l BEFORE THE TEACHER STANDARDS AND PRACTICES COMMISSION 2 OF THE STATE OF OREGON 3 4 In the Matter of the Educator ) DEFAULT ORDER OF 5 License of ) REVOCATION OF 6 JAMES MICHAEL WRIGHT ) RIGHT TO APPLY 7 8 9 On April 17, 2014, the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (Commission) 10 issued a Notice of Opportunity for Hearing to James Michael Wright (Wright) in which the 11 Commission charged him with Gross Neglect of Duty. The Notice was sent via U.S. First 12 Class Mail and U.S. Certified Mail Receipt 7010 2780 0000 2187 2951 to the address on file l3 with the Commission. The Notice designated the Commission file as the record for purposes l4 of proving a prima facie case. The Certified Mail receipt was returned to the Commission 15 “signed” on April 22, 2014. The first class mail was not returned to the Commission. The l6 Notice of Opportunity of Hearing, dated April 17, 2014, and signed by Victoria Chamberlain, 17 Executive Director, stated: 18 “IF A REQUEST FOR HEARING IS NOT RECEIVED WITHIN THIS 21-DAY l9 PERIOD, YOUR RIGHT TO A HEARING SHALL BE CONSIDERED WAIVED 2O UNLESS YOUR FAILURE TO REQUEST A HEARING WAS BEYOND YOUR 21 REASONABLE CONTROL. IF YOU DO NOT REQUEST A HEARING OR IF YOU 22 FAIL TO APPEAR AT A HEARING, THE COMMISSION WILL ADOPT AN ORDER 23 OF DEFAULT WHICH MAY INCLUDE THE REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF 24 YOUR LICENSE OR OTHER DISCIPLINE.” 25 26 On May 1, 2014, Wright requested a hearing. The hearing was scheduled for April 20-21, 27 2015. On April 16, 2015 Wright notified the Commission he would not appear for the 28 hearing as scheduled. The Commission, therefore, finds Wright to be in default and enters 29 the following findings of fact, conclusions of law, and final order, based on the files and 30 records 0f the Commission concerning this matter. 31 32 FINDINGS OF FACT 33 1. The Commission has licensed Wright since April 23, 2010. Wright previously held 34 an Initial I Teaching License valid from April 23, 2010, through June 6, 2013, with 35 endorsements in Biology (HS) and Social Studies (HS). Wright has not made 36 application for renewal of his licensure. During all relevant times, Wright was 37 employed by the McMinnville School District as a substitute teacher. PAGE 1~DEFAULT ORDER OF REVOCATION OF RIGHT TO APPLY- JAMES MICHAEL WRIGHT l 2 2. On February 21, 2013, the Commission received a report from the McMinnville 3 School District indicating Wright may have committed acts which constitute gross 4 neglect of duty. A subsequent investigation determined that during the 2011- 2012 5 school year, Wright created a fictitious Facebook profile depicting himself as a local 6 high school student under the name “Trashcannius Maximus”. Wright explained to 7 investigators that he created this account to “snoop” on students, t0 get the real story 8 on drug dealing, bullying, and gang activity. Wright chose the trashcan theme of his 9 fake identity because other student profiles had used similar themes, and Wright 10 believed it would help him infiltrate the student community better. Using Wright’s 1 l fictitious profile, Wright participated in the following inappropriate conduct: 12 a) Wright “friended” multiple students, including a minor aged, female student l3 (ZH), while posing as a student himself. Wright claims he did this to monitor 14 students for inappropriate and illegal activities, but Wright is unable to support 15 this with any significant action 0r reporting on his part. Wright admitted that he 16 kept his “Trashcannius” profile a secret from everyone, including school officials 17 because Wright felt it was inappropriate for a teacher to be snooping on students. 18 b) Wright posted comments and information on Facebook, purporting to be a l9 student himself to gain student trust. According to involved students, this 20 included Wright posting information or responding to other’s posts in a manner 21 that would constitute bullying. 22 c) Wright took a special interest in student ZH, who was a student in a class 23 Wright‘s wife (Audrey Wright) taught full time, and Wright knew from substitute 24 teaching in his wife’s classroom. Wright engaged ZH in personal conversations 25 via the Facebook instant messaging system. These messages included 26 inappropriate conversations about ZH’s personal life and Wright telling her he 27 thought she was “Cute” on occasion. 28 d) On multiple occasions, ZH requested that Wright reveal his identity, and Wright 29 refused. Once, Wright requested that ZH meet him at a coffee shop where Wright 30 would reveal his true identity. ZH refused to meet with Wright because she was 31 afraid and did not think it was safe to meet someone in that manner. Wright 32 eventually told ZH who he was. ZH reported she felt betrayed, uncomfortable PAGE 2-DEFAULT ORDER OF REVOCATION OF RIGHT TO APPLY— JAMES MICHAEL WRIGHT ‘ l and “weird” because of Wright’s behavior. Because of Wright’s conduct, ZH 2 blocked conversations with Wright on Facebook. Wright contacted ZH from 3 other Facebook accounts that he controlled, but ZH refused to accept Wrights 4 friend requests and told her mother about Wright’s conduct. 5 e) ZH and her mother reported Wright’s conduct to Wright’s wife, Audrey Wright. 6 ZH and her mother requested that Wright not have any contact with ZH in the 7 future. Wrights wife did not report Wrights behavior to school officials or other 8 authorities. Wright did not stop substituting in ZH’s classroom. When Wright 9 did substitute in Zl-l’s classroom, ZH either did not show up for class or did her 10 studies in another classroom in order to avoid contact with Wright because she 1 l felt so uncomfortable. 12 f) During interviews, Wright admitted he was “obviously” not emotionally well l3 equipped to handle teaching, he was not well equipped to teach, and Wright “was 14 late to the maturity party”. Wright stated he never intended to harm ZH, and the 15 situation had snowballed and “got beyond him”. l6 17 CONCLUSIONS OF LAW l8 James Michael Wright engaged in unprofessional conduct as described in section two 19 (2) above. Wright's conduct detailed above, constitutes gross neglect 0f duty in violation of 20 ORS 342.175(1)(b); OAR 584-020-004o(4)(n) as it incorporates OAR 584-020-oo1o(5) (Use 21 professional judgment); OAR 584-020-0040(4)(o) as is incorporates OAR 584-020- 22 0035(1)(b) (Refrain from exploiting relationships with any student for personal gain, or in 23 support of persons 0r issues), OAR 584-020-0035(1)(c)(A) (Not demonstrating or 24 expressing professionally inappropriate interest in a student's personal life), OAR 584-020- 25 0035(1)(c)(B) (Not accepting or giving or exchanging romantic 0r overly personal gifts 0r 26 notes with a student), and OAR 584-020-0035(1)(c)(D) (Honoring appropriate adult 27 boundaries with students in conduct and conversation at all times). 28 29 The C0mmission’s authority t0 impose discipline in this matter is based upon ORS 30 342.175. PAGE 3-DEFAULT ORDER OF REVOCATION OF RIGHT To APPLY- JAMES MICHAEL WRIGHT 1 2 FINAL ORDER 3 The Commission hereby revokes James Michael Wright’s right t0 apply for an 4 Educator licensure. 5 441 6 IT rs so ORDERED THIS ZO /day of M , 20 no’. 7 TEACHER STANDARDS AND PRACTICES COMMISSION 8 By: 9 Victoria Chamberlain, Executive Director 10 ll NOTICE OF APPEAL OR RIGHTS 12 13 YOU ARE ENTITLED TO JUDICIAL REVIEW OF THIS ORDER. JUDICIAL REVIEW l4 MAY BE OBTAINED BY FILING A PETITION FOR REVIEW WITHIN 6O DAYS FROM 15 THE SERVICE OF THIS ORDER. JUDICIAL REVIEW IS PURSUANT TO THE 16 PROVISIONS OF ORS 183.482 TO THE OREGON COURT OF APPEALS. PAGE +DEFAULT ORDER OF REVOCATION OF RIGHT TO APPLY- JAMES MICHAEL WRIGHT CERTIFICATE OF MAILING I hereby certify that I served the foregoing notice of final order, certified by me as such, by mailing U.S. First Class Mail and U.S. Certified Mail—Return Receipt Requested, addressed to: James Michael Wright 350 Bridge Street Sheridan OR 97378 Dated this @‘M day of @Z/ , 20/5. By: 4 % Cristina Edgar Investigator PAGE 1- CERTIFICATE OF MAILING- JAMEs MICHAEL WRIGHT