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She was charged with insurance fraud. Not sure how I feel about this. She was trying to help a student who clearly needed help.
What do you mean you're not sure how you feel about this? About the teacher trying to help the student? Or about the teacher committing insurance fraud? There's nothing wrong with the teacher paying for the student's medical needs. But tricking the insurance company to pay for it when it's not supposed to is a crime.
What do you mean you're not sure how you feel about this? About the teacher trying to help the student? Or about the teacher committing insurance fraud? There's nothing wrong with the teacher paying for the student's medical needs.
Actually, there is.
Do you have a child? Would it be OK if I decided of my own volition to take your child for medical treatment — or for any reason — without telling you?
Funny how the family is stepping up now when they basically ignored this kid. He lived with his grandmother. I guess now there is money involved via a lawsuit.
She was dead wrong, but I don't believe she is an evil person up to no good. The woman turned herself in prior to any one even knowing about the event. I guess she got nervous when the kid blabbed about it. The school district is standing behind her because they say she has helped a lot of kids/families in the past. She is going through a diversion program to avoid prosecution.
On another note, the prescription she paid for (using the insurance) cost a whopping $233! Unbelievable.
This superintendent has shown me that she has poor judgment. If there was a medical emergency an ambulance should have been called to transport the child to a hospital emergency room where they would have been required to treat him. If it was not a medical emergency, the parents should have been contacted and told the child should be taken to the doctor for a possible strep infection.
I have to wonder about her judgment in other situations.
I also have to ask the question how a school superintendent gets to know a young child this closely. I would assume the work of a school superintendent primarily involves talking to school principals, teachers, administrators, and clerical support staff for the district. I'm surprised superintendents interact on any significant level with individual elementary school students.
The crime in this situation doesn't overwhelm me, but her overall lack of judgment needs to be seriously scrutinized.
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There's a lot going on here. She had previously given him clothing, and even cleaned his house. She was afraid to report neglect because he'd be likely placed in foster care.
I'm curious how the child feels about the nature of their relationship.
Anna - the Rx didn't cost $233. That was the total cost - the doctor visit, lab work, and the Rx.
I know school employees who, when they learn a child has a terrible home, have found them very cheap garage apartments, and paid for them, or in a couple cases where the employee/administrator/teacher even takes them into their own family home.
I'm not convinced there's more to this story than a very caring but misguided administrator.
Yes, but knowing the school district has a clinic, it makes sense that she would take him there first. And it also makes sense thst a Yahoo article wouldn't name the specific clinic, and instead just say that she took him to "a clinic".
Yahoo isn't known for the depth of its reporting, I agree. So I went to the source: The hometown newspaper.
Smitherman took the student to a Madison County health clinic, but because he’s younger than 18 and she is not the guardian, they would not see him, she said.
Smitherman then took the student to St. Vincent Immediate Care, 7408 W. Ind. 28, Elwood, where she signed the student in under her son’s name.
I know school employees who, when they learn a child has a terrible home, have found them very cheap garage apartments, and paid for them, or in a couple cases where the employee/administrator/teacher even takes them into their own family home.
I did a lot of volunteer work at a school and I can vouch for what you say. There are some kids who are so neglected that you do the best you can to help them out. It is heartbreaking.
Thank you for posting that. That's what I've been saying all along - she couldn't have gotten him seen by a doc and paid for it out of pocket - she's not his guardian.
It doesn't seem anyone - her peers, the community, the court - think she had any kind of inappropriate relationship with him except this case of insurance fraud and overstepping.
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So I googled the school clinic mentioned earlier in this thread. This was really a missed opportunity on her part.
The child can be seen by a nurse, and a doctor is teleconferenced in, from the school campus.
The first ailment listed, as appropriate to treat, is strep throat.
They'll bill insurance, or in cases of inability to pay, a sliding scale fee will be assessed, which I'm guessing she could have paid out of pocket if desired.
It appears the guardian does have to be notified, but it seems likely they would have approved.
I still say the superintendent was wrong for what she did. There is a reason why we have rules and protocols and she clearly crossed a line. As a teacher I have dealt with many sad situations over the years and there are always ways to get a student proper help without breaking the law. Buying that student clothes and cleaning his house are two added pieces of information that make me still think this relationship was not normal. I will say it again, if this was a male superintendent who bought a teen girl clothing and cleaned her house and then claimed her as his daughter for medical care, the response would be way different.
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