a few steps ahead of the rest. My favorite theme of his is that despite everything, be it virtual reality, big budget, or no budget, a movie is about telling a story. His words and vision just make sense to me personally.
So when a Friend of the Park Rag pointed me toward an AP story entitled, “Robert Redford knows Sundance has gotten too big,” I took notice. It’s not that Redford thinks that Sundance should abandon Park City. It’s that he senses a change is coming. A few quotes from the story include:
- “I’m starting to hear some negative comments about how crowded it is and how difficult it is to get from venue to venue when there’s traffic and people in the streets and so forth,” Redford said. “We’re going to have to look at that.”
- “When actors came who were well known, then the paparazzi came. Then once the paparazzi came, the fashion houses came. Suddenly this thing was going haywire,” he said, laughing that the recession actually helped temper the frivolousness a bit.
- “As it grew, so did the crowds, so did the development in Park City. Well, at some point, if both those things continue to grow, they’re going to begin to choke each other,” Redford said. “So then I have to think about, oh, do we now risk being who we are in the first place? Do we risk (losing) the heart and soul of what we were when we started against the odds. … Do we have to now rethink things?”
- “You have a couple of choices. You can go hard and say we’re going to stop it. Say ‘that’s the end.’ Let it go. Let someone else do it,” he said. “Or, you say well, if you want to keep it going, we can’t keep it going the way things are.”
- “One thought Redford had was to break up the festival into sections, instead of cramming narrative, documentaries, shorts and everything else into a tight 10 days in January. So, in this scenario, narrative features could play in January, and February would be for documentaries.”
It’d be hard to argue with Redford based upon this year’s festival. It’s likely the appearance of UberCopters said enough by themselves. Yet, it will be interesting to see how the festival changes in the next few years. I’m sure Mr. Redford doesn’t even know himself. He’s not the only component in the massive machine that Sundance has become. Yet, I can envision Mr. Redford standing on Bald Mountain looking out over the landscape … having watched a storm roll in. He knew it was coming, but now he’s in the middle of it (It’s always harder when you are in the middle of a storm to take action). What do you do?
Do you stare into it straight on, like an action hero, and hope to ride it out? Do you take cover and hope for the best? Do you flee the mountain while you still have a chance? Do you send your group off in different directions, hoping some will survive?
It has all the trappings of a great movie, and better yet, the protagonist and antagonist, are the same being. You just can’t make this stuff up.
That’s why the changes over the next few years of Sundance will likely end up making a great story.
h/t to the Friend of the Park Rag who let us know about this story.
in Park City
Bomb Threats and Counter Terrorism in Park City? WTF?
I feel like I’ve woken up this Monday morning in Park City Bizzaro Land. First I read that not only did the Utah Attorney General’s office going undercover to investigate Human Trafficking at Sundance but that “undercover agents also attend[ed] film screenings that authorities believe might have potential for some type of disturbance, including terrorism.” Don’t get me wrong, I get the correlation to what happened with Charlie Hebdo, but that frankly amazes me. I’m torn at trying to understand whether this is an overreaction by what some would call the “rise of the police state” or whether the likelihood of such an event actually extends into the 1% or greater range. Perhaps it’s bad either way.
Then I read about bomb threats tied to the TangerOutlet Mall and two police facilities. Evidently a bomb threat was called into the police at about 9PM on Saturday, with a voice that sounded like it was tape recorded. While the local police agencies deemed it was likely a hoax, they evacuated the mall — as they should have. No 75% off sale is worth even the small chance of being blown up in Park City (did I just write that?).
Looks like we’ve come a long ways from teenage parties being busted up by the Summit County Sherrif. At some point, people are going to question whether hosting Sundance is worth it. I tend to think it is, because so many of our businesses make it or break it in those 10 days…but it sure seems the times are a changing.
in Sundance
Human Trafficking at Sundance?
I’ll chalk this one up to something I never considered…
According to KSL, the Utah Attorney General’s Office went undercover at parties and red carpet events at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. What were they looking for? Human Trafficking. The Attorney General’s office defines human trafficking as “a modern-day form of slavery involving the illegal trade of people for exploitation or commercial gain. Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to lure their victims and force them into labor or commercial sexual exploitation.”
KSL says that the investigators didn’t find anything specific but “when it comes to the human trafficking element, we gained a lot of intelligence this year. We’re going to build a better game plan for next year. We do know there are some signs of human trafficking during Sundance,” said Nate Mutter, section chief for the attorney general’s public corruption unit. Next year they say they are going to try to attend more high end parties where it may take more cash to receive an invite.
Attorney General Sean Reyes did make it clear that human trafficking isn’t something specific to Sundance but that the activity often accompanies large scale events around the country.
To me, it all seems like something out of HBO’s True Detective, where high rollers are willing to pay to get WHATEVER they want. I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that those types of people come to Park City for one of the biggest film festivals in the world. It’s unfortunate that it happens anywhere. It’s especially unfortunate that something that Park City depends upon seems to have such a seedy underbelly.
in Schools
Child Molestors in Park City Schools
A few days ago we posted a press release from the Park City School District about a teacher that was fired for “inappropriate communications” with a student and had been taken into police custody. Bubba Brown at the Park Record filled in the blanks by telling us that a teacher was charged with: “solicitation to commit sodomy upon a child and solicitation to commit aggravated sexual abuse of a child, both first-degree felonies, as well as second- and third-degree counts of enticing a minor by Internet or text.”
In today’s world, people who commit these acts are often called “Sexual Predators.” However, this tends to obfuscate what’s often really happening. So, we at the ParkRag are going to call these people Child Molesters. The connotation of “Child Molester” is in line with the act. We hope there is a special place in hell (and/or prison) for people who prey upon children.
With that said, the Park City School District needs to put every precaution in place to catch these type of bast*rds, before it requires a child to report the incident AFTER 500 EMAILS HAVE BEEN EXCHANGED. Yes, according to the Park Record, there were 500 emails going back and forth between the teacher and the child. Incredible.
My “day job” is in IT. My company works with the largest banks in the country and those banks have a requirement that we screen EVERY email in our entire company for certain content. Likewise, most banks require that our computer network watches traffic and notifies personnel if certain content passes through our systems. It’s not hard to do these checks and has become commonplace. That’s why I find the fact that that 500 emails passed between student and teacher (on this topic) so incredible. If, as the Park Record reported, this communication happened via school computers, it likely points to gross negligence on the Park City School District’s part and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lawsuit arise from this matter.
Yet, what about the future? How are future children protected? How are these vicious acts stopped before hundreds of emails are exchanged?
A start would be utilizing technology and hiring someone to administer it.
What should our district be doing at a minimum?
- Use email filters that look for certain keywords/concepts and notify district personnel when those keywords are used in an email from any staff or student.
- Track the number of communications between staff and students.
- All local school network traffic should be monitored by systems looking for unusual traffic and content.
I’m not advocating that the school district “spy” on every teacher in Park City. However, I am advocating for ensuring that a computerized filter is put in place that automatically (without human intervention) looks at every email sent, every website a person uses, every Instagram a person sends and notifies proper personnel in questionable cases. Of course, this won’t stop a malicious teacher or staff member who uses gmail and emails a student’s gmail account… however we could also drill into our student’s heads that the only communication with a teacher or faculty should come from a school email address.
It’s not fool proof, but it does add an extra layer of complexity that a child molester has to work through if they are trying endanger our children.
The scary part of this is the statistics. We have heard of 3 incidents in Park City in the last two years in Park City. Yet, statistics show that up to 7% of students will be sexually abused by those working in the school system. In Park City, if we have 4000 students matriculating through our district, that would be 280 students that will be sexually abused. We know of less than 10. Either we are very lucky or we have a problem that hasn’t been discovered yet.
Years ago, a friend of a friend worked at a college in Salt Lake as the college’s security administrator. He was responsible for monitoring the traffic on the school’s network. His job was to filter through the typical content that some may call egregious (like pornography) and watch for those people who may take that a step further into illegal areas. It wasn’t complicated. Yet it was important. He was much like an early warning system that was watching for potential problems. He was able to alert authorities when his systems highlighted an issue. Did it prevent all abuse on campus? No. Did it help? Yes.
If the Park City School District doesn’t have both systems in place and people to monitor them, then this seems like priority number 1. If they do have systems, but nothing is being found, then personnel and/or systems need to be upgraded. This is a huge problem and HAS BEEN A HUGE problem for more than a decade. Our school district needs to do more than host meetings about the issue. Simply educating parents and students is not enough in this case. The school district needs to help solve it. It’s their responsibility.
I am happy to do my civic duty and help in any way possible. If anyone from the school district or parents at home have questions, feel free to email me at help@parkrag.com. I’m not an expert but I’m wiling to help and can get you answers from technology experts in this field if necessary.
in Election
Hey, whatever became of…
Remember the election a few months ago? What about those allegations of electioneering charged against both sides in the school bond election?
If you recall, the Park Record reported, “According to a press release issued late Wednesday by the county attorney’s office, there have been reports of school district representatives potentially using public funds to campaign in favor of the bond, which would violate the Political Activities of Public Entities Act. The county attorney’s office has also received reports that opponents of the bond may have violated the Utah Election Code by campaigning on school property.”
I haven’t heard anything about it since. Perhaps it was just a warning shot fired from the county attorney toward both parties. Perhaps it has all been forgotten?
I just hope the lesson learned isn’t that anything goes, even if it violates state law. If so, that could make for some ugly future elections.
in Schools
Former Ecker Hill Middle School Teacher Taken into Sheriff’s Custody
The Park City School District released information on the Sheriff taking a former Ecker Hill Middle School Teacher info into custody. The release reads:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2016
Park City School District has been informed by the Summit County Sheriff’s office that Derek Spitzer, a former teacher at Ecker Hill Middle School, was taken into custody earlier today.
Mr. Spitzer was placed on leave when the District became aware of a complaint about inappropriate communications with a student. As a result of the District’s internal investigation, Mr. Spitzer was notified of his termination on January 12, 2016.
Based on the complaint, the Summit County Sheriff’s office opened a criminal investigation. The district has been cooperating with the Summit County Sheriff and County Attorney’s office in the subsequent investigation of Mr. Spitzer. We will continue to work with their offices to ensure that no other students were impacted.
Any questions regarding this matter are to be directed to Joy Natale at the Summit County Attorney’s office. (435) 615-3818.
in Vail
Yet, Yet, Yet, Yet Another Reason Park City Sucks
I know you are probably sick of hearing “another reason” Park City Sucks. Yet, every time I see a new area where Vail has co-opted the Park City name, it adds to the breadth of the ramifications from their decision to use “Park City” for everything they do here.
The latest comes to us from First Tracks Online Ski Magazine. The title PARK CITY ANNOUNCES ANNUAL SPRING CONCERT SERIES LINEUP sums it up. When I began to read it, I thought the city of Park City had announced a concert series. AWESOME! Then I got to the second paragraph and it told me that Park City was the largest ski resort in North America. To the initiated, that’s the dead giveaway that we’re reading sponsored content from our friends at Vail.
As I have stated before, Vail using the name “Park City” is confusing. Now, it appears the music scene has be co-opted too. I envision at some point I’ll be reading that the “Park City School District did…” and I’ll have to stop and think, “did Vail buy a charter school?”
Not cool.
in Vail
Damn the Torpedoes Full Speed Ahead
Day Break will not be on DELAY this morning for snow safety
— ParkCityMtnAlert (@PCMtnAlert) January 24, 2016
in Film Studio, Sundance
In hindsight what was the perfect place for the Sundance UberCopters to land?
With all the hubbub over WHETHER the Sundance UberCopter could land in Park City or Summit County, did we miss the more obvious question?
Where was the perfect place for UberCopters to land?
The Park City Film Studio.
Nothing is going on there (that we know of) since Big Oil departed. They have plenty of land. They could have put in a helipad. They could have got permits. They are close to Main Street and venues. They would likely have benefited from it.
Yet, they didn’t.
That might tell you everything you need to know about the Park City Film Studios.
Parkrag
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