Principal's husband has been banned from campus. There may be more trouble at Southeast High

What started as a Boys & Girls Club director being fired for making sexually suggestive comments toward a student has revealed layers of other issues at Southeast High School.

Those layers are being slowly peeled away, revealing allegations of possible fraud, nepotism, violations of Manatee County School District policy and a hostile work environment that have drawn the attention of the local teachers union and Manatee County government.

"We don't normally comment on issues shared with us confidentially, but there have been concerns at Southeast about the working environment," said Pat Barber, president of the Manatee Education Association.

Southeast teachers, who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation, said Southeast Principal Rosa Faison is nicknamed "Teflon" because nothing ever sticks against her. With the imminent departure of Superintendent Diana Greene, who will become superintendent in Duval County, some hope for change.

Former assistant football coach Terrence Williams said Faison was "untouchable" due to her close friendship with Greene.

"They are party buddies," Williams said.

Greene emphatically denied that late Friday.

"It's completely untrue," said Greene. "I have no idea who Terrence Williams is and as far as Miss Faison goes, I do not associate with any principals outside of professional events."

The Faisons could not be reached for comment Friday.

After Wendell Faison was terminated by the Boys & Girls Club in early April and ordered off of school property, Williams and others saw him back on campus helping with the football team and hanging around the main office where his wife, Principal Faison, works. The district reacted immediately and removed Wendell Faison. He also was banned from all Manatee County schools.

The district has declined to answer questions about who invited him back onto campus and if there would be any disciplinary action taken. District attorney Mitchell Teitelbaum would only say, "Wendell Faison is not permitted to volunteer in any capacity within any Manatee County public schools."

After-school program investigation intensifies

In a series of emails obtained by the Bradenton Herald, teachers and coaches expressed concerns about a mandate that came down from Rosa Faison requiring all student-athletes to attend her husband's Boys & Girls Club after-school homework program.

While the Boys & Girls Club is funded in a variety of ways, it also receives taxpayer funds through Manatee County, which each budget cycle determines funding based on a program's success rate. Teachers questioned whether Rosa Faison was intentionally inflating her husband's program numbers by forcing student-athletes to sign up for the program, in essence ensuring her husband's job was safe.

The district said principals do have the authority to require student-athletes to attend after-school homework or tutoring programs, but they added they were looking into this case because Rosa Faison required every student-athlete, not some, to sign up for the class regardless of their grades.

"EVERY athlete, (whether) they are on track or not, must have an application on file," she wrote in an email to teachers and coaches.

Teachers at Southeast confirm that the district has been investigating the situation and said they have been interviewed by district staff. Teitelbaum said the investigation continues.

"In addition, the allegations pertaining to student-athletes being required to attend certain after -chool programs at the direction of the administration, is still being looked into at the district level,” he said.

Greene said this is the first she is hearing of any complaints from teachers regarding Rosa Faison's leadership, but she also said she was unaware of Faison's mandate regarding the after-school program until she read it in the Bradenton Herald. Emails were sent to the district from those concerned teachers.

"When that article first came out, we initiated our district investigation and until that is completed along with the county investigation, is when I will be informed to the conclusion of this," Greene said.

Manatee County joins the investigation

The allegations aren't just that Rosa Faison made the unusual move to force every student-athlete to sign up for an after-school homework program regardless of grades, but that whether those student-athletes were only required to sign in and then allowed to leave.

Since the county partially funds the program, officials want answers, as well.

Deputy County Administrator Cheri Coryea is working on the report and said the county is in contact with the Boys & Girls Club and the school district, seeking program documents and other records.

"However, if we are unable to get the needed documents/records from the agency, we will contact School Compliance to see if they have what we need to document the program. They indicated they are available all through the summer," Coryea said.

Coryea said the county has made three site visits to Southeast High School since Wendell Faision was terminated, with the last visit on May 10.

Coryea emphasized that Manatee County has no requirements in place that force student-athletes to participate in the after-school program.

"Any student may participate if they meet the other contract criteria," Coryea said. "Since all of our programs are paid after the services are rendered and based on proof of service, we will be looking for the verification needed before reimbursement will be provided to the agency by the county."

Coryea said the county will present its final report to the Boys & Girls Club next week and will provide a 10-day response deadline.

The school district has not indicated when their investigation will conclude.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office investigated Wendell Faison. Because the female student was 18 and there were no touching or coercion allegations made, "only the improper and inappropriate comments," no criminal charges were filed, according to the original MCSO report.

This story was originally published June 1, 2018 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Principal's husband has been banned from campus. There may be more trouble at Southeast High."