Tarantula in the Chairperson’s Candy Dish
Tarantula in the Chairperson’s Candy DishA Case Study /
Vikki LoRusso
EDU 1202
Professor Jan Hammond
September 27, 2010
LIU/C.W. Post
Overview
This case occurred on April 25, 1980 in Locust Valley, NY. It is a case of a disgruntled teacher in the English Department who decided to take his anger out on his chairperson over being given poor performance reviews in his file by putting a live tarantula in his candy dish. It is an important case because it affected the whole district and community. Every group and subgroup was affected; teachers, administration, students, staff, parents, etc. Within each of those groups, emotions were high and people were divided. The stress at the high school was clearly felt and it did affect the tenor of life there for some time.
Facts of the Case
John McLoughlin, 31, was an English teacher at Locust Valley High School. He was a drama teacher and quite theatrical himself. He was very popular with the students. He did not conform to all of the school rules, however, and had a contentious relationship with his chairperson, Lawrence Biener. Lawrence Biener was a new chairperson, who was more old school. John McLoughlin was a product of the ‘60’s and a non-conformist and they often clashed.
In 1980, although John McLoughlin was tenured, Lawrence Biener was not happy with his job performance. He told him he was going to give him a plan for improvement and would review his abilities since he, Mr. Biener was still new to the district himself, he wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. This angered Mr. McLoughlin. On April 24, he went to a pet store in Glen Cove and purchased a live tarantula for $19.95. On April 25, he put it in Mr. Biener’s candy dish on his desk and covered it with a textbook.
When Mr. Biener arrived at work, he took the textbook off and discovered the tarantula. He called the Assistant Principal, who called the Superintendent, who called the Science chairperson, to confirm what it was. They called the police who arrived and upon detective work, discovered that it was Mr. McLoughlin who purchased it and put it in Mr. Biener’s dish. He confessed to all of it out of retaliation for not getting poor performance reviews and a plan for improvement. He was arrested and suspended with pay pending the outcome of the legal proceedings. He was charged with menacing and harassment.
Due to some technicalities, his confession was not admissible, he denied ever being in the pet store, and the criminal charges were dropped. The district was continuing to proceed to have him dismissed. However, the teachers’ union was supportive of him. They contended that since the criminal case was dropped, the school should also drop their case. In fact, they wanted him to be allowed to resume his teaching schedule. The superintendent said that regardless of the criminal charges, they had to determine if what Mr. McLoughlin did was conduct unbecoming of a teacher. “We would have had to file charges under statutes of the state education law whether or not it had become a police or court matter.”(Kennedy, 1980, p, L11).
In a bizarre twist of events, on April 21, 1981, McLoughlin was arrested and charged with making a false report when he called 911 anonymously and requested an ambulance to the Locust Valley High School nurse’s office. He told them the Assistant Principal, Mr. Barlow, was having severe abdominal pains. When the ambulance arrived, Mr. Barlow asked them why they were there. Several people identified Mr. McLouglin’s voice on the tape for the arrest(Wyckoff, 1981, Sept.17, p.1).
On September 3, 1981, in a 2-1 vote, the State Education Department dismissed the charges of harassment, menacing, and conduct unbecoming of a teacher, citing lack of evidence. The three person committee consisted of a professor of law who was a former teacher, a teacher in another school district, and a retired superintendent(Wyckoff, 1981, Sept. 17, p.12). During this entire time, Mr. McLoughlin was on full salary, while suspended from school duties.
The school board decided to appeal the State Education Department’s decision. It was eventually upheld. The school brought McLoughlin back and gave him administration duties at first. At one point they gave him back classroom duties but there was such an uproar, that it reverted back to administrative duties. After the second arrest from the 911 call, then he eventually left the district and taught upstate. Mr. Biener had a mild heart attack from the stress of it all. He retired shortly after all of this ensued.
Impact
The impact was tremendous. People were so divided. A relatively new administrator who did not have a support network behind him yet was under fire by a popular teacher. The staff was angry at him for giving a poor performance review and putting in a plan of improvement. However, he certainly did not deserve to have a criminal act made against him. Now the teachers were put in a spot of defending a friend who now was a criminal. They did a job action(going by the contract, arriving at 7:55 and leaving at 2:55) to support him. This affected the students. This affected their own job performance. This affected how others perceived them. This affected how administration was able to create a positive environment in the school. Parents weren’t sure of the stability of their children’s learning environment. Students were in a hostile environment.
Reflection
Egregious! This is the word that comes to mind. I was a student at the time, and thought it was bad, but now reviewing it as an adult and seeing how all the lenses were viewing it, it is outrageous!
Only the retired superintendent(Dr. Howard Imhof from Oyster Bay) was the brave, sole person to stand up and say this was wrong. He was the 1 on the 2-1 vote of the State Education department when they dismissed the charges, to vote no. They looked at testimony of three people, the pet store owner, McLoughlin and the detective. They threw out the detective’s statements and were left with only the other two and that is what the decision was based on. Dr. Imhof didn’t feel this process was done correctly and that was why he voted no.
It seemed his popularity hindered people from wanting to find him guilty. The Board members had children who had him as a teacher and loved him so they were reticent to find him guilty. Dr. Cande, the Superintendent, was not strong enough in his initial dealings with the Board. There should not have been a question at all whether they should appeal the State Education’s decision. Dr. Cande’s case should have been so strong to the Board that they would have worked together to develop a case that could not have been denied.
Education decisions should always be about what is best for children. It is amazing to me that the union, a group of educators, could stand before the community and the children, and raise this man up before them as an excellent teacher and role model after what he did. The Superintendent and the administration should have met with the union officials to discuss this matter with just that feeling, how does this benefit students?
In this case, of all the leaders who did the right thing, I think it was Mr. Biener. He was new to the district. He didn’t like McLoughlin, but was giving him the benefit of the doubt by giving him a plan of improvement. I think the Superintendent and the Board owed him an apology for wavering in their support of him.
In this case, all of the adults, except Mr. Biener and Dr. Imhof, acted terribly. They did not put the students first. They did not provide good leadership and exhibited a weakness very surprising to a district with a reputation as strong as Locust Valley has.
References
Axman, Douglas. (2010, October 3). Phone interview with former LVHS teacher.
Kennedy, Shawn G. (1980, November 9). Peers back teacher in tarantula case. The New
York Times, p. L11.
The People of the State of New York, Plaintiff,v. John McLoughlin, Defendant. District
Court of New York, Criminal Term, Nassau County. 104 Misc. 2d 730; 429 N.Y.S.2d 149: 1980 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2370. June 3, 1980.
Trident. (1980). Locust Valley High School Yearbook, pp.210, 213.
Trident. (1979). Locust Valley High School Yearbook, pp.111-113.
Wycoff, Edith. (1980, May 1). Spider spins strange tale. The Leader, p. 1.
Wycoff, Edith. (1981, September 17). Mcloughlin decision pending. The Leader, p. 1.
Wycoff, Edith. (1981, September 17). The tarantula. The Leader, p. 12.
Wycoff, Edith. (1981, September 24). Locust Valley to appeal tarantula case, p. 1.
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