Updates: Ex-Coach Arrested on 2 Felonies

Sunday's Waxahachie Daily Light (Aug 9), it was reported that coach Chris Cameron was arrested on two felonies. Here are a few updates:

According to Megan Gray at The Ellis County Press, she has just obtained the arrest warrant and a mug shot of Chris Cameron.

I am not going to allow the Waxahachie Daily Light to run this guy’s life through the mud. Yes, what occurred between he and the 18-year-old drill team captain was against a bad law. BUT…

According to the story hitting the front page tomorrow in the ECP, the warrant reports that Cameron and Heather Styles engaged in sexual activity “2 to 3 times a week” for over a month.

This girl and her family and the local media will NOT get away with driving a coach’s reputation and life into the hole. If anything at all, BOTH should go down. Equally.

Some might wonder why I’m so ardent in my defense of Cameron. I say this:

Had this been CHRISTINA Cameron, a female coach, and a male student, there would not be a crucify mentality.

Heather Styles is not a victim. She was a willing participant.

Plus, no one seems to advocate for people. I figure since no one else will stake out a claim to defend people (minus a few people, but it’s still rare), I’m going to make sure that at least if anything, the public will get a FULL and FAIR balance, not just a “male-coach-on-female-student-oh-then-he-must-be-sent-away.”

Nope.

If anything, this case has only begun…

I can’t wait to see the story on the front page of the ECP this week.

Those “rumors” weren’t false after all. But I know that any cry for rape or whatever will be met with an immense amount of judgment. So as the guy who broke the original story two days before graduation, I’m going to stick this one out, popular or unpopular as it may be.

-Joey

WISD/WDL Suppression is Harming 'The Children'

The students, staff and others at Waxahachie High School knew about, talked about and covered up for the alleged sexual relationship between Cherokee Charmer drill team captain, Heather Styles, and coach Christopher Cameron are jeopardizing and putting "the children" in harm's way.

The suppression by the Waxahachie Daily Light is also troubling.

Personal opinions aside, these allegations were made known to Waxahachie ISD on May 22. The Ellis County Observer posted the allegations for the first time publicly on June 3.

Why the need to suppress this information from the public? Even if it wasn't true, accusations this serious should have been met with a full-court press by the coach and district to clear the coach or staff member's name.

And of all places, the father of the alleged co-participant has to find out about it on a blog? Published by a guy who lives 2,500 miles away at that?

There is a lot of firepower being directed towards me personally for putting this stuff out there. That is totally a misdirection of built-up anger. You people should be directing your sights on the flipping WISD for covering this shit up, and to JoAnn Livingston, who had this information but decided to keep it under wraps.

WISDBlog.com has a lot of archives of The Ellis County Press articles that I wrote from 2002-2004 when I covered WISD. There are things in those articles that prompted indictments on the people bringing the issues out in the public. Totally misdirected and corrupt. But that stuff was critical in defeating a few trustees, running off a superintendent and a business-finance director and altering - slightly - the makeup of the WISD administration building.

Someone over at WISD needs to apologize to the parents of every single one of those WHS s tudents for keeping this crap suppressed.

When you make the uncomfortable something public, and start a dialogue on problems instead of suppressing them, then we can truly move forward.

But I see a good 'old boy network within every inch and level of Waxahachie, from city hall to WHS. And it will be exposed until every ounce of corruption is rooted out and exposed.

Coach-Student Sexual Relationship Alleged

The original blog post at The Ellis County Observer was June 3, 2009. In a mad scramble for damage control, the Waxahachie Daily Light published a story (below) about Waxahachie ISD's comments on the allegations.

Original Post | June 3, 2009

Coach-Student Sexual Relationship Alleged

Students at Waxahachie High School have alleged that the captain of the Cherokee Charmers drill team, Heather Styles, and a coach at the school, Christopher Cameron, had engaged in a sexual relationship but that an "agreement" was made with local media to hold off on the story until after this weekend's graduation.

Personal views aside here (which are, students 18 or older are adults regardless of where they attend school), if true, this would completely turn WHS and WISD's relationship with the Waxahachie Daily Light upside down.

Again, these are the allegations, and according to athletes at the school, they were made aware of the situation this week.

According to sources at WHS, the story was to come out after graduation.

(That was, until it came to me)

Now, I'll say this about my views. One, had it been a male student and female coach or teacher (assuming she was hot), there wouldn't be much to this.

But, with this being a reversed situation, if she's 18, she's an adult. There are laws against student-teacher relationships already, regardless of age, but this thing happens more than one might think.

Here's the follow-up on the Observer that ignited a firestorm, as the allegations were made known to WISD and Waxahachie High School on May 22. It was kept hush-hush until the Observer published the allegations on June 3.

WISDBlog.com was launched to remind Dr. Joe Langley of his record on the school board for this year's re-election race. I have a history of writing articles for The Ellis County Press that nailed WISD on issues that would have never, ever, ever seen the light of day at the mis-named Daily "Light."

And, here's a post on June 4 the day of the WDL article that hit:

Coach-Student Allegations Known Since May 22

This is exactly what I've been waiting for, and confirmed yesterday: there was an agreement in place with the Waxahachie Daily Light and Waxahachie ISD (either spoken, which is usually the case, or otherwise, there was still an agreement) to hold back the story that a coach, Christopher Cameron, and a student, Heather Styles (also the drill team captain), engaged in a sexual relationship.

The WDL reported as such late yesterday after the ECO broke the story wide open:

[Original Post on the ECO: http://www.elliscountyobserver.com/?p=7134]

WISD allegation under investigation
By JOANN LIVINGSTON
Daily Light Managing Editor
Published: Wednesday, June 3, 2009 8:52 PM CDT
Waxahachie ISD officials have issued the following statement relating to allegations of potential misconduct involving a teacher and a student.

In a statement released to the Daily Light on Wednesday, officials said the district was given information May 22 pertaining to the allegations, at which time the employee was immediately suspended with pay pending an investigation.

So, this is not new news obviously. The students who came forward yesterday should all be commended.

Regardless of the investigation results, my stance does not change: let adults make adult decisions as we do already. It really shouldn't be a felony to do something that most every male reader this blog has would do to their "hot" teacher. Just because the roles are reversed shouldn't be cause to create a double standard.

That was my personal view. Now comes the hard part: finding spies inside our local schools to release information and leak it before the establishment paper(s) have any knowledge and/or agreement not to publish anything.

Why Ellis County, Texas?

Waxahachie School Board Approves Stadium Turf Repairs

How flipping hard is it to do a vote count? Waxahachie Daily Light reporters are either doing this on purpose or JoAnn Livingston doesn't want people to know who the taxpayer advocates are when she's editing stories.

On a 4-2 vote, the Waxahachie school board opted to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a football field turf in the worst economy in years. I'm guessing the no votes came from Lorinda Yates and Mark Price.

There's a surplus in bond revenues in Waxahachie? Those ought to be turned into rebate checks and sent out to the taxpayers, not kept accruing in an account somewhere as the school board's personal slush fund.

Stadium turf repairs OK'd

By MIKE SACKETT
Daily Light correspondent

Published: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 12:58 PM CDT

During a special called meeting Monday, Waxahachie ISD board members approved a $655,828 renovation to the turf at Lumpkin’s Stadium.

With both coach David Ream and architect Richard McDonald citing safety concerns if nothing was done, the district’s director of support services, Mike Wright, gave a presentation illustrating drainage problems with the stadium floor.

McDonald, who was hired by the district to study the drainage problem and recommend renovations, told trustees the drainage problems are more present on the home sidelines.

“There should be no water ever standing there after even a moderate rain,” McDonald said.

Wright’s photographs showed water standing along the sidelines after a recent rain. He also showed photos of a water test on the subsurface and drainage pipe.

“There is 6 inches of water that is discolored, meaning it has been there awhile,” Wright said, while showing photographs indicating the current drainage system is failing.

Trustee Jim Phillips asked what would happen to the adjacent track if the drainage is not corrected.

“The track subsurface will swell and heave, causing at first a wave effect on the track and ultimately causing the track surface to crack,” McDonald said, with Ream noting that would create a very unsafe condition.

McDonald discussed his recommendations for repairs.

“As a part of our evaluation, we did soil samples on the subsurface and dirt below the floor covering,” he said. “At this time it is stable and will not need additional work. If the drainage conditions remain as they are, damage to this will happen and result in the ground requiring restabilization.”

Answering questions from the trustees, McDonald and Wayne Pohe of Ponder Corporation, which sells turf, said the product has a life span of about eight years. The subsurface materials and drainage should last from 16 to 24 years, it was noted.

The best way to ensure good drainage that will protect both the track and football field would be to install a trench drain along the track edge that would also provide a smooth transition between the edge and the sideline.

McDonalds also recommended a product called Liga Turf with an E-layer below the turf. “The E-layer is an extra cushioning material that adds to the safety factor, providing a cushioned playing surface,” he said.

Pohe said he has seen turf made from the material last up to 12 years.

Trustee Max Simpson turned the discussion to financing.

“How are we going to pay for this and where is the money coming from?” Simpson asked, with Phillips responding there is surplus bond monies from 1999, 2001 and 2005. Simpson noted that the balance of those bond accounts is $3,829,313.

Teresa Thomas, assistant superintendent of finance, said the older bond monies need to be spent and that surplus bond monies are earned after the original funded project is completed.

Trustee Lorinda Yates said she felt this is a bad time to spend money on the stadium.

“There are other needs of the district that need addressing. I am frequently asked when something is going to be repaired or replaced or a program funded,” she said.

Thomas reminded Yates and the trustees, “We cannot spend bond money on salaries or move it into the general fund.”

“We have the funds. We currently have a $3.3 million surplus,” Phillips said, making a motion to approve the turf project and pay for it from the bond money, leaving a remaining balance of $2,018,744.

Phillips’ motion detailed accepting a bid from Universal Construction for $230,128 for base work, turf alternative No. 5 Liga Turf with an E-layer and a trench drain adding $65,800 to the project.

The motion was accepted by a 4-2 vote.

McDonald said construction would begin May 18, with completion set for the second week in August.

Teacher Says Contract Was Renewed. WISD Says it Wasn't.

The Monday Waxahachie school board meeting could be good.

An unidentified teacher will make his/her case in open session before the Waxahachie school board that his contract was renewed. One trustee said it was renewed, but the district's administration said it was never renewed.

There have been previous conflicts between what WISD administration has said and what the school board has been made aware of.

Visit WISDBlog.com to find out the scoop on the things you won't read in the Waxahachie Daily Light.


View WISD's Monday agenda here...

Dr. Joe Has Got to Go

Dr. Joe has got to go


Six candidates are running for Waxahachie school board, one the target of my new Web site, WISDBlog.com.

Dr. Joe Langley, pastor at Park Meadows Baptist Church in our county seat of 30,000, has been on the school board since my devastating news articles in this paper several years ago that exposed numerous allegations of corruption.

Those articles, while in 2003 and 2004, are still relevant today because Langley has not been held accountable for his service on the school board when this corruption was being ignored and covered up his school board and the Waxahachie Daily Light.

Langley, trustees Mark Price and John Colwell each face each other, as well as Kevin Crouch, Gary Fox and Velmea Wisdom in the May 9 election. Price was Ellis County's former treasurer, serving from 1992 to 2002, and has voted against every tax increase to come before the Waxahachie school board when he was elected in 2003.

Colwell got elected as a reform-type trustee but he's slid into the Langley mold on a few votes, but recently, he's found his conscience and voted against a proposal to hire an architect to design the Waxahachie Indians' new football turf and field.

That football turf cost WISD taxpayers $800,000 to replace. Langley voted in favor of spending almost $1 million - along with three other trustees - in the worst economy since the Great Depression - when the WISD's own statistics showed that the Indians could still play risk-free for another year. Price voted against spending that money, along with Evelyn Coleman and Jim Phillips. Colwell sided with Langley, Lorinda Yates and Max Simpson.

It didn't help that WISD's biggest cheerleader and establishment figure Ken Roberts of KBEC Radio went on a "the-sky-is-falling" rant in the WDL about how horrible it would be for Indian fans to play in neighboring stadiums.

Langley's Record
Langley allowed for a male principal at the junior high school to sit in an office while a female assistant principal searched up the blouse of a girl who had been threatened with suspension if she didn't allow the two school administrators to search her for drugs.

WJH had just conducted an undercover "drug sweep" and implicated 12 students for possession of drugs; the then-14-year-old Tarah Gallegos had worn a jacket worn by one of the 12 and was called into the principal's office where the search took place.

Langley allowed for it because he - and others on the school board - did not push for an investigation, or a firing, or any retribution for the actions of the school administrators. Gallegos' mom, Linda, organized a series of WJH protests the following weeks.

Armed with signs, posters, banners and other parents, Gallegos' message that those actions were not right got through: two front-page photos in this paper showing the protest were plastered into our news stands and the principals later left the district or were reassigned.

Financial Corruption
Those two front-page stories about the drug searches led the way for more dirt to be uncovered, this time at the very top levels of WISD leadership.

Aside from a school board meeting to discuss financial mismanagement at 8 a.m. on a cold Saturday morning that only one media outlet attended (me), Langley helped cover up for Superintendent Bobby Parker Jr.'s financial issues; Parker later retired, but the business finance director, Dan Davis, who had been accused of overbilling NASA for Space Shuttle Columbia wreckage recovery among other things, resigned. Around that time, two trustees seeking re-election - Linda Alvarez and David Walker - lost. Other employment among WISD officials altered as well.

Langley, as a pastor of a large church in Waxahachie, has not so much as questioned anyone involved in the financial mismanagement of the district. Ever. I've covered WISD school board meetings in the past, and not one single time has this wishy-washy trustee ever spoken up in favor of accountability and responsibility.

He has always voted with the WISD. Every. Single. Time. He was Parker's biggest supporter and he refused to take a stand against the myriad issues of corruption.

The WISD school board even voted to seek a forensic audit with the state because of massive allegations of financial corruption. The forensic audit's sole goal and purpose, despite Parker's then-damage control to the WDL, was to look for criminal violations.

When WISD Administration couldn't answer questions about where money was being stashed away, the school board voted - Langley supported this - taking out a tax anticipation note to pay for payroll expenses.

Bait-and-Switch
Back in 2006, WISD taxpayers approved $59 million in bond debt to pay for brand-new campuses, among other things. What happened the next year was outright fraud and should have resulted in the firing of WISD's bond attorneys.

Langley helped a 6-1 vote (Price voted against this) with changing one of the district's intermediate schools to an eighth grade center. The bond proposition that taxpayers adopted called for an intermediate school, but by a vote of the WISD, it was switched to Howard Eighth Grade Center.

This is and was misleading to the voters. Speaking of Howard, construction delays this school year forced some students to be bused to across-town campuses. And the biggest issue of all: despite being told by WISD Administration last budget year that new campuses had electric bills paid for, the WISD school board voted 4-3 to dip into their savings account (called a reserve fund) and shell out $500,000 to pay the bills.

Langley then went around on a public crusade to dismiss the whole "deficit budget" allegations. He lied. And he continues to lie to the taxpayers in WISD because he has helped cover up for the worst financial mismanagement and corruption south of Lancaster ISD.

Then there's the massive construction defects on WISD schools (Shackelford, WJH) that resulted in two whistleblower employees being indicted for government records tampering. That indictment came after this paper plastered photos and documents showing lead containmination at the water fountains of Marvin Elementary and the massive water leaks and rodent problems at other schools those two brave employees released records on.

This May 9 election is going to be intriguing and exciting, and it will have my name all over it. I haven't forgotten what happened years ago. This year, the taxpayers won't either.