He who wants to beat the dog will find the stick.
Ancient Proverb
By Dr. Bob Uttl
How Administration’s Unilateral EA Removal Was Twisted Into a Finding of “Teacher Culpability”
In workplace investigations, there is procedural unfairness, and then there is total evidentiary manipulation.
When Glenn Dobie, Director of Student Learning, School District No 5 Southeast Kootenay, investigated an elementary school teacher, Ms. T, he provided a masterclass in how to conceal facts, manipulate facts, and blame the victim of the School District No. 5 administrators’ failure or incompetence.
The Allegation: Blaming the Teacher for Administration’s Staffing Change
Allegation/Point #10 against Ms. T asserted that she was:
Failing to ensure the attendance for a week of an education assistant who should have been working with special needs students in your classroom.
William (Bill) Gook, Letter of Investigation, November 23, 2009 (RBD/125-127)
In public school districts, administrators—not classroom teachers—assign, deploy, and manage Educational Assistants (EAs). Yet Allegation/Point #10 treated the attendance of district-managed support staff as if it were the sole personal responsibility of the classroom teacher, Ms. T.
Exhibit A: The Administrator Admits Fault and Apologizes
The true nature of this allegation was exposed during Mr. Glenn Dobie’s interview with Ms. Shelley Balfour, Student Services, who—along with Karen Giles, Principal—was directly responsible for the EA assignments, and for the removal and the absence of the EA in Ms. T’s classroom.
The transcript of Mr. Glenn Dobie’s questioning of Ms. Shelly Balfour on November 27, 2009 (RBD/140-141) — the transcript created by Mr. Dobie’s executive assistant — reveals an unambiguous admission of administration’s failure to ensure the attendance of an Educational Assistant in Ms. T’s classroom:
GLENN DOBIE: There was a change in EA time and the EA was no longer assigned to that classroom for a period of time. Did she bring that to your attention?
SHELLEY BALFOUR: Yes, she did. We had a crisis – I didn’t communicate that with her.
GLENN DOBIE: During that time, I understand it was about a week, how long until she brought that to your attention?
SHELLEY BALFOUR: Probably the Thursday of that week.
GLENN DOBIE: Is it safe to say four days?
SHELLEY BALFOUR: Yes. When I asked, she said she was managing. I apologized as I hadn’t communicated this to her.
Mr. Glenn Dobie’s questioning of Ms. Shelley Balfour, November 27, 2009 (RBD/140-141)
Directly below this questioning, Mr. Glenn Dobie’s executive assistant wrote: “Ms Turner [Union President] pointed out that making sure that the EA is in the classroom is not the classroom’s teacher’s role.”
Exhibit B: Glenn Dobie Interrogates the Victim
As of November 27, 2009, Mr. Glenn Dobie knew the allegation against Ms. T was patently false: (a) it was not her job, and (b) the administration admitted it was their failure.
Nevertheless, 10 days later, on December 7, 2009, Mr. Glenn Dobie proceeded to badger Ms. T for not complaining to administration — Ms. Shelley Balfour and Ms. Karen Giles — about an action administration itself had performed. Notably, Mr. Dobie did not inform Ms. T about the administration’s confession.
The verbatim transcript of Ms. T’s interview reveals Mr. Glenn Dobie setting a transparent trap:
GLENN DOBIE: The EA that was scheduled in your classroom wasn’t present for a period of time. Did you raise the question with student services as to why you didn’t have an EA for that period of time?
(surprised pause)
Caucus
MS. T: They had removed the EA from my room to work in the Grade 1 classroom and were in the process of hiring another EA.
GLENN DOBIE: How long before you had spoken with Shelley [Balfour] or Karen [Giles] saying that you didn’t have an EA?
MS. TURNER [Union President]: You said you knew they were in the process of hiring…
MS. T: I assumed that I would hear from them when I got a new EA.
GLENN DOBIE: Did you ever bring it to their attention, “How come I don’t have an EA supporting my classroom?”
MS. T: They are the ones that took my EA out of my room.
Mr. Glenn Dobie’s questioning of Ms. T, December 7, 2009 (RBD/149-158)
Ms. T’s response captured the obvious reality: the administrators were the ones who took the EA out of the room. Expecting a teacher to report a missing EA to the very administrators who personally removed that EA is nothing short of absurd.
Exhibit C: Cross-Examination Forces Glenn Dobie to Admit the Truth
Under cross-examination on the witness stand while under oath, Mr. Glenn Dobie was confronted with his own interview notes with Ms. Shelley Balfour, forcing him to fold over himself and admit that managing EA attendance was never Ms. T’s responsibility
QUESTION: Would you agree with me that here, Ms. Balfour, who was responsible in part for educational assistants from an administrative point of view, says, we removed the EA and we failed to communicate it to her. Correct?
GLENN DOBIE: I believe that’s what may have happened.
QUESTION: So would you agree with me that Ms. Balfour apologized for the failure to communicate to Ms. T that they removed the EA from her class?
GLENN DOBIE: Reading the notes, I believe that’s probably what Ms. Balfour did.
QUESTION: And whose responsibility is it to remove or to place EA in a teacher’s class?
GLENN DOBIE: That falls to the student services teacher [Shelley Balfour] and generally in consultation with the principal [Karen Giles]. They make the changes on schedules.
QUESTION: So it is not teacher’s responsibility, correct?
GLENN DOBIE: No…
QUESTION: And Ms. Turner points out that making sure that EA is in the classroom is not the classroom teacher’s role, correct?
GLENN DOBIE: That is correct. It falls to that we’ve stated to the student service teacher [Ms. Shelley Balfour] slash administrator [Karen Giles].
Cross-examination of Mr. Glenn Dobie
The Investigative Erasure: Turning an Apology into “Culpability”
The evidence before Mr. Glenn Dobie, Director of Student Learning Instruction, When Glenn Dobie, Director of Learning Student Instruction, School District No 5 Southeast Kootenay, was crystal clear and formally admitted by him under oath:
- Management caused the staffing shortage (“We had a crisis”).
- Management failed to inform or consult the teacher (“I didn’t communicate that with her”).
- The teacher managed her classroom while management worked on hiring (“she said she was managing”).
- The teacher raised the issue with Ms. Balfour (Student Services) on Thursday (“Yes, she did”).
- The administrator apologized for her own lapse (“I apologized as I hadn’t communicated this to her”).
- EA attendance and staffing is explicitly not a classroom teacher’s responsibility (“That is correct”).
Yet, when Mr. Dobie wrote his final — December 16, 2009 — investigation report, he suppressed and concealed every single one of these facts.
Instead, regarding the Allegation/Point #10, Mr. Glenn Dobie wrote:
10. Failing to ensure the attendance for a week of an Educational Assistant who should have been working with special needs students in your classroom.
Ms. T seemed “surprised” by the question. She was aware that the Education Assistant had been removed from her classroom. She made an assumption as to the removal of the Education Assistant from her classroom but made no official inquiries as to the change.
Conclusion: Ms. T made no attempt to address the lack of an Educational Assistant to support her students.
Mr. Glenn Dobie’s December 16, 2009 First Investigation Report (16 Allegations)
In the summary conclusion of his December 16, 2009 Report, Mr. Glenn Dobie wrote:
With regards to Points… 10, … , I believe that Ms. T engaged in some culpable behaviour as outlined in my report and should receive a Letter of Direction with respect to these points.
Mr. Glenn Dobie’s December 16, 2009 First Investigation Report (16 Allegations)
Conclusion: A Complete Collapse of Mr. Dobie’s Investigative Integrity
To conclude in a formal investigation report that a teacher engaged in “culpable behaviour” and should be formally disciplined with a Letter of Direction when:
- Your own interview notes record Ms. Balfour stating “Yes, she did [bring it to my attention]”; and
- You admit under cross-examination that ensuring the attendance of the EAs is not the teacher’s responsiblity;
is not a simple misunderstanding or a negligent oversight. It is the deliberate destruction of exculpatory evidence.
Mr. Glenn Dobie took a case where an administrator admitted fault and apologized to a teacher, erased the administrator’s confession from his conclusions, twisted the teacher’s logical explanation, ignored the explicit boundaries of teacher responsibilities, and converted administration’s failure into a recommendation for formal disciplinary punishment against the teacher.
When an investigator intentionally rewrites the factual record to protect administration and punish the victim, the investigation ceases to be an inquiry—it becomes an administrative framing and execution.