text: . I .( I STEELE INVESTIGATION AGENCY LEGAL INVESTIGATORS KEITH R. STEELE, FC!, CLI, CFE, CCDI p.o. Box 1635 Bradenton, FL 34206 FLORIDA CERTIFIED INVESTIGATOR CERTIFIED LEGAL INVESTIGATOR Telephone (941) 758-5890 CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINER Facsimile (941) 755-1100 CERTIFIED CRIMINAL DEFENSE INVESTIGATOR E-Mail SIA@FALLcom June 6,2011 The School Board of Sarasota County Attn: Michael H. Jones, Executive Director of Human Resources and Labor Relations 1960 Landings Boulevard Sarasota, Florida 34231-3331 CLIENT NAME: The School Board of Sarasota County CASE NAME: Dr. George Keuney SIA CASE NUMBER: 11050058 CATEGORY: School Investigation ( ASSIGNMENT On Thursday, May 19, 2011, we met with Michael Jones, Executive Director of Human Resources and Lorie White, the Superintendent of Schools for Sarasota County. We were asked to investigate a situation that has occurred at North Port High School. This situation involved the principal, Dr. George Kenney, and his use of hypnosis with students at North Port High School. The investigative objectives were to determine: 1. Was Dr. Kenney using hypnosis with students at North Port High School? If so, how long has that activity been taking place and were permission slips obtained from the student's parents allowing Dr. Kenney to engage in that activity. 2. Was Dr. Kenney instructed by Steve Cantees at the district offices not to conduct individual hypnosis sessions and to limit his hypnosis demonstrations to the psychology classes, and then only with parental permission and a teacher present. If so, when were those instructions given to him and did Dr. Kenney violate those instructions. ( CONFIDENTIAL -ATTORNEY- CLIENT PRIVILEGED -ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT Member of and Cerlified by: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LEGAL INVESTIGATORS and ASSOCIATION OF CERTIFillD FRAUD EXAMINERS LICENSE #A0001643 ( SYNOPSIS The following investigation was conducted pursuant to accepted investigative procedures and guidelines. fuvestigative efforts included but were not limited to: witness interviews and research of documents. It is recommended that all ofthe interview summaries be read in their entirety so the reader can fully understand both the knowledge and the opinions of each individual. The following individuals were interviewed: • STEPHEN CANTEES Executive Director of High Schools P.4 • MARK GILLILAND Assistant Priocipal of Oak Park South - Venice P.9 Middle School and former Assistant Priocipal at North Port High School • SHERRI REYNOLDS Supervisor of Pupil Support Services P.12 • ANN BRANDENBERGER Teacher of Advanced Placement Psychology at P.14 North Port High School • DR. GEORGE KENNEY Priocipal at North Port High School P.19 • WILLIAM J. MASSOLIO Assistaut Principal at North Port High School P.31 • RONALD CORSO Assistant Principal at North Port High School P.36 • TOMAS DINVERNO Assistaut Principal at North Port High School P.38 • PAUL PAQUETTE Assistant Priocipal at North Port High School P.40 • STEVE BARTEK Senior Naval Science Instructor for R.O.T.C. at P.43 North Port High School • FREDERICK WHEELER Naval Science Instructor for R.O.T.C. at North Port P.46 High School • KATHY WILKS Principal at Brookside Mi<\dle School P.48 • DIANNA McLAREN Administrative Assistaut for Dr. George Kenney P.53 • TONYAPRYER Teacher of Psychology, Sociology, aud Health at P.57 North Port High School • JANICE REDENBO Bookkeeper at North Port High School P.61 • TOM McLAUGHLIN Teacher of Health aud Assistant Boys Basketball P.64 Coach at North Port High School • CURT ALLEN Teacher of Economics aud Boys Basketball Coach P.66 and Assistant Track Coach at North Port High School • BECKY HALBERT Guidauce COUDselor aud Girls Volleyball Coach at P.69 North Port High School • CHRYSTAL HUNT Teacher of Math and Girls Softball Coach at North P.71 Port High School • MATTHEW PRYER Teacher of Physical Education aud Football Coach P.73 at North Port High School • RYAN LAVALLEE Teacher of Criminal Justice aud Athletic Director at P.77 North Port High School • MATTHEW MITCHELL Teacher of HOPE and Swimming Coach at North P.79 Port High School • TRAVIS SLANGER Teacher of ESE English and Basketball Coach at P.81 North Port High School • DONNA BATTIATA Security Monitor at North Port High School P.83 ( • KATHY MORAN Registrar at North Port High School P.85 • THERESE MATIS Long Tenn Substitute Teacher at North Port High P.86 >' School. Page 2 of 112 Investigative Report • Student P.90 • Student P.93 • Student P.96 • Student P.9? • Student P.IOO • Student P.IOI • Student P.I02 • Student P.I03 • Student P.I04 The following documents were reviewed during the course of our investigation: • Dr. George Kenney's calendar • Bobcat Sentinel The following documents were collected during the course of this investigation: • EXHIBIT 1 Blank Permission Slip giving Dr. Kenney permission to work with a child using hypnosis and hypnotherapy • EXHIBIT2 Permission Slip giving Dr. Kenney permission to hypnotize students who volunteer to participate in a hypnosis demonstration in Psychology class • EXHIBIT 3 Timeline prepared by Dr. George Kenney • EXHIBIT4 Notes prepared by Sherri Reynolds relating to the October 12, 2010 incident that occurred in the weight room • EXHIBIT 5 Florida Department of Education, Office of Professional Practices Services Pamphlet regarding Identifying and Reporting Professional Misconduct • EXHIBIT6 The Bobcat Sentinel Newspaper Articles ., Page 3 of 112 Investigative Report DETAILS STEPHEN CANTEES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR HIGH SCHOOLS FOR THE SARASOTA COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM On Monday, May 23,2011, I interviewed Stephen Cantees, the Executive Director of High Schools for the Sarasota County School system. We discussed his knowledge of Dr. Kenney and his use of hypnosis at North Port High SchooL The following information was learned during this interview. In approximately Mayor June of2009, Mr. Cantees was contacted by Mark Gilliland, who was at that time an assistant principal at North Port High SchooL Mr. Gilliland expressed some concerns to Mr. Cantees, one of which was the 6:30 a.m. daily meetings that the principal and the assistant principals held. Mr. Gilliland explained that it was hard on him and his family to be at school that early in the morning. Another concern of Mr. Gilliland's was that Dr. Kenney was hypnotizing students at the "graduation bash lock in" being held at the YMCA. According to Mr. Cantees, this was the fIrst time he had ever been made aware that Dr. Kenney was doing any hypnosis. Mr. Cantees questioned Mr. Gilliland further and at the end of the conversation, Mr. Cantees felt he should have a talk with Dr. Kenney. He and Dr. Kenney had a conversation about hypnosis and Dr. Kenney said that he had been doing hypnosis at the grad bash for some period of time. He also told Mr. Cantees that he had been doing hypnosis demonstrations in psychology classes. According to Mr. Cantees, his recollection was that Dr. Kenney told him that he (Dr. Kenney) would go into the psychology classes and do a demonstration of hypnosis. Dr. Kenney said it was common knowledge that he was doing so. Mr. Cantees told Dr. Kenney at that point in time "in a very direct manner" that the expectation would be that he limit the hypnosis to those classes and only after he had obtained parental permission and only as long as there was a teacher in the classroom. According to Mr. Cantees, the perimeters were "if he was going to do this" it would happen only in the psychology class, with parental permission and with a teacher present in the classroom. Dr. Kenney agreed to that and indicated that it was a very reasonable expectation. The next time Mr. Cantees became aware of anything concerning Dr. Kenney and hypnosis occurred around October 12, 2010. Mr. Cantees had a telephone conversation ., Page 4 of 112 Investigative Report with Sherri Reynolds, the District Supervisor of Nurses. Ms. Reynolds called Mr. Cantees with a concern relating to Dr. Kenney. There had been a weight lifting injury in the weight room that involved a student. It appeared to be a fairly serious injury. The school nurse, Denise Brislin, was trying to perform an evaluation of the student prior to the EMS arrival. Dr. Kenney showed up in the weight room and attempted to get the student to focus on him in an effort to relieve the pain. The perception was that Dr. Kenney was very concerned about the student's level of pain and was trying to hypnotize him to help release him from some of the discomfort. Even though the nurse had a great deal of respect for Dr. Kenney, she felt that his actions were interfering with her ability to care for her patient. When Sherri Reynolds passed this information on to Mr. Cantees, he was very surprised and his comment was, "Are you kidding me?" That was first time Mr. Cantees had heard about Dr. Kenney performing hypnosis on an individual on school grounds. Sherri Reynolds also told Mr. Cantees that the same nurse had informed her that Dr. Kenney had been doing hypnosis sessions with individuals in his office. Mr. Cantees called Dr. Kenney to discuss the situation with him and he relayed to him what the nurse had said. Dr. Kenney stated that he had gone to the weight room and did try to help the student by relieving some of his pain. Mr. Cantees cannot recall if Dr. Kenney stated that he was trying to perform hypnosis or was just trying to relax the student. Mr. Cantees asked Dr. Kenney if he remembered their earlier conversation about only doing hypnosis in psychology class. Dr. Kenney stated that he did recall that conversation. According to Mr. Cantees, he then told Dr. Kenney that his actions were inappropriate and referenced back to the previous conversation regarding the psychology classroom and discussion and that the hypnosis sessions were only to take place in psychology class with parental permission and the teacher present. Mr. Cantees also asked Dr. Kenney if he was doing hypnosis with other students. Dr. Kenney admitted that he was and he indicated it was for things like test relaxation. Mr. Cantees told Dr. Kenney that it was inappropriate and he needed him to stop doing individual sessions with students. Mr. Cantees also discussed with Dr. Kenney that if he was interested in doing this type of counseling with students, the expectation would be that he would do it off campus, in a controlled setting with parent support and permission. Mr. Cantees even suggested that he open an office somewhere but reiterated that this hypnosis with students cannot take place on school grounds. According to Mr. Cantees, his experience has always been when you tell a principal to stop doing something; the principal usually stops doing it. ., Page 50fl12 Investigative Report The next time Mr. Cantees became aware of the fact that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis on school grounds, outside of psychology class, occurred sometime between September 2010 and February 2011. Mr. Cantees had stopped into North Port High School and just happened to observe an adult walking out of Dr. Kenney's office. Mr. Cantees at fust thought that it was a student's parent and when he asked Dr. Kenney about it, Dr. Kenney told him that it was a student's parent who was trying to pass his firefighters exam and Dr. Kenney was working with him on relaxation techniques. At this time, Mr. Cantees stated that he asked Dr. Kenney why he was doing this after being told it was inappropriate and had been told to stop. After some discussion, at the end of the conversation, Mr. Cantees stated that he reiterated that Dr. Kenney was not to hypnotize any adults, any students and any hypnosis that was going to be done by Dr. Kenney would only take place in psychology class with parental permission and a teacher present. According to Mr. Cantees, Dr. Kenney agreed to that. Mr. Cantees admitted that he had prior conversations with Dr. Kenney about hypnosis and that he was aware that Dr. Kenney had taken some classes and training in hypnosis on his own time. Other than that, Mr. Cantees stated that he has very little knowledge about hypnosis and Dr. Kenney's training. In these discussions, Dr. Kenney was very passionate about his ability to hypnotize people and he told Mr. Cantees that he was able to help these people with this tool. Mr. Cantees reiterated that he made it very clear to Dr. Kenney that it was not to be conducted on school grounds except in the psychology class with parental permission and the teacher present. Mr. Cantees also stated that he made it very clear that Dr. Kenney was to stop any other types of hypnosis at North Port High School. Mr. Cantees admits that none of these conversations were followed up with anything in writing. According to Mr. Cantees, if you look at Administrative Progressive Discipline, the fust thing would be a written expectation that this would stop, and then the second thing you would do if it continued would be to start following discipline policy. Mr. Cantees stated that the first incident was the graduation bash, the second incident was the weight lifting incident and the third was the parent coming out of his office. Each of these were somewhat different in nature and Mr. Cantees was giving Dr. Kenney the benefit of the doubt in that they were three separate situations. Here again, he explained that Dr. Kenney is a professional and an administrator and when he tells him to stop doing something, even though it was verbal and not in writing, the expectation is that he would follow the instructions and stop. There was no doubt in Mr. Cantees' mind that Dr. Kenney understood exactly what he was being instructed not to do. Dr. Kenney never questioned whether Mr. Cantees was being unfair or inappropriate in his requests . ., Page 6 of 112 Investigative Report Mr. Cantees stated that in hindsight, he should have prepared a written expectation after the first incident; but again, when you are dealing with a very high performing principal like Dr. Kenney, who really cares about his kids and his school; it's usually a pretty simple matter to give him a verbal instruction and have him follow it. "I talk to the person and say this or that needs to get done and typically, it gets done." Mr. Cantees stated that he was treating Dr. Kenney like he would want to be treated. The expectation was that if Dr. Kenney wanted to do this, he could do it off campus. Hypnosis is not illegal or against the law, but it is not something Mr. Cantees or the district expects an administrator to practice. Mr. Cantees is certain that he was very clear on his instructions to Dr. Kenney and that Dr. Kenney was just as clear as to what was expected of him. Mr. Cantees stated that he and Dr. Kenney have a good personal and professional relationship and that he and Dr. Kenney have always been open with each other and able to talk and hash things out. Mr. Cantees stated that approximately one week after the death of Wesley McKinley, Mr. Cantees asked Dr. Kenney if he had performed hypnosis on Wesley. Dr. Kenney stated yes he did, in psychology class, with parental permission. Mr. Cantees questioned Dr. Kenney about having a parental permission slip and he said yes he did, the teacher had it. He did not tell Mr. Cantees that he had performed individual sessions with Wesley McKinley. Then, on May 17, 2011, Dr. Kenney called Mr. Cantees to inform him that a reporter from the Herald Tribnne was going to rnn a story that the parents of Wesley McKinley had informed her that Dr. Kenney had performed hypnosis on Wesley McKinley the day before his death. Mr. Cantees asked Dr. Kenney if that was true and Dr. Kenney said yes, it was. Mr. Cantees asked if the sessions had occurred at school and Dr. Kenney said that they had. He asked ifhe had parental permission, and Dr. Kenney said that he did. Dr. Kenney stated that Wesley McKinley was interested in psychology and hypnosis, especially along the lines of anxiety and phobias. He wanted to be more comfortable in social settings. The student told Dr. Kenney that he was not under any doctor's care and Dr. Kenney stated that he worked with Wesley two (2) times and his father picked him up after each session. Dr. Kenney also stated that he always had someone present during those sessions. Mr. Cantees asked Dr. Kenney ifhe had been doing sessions with other individuals and Dr. Kenney admitted that he had, with both students and parents. Dr. Kenney estimated that he had done somewhere around 70-75 individuals. Dr. Kenney indicated that he had been working with students on test anxiety and on athletic performance. He also indicated that he had videotaped some of the sessions with parental permission. He also stated that he had worked with many faculty members and their children. He noted that he always had parental permission and that there was always someone present in the room during these sessions. Dr. Kenney stated that he had never received any complaints from anybody concerning these hypnosis sessions. " Page 7 of 112 Investigative Report Dr. Kenney admitted to Mr. Cantees that he realized it was wrong and he placed himself and the district in a very bad position by doing this. Mr. Cantees discussed with Dr. Kenney about the previous conversations they had had about not doing this kind of thing. According to Mr. Cantees, Dr. Kenney admitted that he lmew that he was not to do this but that he continued to do it anyway. When asked why, Dr. Kenney stated that it was helping the students and he would do anything to help his students. Mr. Cantees stated that he knows that is a very truthful answer on the part of Dr. Kenney. It was after this last discussion that the district decided to place Dr. Kenney on administrative leave. At that time, Mr. Cantees asked Dr. Kenney ifthere would be any more surprises and Dr. Kenney said no. Mr. Cantees also stated that he asked Dr. Kenney ifhe had worked with the other student who had allegedly committed suicide and Dr. Kenney said no. Mr. Cantees later learned and Dr. Kenney later admitted that he had also had an individual hypnosis session with the other students who had committed suicide. Mr. Cantees stated that he has had contact with Dr. Kenney since he has been placed on administrative leave because he was concerned for his welfare. Mr. Cantees stated that Dr. Kenney and North Port High School has been though a lot oftragedy over the past year and Mr. Cantees wanted to be sure that Dr. Kenney knew that there was an employee assistance program available should he feel the need. Mr. Cantees stated that despite the fact that Dr. Kenney had done "something really stupid and totally against his expectations and against any sort of normal practice for a high school administrator, he was concerned about him." According to Mr. Cantees, in some of his most recent conversations with Dr. Kenney, after Dr. Kenney had been put on administrative leave, Dr. Kenney admitted to him that he nnderstood that the hypnosis was to be limited to psychology class. The day after Dr. Kenney was put on administrative leave, Mr. Cantees was at North Port High School to assist with whatever was necessary to help with the graduation process. He spent the day in a conference room and invited teachers down during their planning session. The staff had different opinions on things but according to Mr. Cantees, Dr. Kenney has nnwavering support from the majority of his staff. One of the teachers admitted that she had some concerns about Dr. Kenney and his hypnosis, but never said anything because it was such common practice for Dr. Kenney to be doing the hypnosis sessions, she thought it must be okay. Page 8 of 112 Investigative Report ( MARK GILLILAND ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AT VENICE MIDDLE SCHOOL AND OAKPARK SOUTH On Tuesday, May 24,2011, I interviewed Mark Gilliland. He is currently the Assistant Principal at Venice Middle School and Oak Park South and has been for the past two years. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Principal at North Port High School for three years (September 2006 through June 2009). Prior to that, he was at Booker High School. The following information was learned during this interview. He was made aware of Dr. Kenney's use of hypnosis approximately 5 years ago, during his first year at North Port High School. He thinks it would have been the 2006-2007 school year. It had come up during a conversation that took place in a morning meeting that was held at the school each morning at 6:30 a.m. Dr. Kenney had hypnotized Kathy Wilks' son, who was a senior that year. Ms. Wilks was another assistant principal at NPHS. She currently is the Principal at Brookside Middle School. As the year progressed, he heard more and more about the hypnotizing. Mr. Gilliland stated that during graduation ceremony, they have a "lock in" at the YMCA in Venice. After graduation ceremony, approximately 200 - 300 students proceed to the YMCA. During that "lock in," one of the things they do for entertainment is to have a hypnotizing session. Mr. Gilliland recalls Dr. Kenney doing the hypnotizing demonstration that night. He recalls that it consisted of things like, pretend you are driving a car or pretend you see a spider. It was all jovial. He would work with 8-12 students during that presentation. In an effort to get specific on the time frame, we went over Mr. Gilliland's years at his various schools. As a result, Mr. Gilliland was not sure of the exact date and said, " ... That is where I am getting into ... Mr. Cantees stated it was June 2008, so, I guess that is what I recollect." Mr. Gilliland does not keep his calendars after a year, but thinks that the hypnosis he observed Dr. Kenney performing at project graduation would have been Mr. Gilliland's first year at North Port High School, which would have been June 2007. It's possible, however, that it could have been his second year there. He is not sure. He has nothing in writing that would help refresh his memory. "It is one ofthose things that you report it and you move on." During Mr. Gilliland's first year at North Port Highs School, all of the administrators would be at Project Graduation. However, in his second year and in subsequent years, since project graduation ran all night, Mr. Gilliland got the grave yard shift, which was from 2:00 a.m. till 5:00 a.m. Whatever year the first one took place was the only time Mr. Gilliland actually observed Dr. Kenney conduct hypnosis. After that, since he had the grave yard shift and the hypnosis session usually took place around midnight or 1:00 a.m., he didn't see those, he just heard about it from the students. He can't say if Dr. Kenney did anything those years. There could have been a guest hypnotist. When Mr. Gilliland started to hear more and more about other students being hypnotized, he became concerned for Dr. Kenney. He stated that since Dr. Kenney's office doors \ don't have windows in them, he recommended that he get windows put in his office . doors. Mr. Gilliland stated that he has always had windows installed in his office doors Page 9 of 112 Investigative Report for his own protection. (Note: There is a window in the office door that leads from Dr. Kenney's office to his administrative assistance's office.) Mr. Gilliland never saw Dr. Kenney take any students into his office for any sort of hypnosis session, nor has he ever sat in on any hypnosis sessions. None of the other assistant principals seemed to be concerned about the issue and since he knew that Ms. Wilks' son had been hypnotized and everybody seemed okay with that, Mr. Gilliland didn't give it much more thought. When Bill Massolio came to North Port High School as assistant principal in, he thinks, 2008-2009, he and Mr. Massolio had numerous conversations discussing whether Dr. Kenney was doing the right thing by hypnotizing students; if this was something he should be doing; could this possibly come back and bitfrim; those type of questions. Mr. Gilliland thinks Mr. Massolio had conversations with Dr. Kenney about this as well. Mr. Gilliland restated that he never saw Dr. Kenney hypnotize students and never saw students go into his office to be hypnotized. Mr. Gilliland thinks that he approached Steve Cantees about his concerns with Dr. Kenney and his hypnotizing of students after witnessing the hypnosis session at the graduation night lock in. According to Mr. Gilliland, Mr. Cantees told him he would look into it. Mr. Gilliland does not know what Mr. Cantees did after Mr. Gilliland told him. Mr. Gilliland felt that he had done all he could do, the rest was up to Mr. Cantees. Mr. Cantees did not share any of his opinions concerning Dr. Kenney and hypnosis to Mr. Gilliland. Mr. Gilliland has no idea how many students Dr. Kenney may have had hypnosis sessions with. Mr. Gilliland does not know if Dr. Kenney offered hypnosis sessions to anyone other than students and he does not know which students, other than Ms. Wilks' son, who may have had sessions with Dr. Kenney. Mr. Gilliland does not know if Dr. Kenney had permission slips from any parents. He does recall Dr. Kenney going into psychology class to put on demonstrations, but he can't recall the dates or times and he never sat in on any of those demonstrations. Mr. Gilliland can not remember the psychology teacher's name, but think there was only one since psychology was an elective. Other than the one time at project graduation and the psychology classes, Mr. Gilliland is unaware of any other group sessions or individual sessions conducted by Dr. Kenney Mr. Gilliland does not know anything about any parental releases or how many different types of releases there may have been. .' Page 10 of 112 Investigative Report The only individuals Mr. Gilliland is aware of that had any knowledge of Dr. Kenney and his hypnosis sessions would have been the assistant principals at North Port High School. He is unaware of anyone making any reports to the district offices. The only conversation Mr. Gilliland remembers having with any student was with Kathy Wilks' son. Mr. Gilliland doesn't recall the specifics ofthe conversation, but does remember the student saying something about how he used be nervous prior to taking tests and Dr. Kenney helped him to relax. It was more of a relaxation technique to help him focus. It didn't really "kick into him that it was an issue" until he saw Dr. Kenney hypnotizing students on the stage. That's when he thought, "I'm not sure this is something kosher and something an administrator, especially, ought to be doing ... It just didn't seem right, that's why I reported it. Once I reported it I figured that was the end of it." It was common knowledge at North Port High School with the administrators and the students. Once he reported.it to Steve Cantees, he does not know who else at the Landings would have been told or what knowledge they may have had. Once he reported it to Mr. Cantees, he figured it was out of his hands. They would take whatever action or allow him to do it, whatever they thought was best. After reporting this to Mr. Cantees, he doesn't recall any change taking place, but did state that the assistant principals' offices are on the other side of the building from Dr. Kenney's office, so you didn't always know what was occurring on Dr. Kenney's side of the building. Mr. Gilliland stated that Dr. Kenney was very passionate about kids and would never do anything to harm a student. He is a good hearted individual. He runs his school the way he sees fit. Mr. Gilliland is not saying he bucks the system, he just thinks that Dr. Kenney felt it was his school and he was going to do what he needed to do. Mr. Gilliland stated that Dr. Kenney would never do anything malicious to his students, ever. He cared about his students and his staff. Mr. Gilliland has seen Dr. Kenney in tears over kids. He is very passionate about his job. As far as the hypnotism thing is concerned, he can't say Dr. Kenney went over the line, but it was a concern of Mr. Gilliland's and that is why he told Steve Cantees about it. North Port High School has been through a lot of tragedy this past year, with the loss of a well liked teacher and the deaths of several students. Mr. Gilliland thinks that Dr. Kenney should be at graduation handing out diplomas. Then, he should accept whatever discipline the district hands down, then get back to school with instruction that there will be no more hypnotism, then move on. Mr. Gilliland stated that Dr. Kenney has run a great school and has a lot of support with the teachers, the administrators and especially the students. It is a rough school to manage and Dr. Kenney has done an excellent job. Page 11 of 112 Investigative Report SHERR! REYNOLDS SUPERVISOR OF PUPIL SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE SARASOTA COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM On Tuesday, May 24,2011, I interviewed Ms. Sherri Reynolds, the Supervisor of Pupil Support Services. She has been in that position for 19 years. The following information was leaned during this interview. She first learned about Dr. Kenney and his use of "hypnosis" as a result of a situation that was reported to her in October 12, 2010, by the school nurse at North Port High School. During our conversation, Ms. Reynolds referred to her notes, which were taken at the time. (See Exhibit 4.) Denise Brislin, the Registered Nurse at NPHS, who is employed by the Sarasota County Health Department, called Linda Glover, her supervisor at the Sarasota County Health Department about a situation she was uncomfortable with. Linda Glover in turn called Ms. Reynolds. Ms. Brislin related to Ms. Reynolds that Dr. Kenney was a newly trained hypnotherapist, and he would show up in the health room to help the RN out when he heard of incidents that came through on the schools walkie talkie. He was dealing with student stress and trying to relax the students. On October 8, 2010, there was an incident that occurred in the weight room onNPHS campus. The student injured himself1ifting weights. He was in severe pain. It looked like both of his shoulders had been pulled out from lifting weights. The nurse was trying to do her assessment ofthe student to assess for shock and other things to complete the report she would have to give to EMS when they arrived. The weight lifter had injured both shoulders and was in severe pain. The SRO had called 911. Denise Brislin tried to assess the student so she could give medical information to EMS. His fingers were numb. The RN was trying to check his eyes for shock; she was trying to take his blood pressure but couldn't take his vital signs and do an assessment as needed because Dr. Kenney was trying to hypnotize the student and calm him down. She felt intimidated and felt she was blocked from trying to do her job. As a result, she was unable to answer the questions for EMS. She was very upset about that because she felt that Dr. Kenney's actions were interfering with her doing her job. This was the first time that Ms. Brislin became uncomfortable with the situation because she felt it had interfered with her trying to do her job as an RN. She has a very good rapport with Dr. Kenney and was reluctant to call her supervisor about it, because she didn't want Dr. Kenney to get angry with her. During this same conversation, Denise Brislin told Ms. Reynolds of prior incidents when she would go to meet an emergency need on the campus and Dr. Kenney would be there trying to hypnotize the injured student. Ms. Brislin did not tell Ms. Reynolds how many Page 12 of 112 Investigative Report times this type of situation happened, but Ms. Brislin did state that she felt that Dr. Kenney was racing to get there before she could respond. Also during this October 12,2010 conversation, Ms. Brislin relayed other incidents to Ms. Reynolds of things that she had heard from students when they would come into the health room. She had heard from students that Dr. Kenney "was in the classroom hypnotizing students, 'making us do funny things.'" She did not say in what classes this was occurring. Ms. Brislin also told Ms. Reynolds that a couple of weeks before the weight lifting incident, she had gone to see Dr. Kenney about another issue and Dr. Kenney's secretary stopped her and told her that "he was in there hypnotizing a male student ... the door was closed and the lights were out. He was trying to treat students for test anxiety." After learning of this, Ms. Reynolds talked to Mr. Steve Cantees, Dr. Kenney's boss, and reported to him what she had learned. Mr. Cantees asked her to write down the infonnation, which she did and gave him a copy. (See Exhibit 4.) Mr. Cantees told her that he would talk with Dr. Kenney and tell him to cease and desist. Mr. Cantees also told her that he had had a prior conversation with Dr. Kenney in which he told him that he could only do hypnosis in psychology classes and that is all he thought he was doing. She doesn't know if Mr. Cantees talked to Dr. Kenney, but her experience with Mr. Cantees is that if he says he is going to do something, he does it. The October 12, 2010 conversation with Ms. Brislin was the first time Ms. Reynolds had heard anything about Dr. Kenney conducting hypnosis. Ms. Reynolds has heard of no other complaints and she feels Denise would get back to her if she was experiencing the same or similar problems if it was interfering with her job. Ms. Brislin is very conscientious and an excellent nurse. This is the only knowledge Ms. Reynolds has concerning Dr. Kenney and any hypnosis. Page 13 of 112 Investigative Report ANN BRANDENBERGER ADVANCED PLACEMENT PSYCHOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY AND AMERICAN HISTORY TEACHER AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, I interviewed Ann Brandenberger. Ms. Brandenberger teaches Advanced Placement Psychology, Psychology and American History at North Port High School. She has been at North Port High School for six years. Ms. Brandenberger stated that Dr. Kenney provided hypnosis demonstrations in her psychology class starting in the 200812009 school year. He would do it once or twice a year depending on how the classes were arranged. The session was a demonstration of what the hypnosis technique was about. Dr. Kenney would give a little history of hypnosis and explain how hypnosis works, stating that it is deep relaxation. Then he would sometimes demonstrate on a student that he had demonstrated on in a previous psychology class. Then the other students, who had signed permission slips, were allowed to join in with that student. Dr. Kenney would start with saying things like ... close your eyes, and breathe deep and relax, and imagine yourself walking on a beach. Ms. Brandenberger said that Dr. Kenney never did anything that would be humiliating. He might tell them they would not remember the number six when they looked at a clock. It was very entertaining. During the group session there might five or six participants. Dr. Kenney didn't pick the participants; it was only the students whose parents had signed permission slips. During the demonstration, if it wasn't happening for somebody, Dr. Kenney would tell them to go back to their seat. Ms. Brandenberger said that Dr. Kenney did not allow anyone to participate with out having a permission slip and neither would she. There were kids who, after they saw the demonstration would say "can I do it, can I do it, please?" They were told "no because you didn't get your permission slip" and they would ask "can I call my mom on the phone," and they were told "no you gotta have the permission slip." Ms. Brandenberger said that she kept the permission slips she received for her classroom. When the event was over, and she felt there was no need to keep them, she threw them away. Ms. Brandenberger said that this 201012011 school year is her third year teaching Psychology classes. It was in the 2009/2010 school year that Dr. Kenney told her that the district wanted him to get permission slips from the student's parents, so we started doing that at that time. The year before that, the district had not requested them. There was no discussion as to "who" at the School Board had made this request; it was just that they requested them. Nothing more was said to her about whether Dr. Kenney was told he could only conduct hypnosis sessions in psychology class. He only mentioned the permission slips . . ' Page 14 of 112 Investigative Report Ms. Brandenberger has some knowledge concerning private sessions with individual students. Dr. Kenney had one with her son. She said that her son is now a college athlete. He is a left handed pitcher. There is a lot of stress in being a pitcher. Her son saw Dr. Kenney to help relieve stress and anxiety. Her son had a lot oftest anxiety with the FCAT, so Dr. Kenney would just teach him how to relax, "that's all it was." Dr. Kenney wasn't doing therapy, he wasn't providing counseling, he was just basically teaching her son how to relax himself thru deep breathing, and relax before he went on the mound. Dr. Kenney told him that he could just sit in the dugout and picture himself in a happy place, "that type of thing, that's all that it was." Ms. Brandenberger said that her son had probably two or three sessions with Dr. Kenney and that they took place in 2009 during her son's junior year. The sessions took place in Dr. Kenney's office and would last 15-20 rninutes at the most. Ms. Brandenberger said that she was present during one of those sessions, the other sessions she believes was just her son and Dr. Kenney. Ms. Brandenberger said she knows there were several athletes that had sessions with Dr. Kenney, but she only knows the name of one. because he was good friends with her son. She said that he was in baseball as well and she remembered talking with. mom about it and his mother was aware and involved in his session(s). Ms. Brandenberger said that Dr. Kenney only held demonstrations in psychology classes as far as she knew. The other psychology teachers are Tanya Pryer and Dan Konyak. Ms. Brandenberger is not aware if there were any parents or outside individuals that participated in hypnosis with Dr. Kenney. She also never heard about any teachers having any sessions with him. Ms. Brandenberger is not aware of how many one-on-one sessions Dr. Kenney may have had with students. She only knows the number that he had with her son. She also knows that there were other athletes and other people having test anxiety, but she doesn't know who or how many there were. Ms. Brandenberger said that speaking generally, the students were aware, parents were aware, and staff members and district officials were all aware of Dr. Kenney conducting one-on-one and group sessions. She said that the district would not have asked for permission slips if they didn't know. She didn't know who in the district told Dr. Kenney to get permission slips, but thought it would be whoever is over Dr. Kenney. That could be Steve Cantees and or maybe Lorie White. Ms. Brandenberger stated "Why would he come to me and say I have been asked to get permission slips ifhe hadn't been asked, and when it was never required before." Ms. Brandenberger said she saw a definite change in behavior by him saying "I've been told to get permission slips", so that's a pretty strong indicator to her that somebody said that ., Page 15 of 112 Investigative Report to him, which means it had to be somebody above him. Ms. Brandenberger felt that obviously there was somebody at the district level that asked for that. Ms. Brandenberger said that she is not aware of anybody that expressed anything negative about these demonstrations or individual sessions; at least no one expressed anything negative to her. Ms. Brandenberger stated that she has strong opinions and she is an emotional person. She stated that she has known Dr. Kenney for 25 years. He has an impeccable character, he has an impeccable reputation, he has given nearly 30 years to the education world, and when you've worked that long in any field you're gonna have your opponents and you're gonna have your proponents. She said that if you had to do a percentage of those who support him to those who oppose him you're probably looking at a 95% support rate to 5% of those who didn't get what they wanted, or had to be disciplined, or something along those lines. She said that even when you disagree with him, even when he has to be a disciplinarian or authoritarian, he finds a way to make you feel okay about it. She and Dr. Kenney have had their issues and disagreements over the past years but have remained friends and comrades and have been able to work together because he's that way. Ms. Brandenberger stated that Dr. Kenney is an honest person and "if you just stay honest, then no matter what you have to say, it may hurt somebody, or may offend somebody initially, but they will always listen to what you have to say because you stay honest. They may not like you, but they will respect you." Ms. Brandenberger said that, in her opinion, this whole situation seems to be a non-issue that has been thrown out there, and in order for the district to save themselves, they have done this do Dr. Kenney. "Dr. Kenney has given them the best years' of his life and here at the end when he is ready to retire this is what they are going to do to him, and it's not right." She feels that the district should admit that they knew what was going on; admit that he didn't break any rules. She feels that ''how this has happened could hurt and irritate any of us. That you can spend all of the years that you do in your career ... you build yourself a career, you build yourself a business and one person comes along with a completely erroneous conclusion and everybody is going to jump on to support the erroneous conclusion rather than support the person that has give so much to you. I teach psychology and what has happened with the family",we all grieve for the family, he was one of our students, we grieved over his death, but there is no correlation between suicide and hypnosis. It is what we call an illusory correlation, that when two events are closely connected, our minds tend to connect them as cause and effect." When Steve Cantees asked her what he should have done she replied, what should have been done is "they should have said to these parents or to the newspaper, 'we have a situation, we're going to have it investigated, we're going to look into it, but we know that Dr. Kenney is a good person, we know he is a good man. We understand that you think there may be a correlation here, we are taking your concerns seriously and we're Page 16 of 112 Investigative Report going to fully investigate them, we would like for you to be involved, come in, meet with us, and talk with us, but what they did was threw him out like he was a piece of trash, and that is wrong, that is just wrong." Ms. Brandenberger feels that Dr. Kenney needs to be at the graduation. She said that the kids have been through so much with the loss of a teacher, the death of a student from a car accident and the two students to suicide. Dr. Kenney has struggled with these kids, struggled with his staff, he has put his heart and soul into building this school, he needs to be there to shake those kids' hands. That is what's right for those kids, he should be there. The kids are grieving, and the person that has pulled them together has now been snatched away from them. Ms. Brandenberger said that she feels that whoever gave Dr. Kenney permission to do this doesn't want to admit it. "lfthey feel the need, that in order to save their back-ends that they should discipline him in some way, then fine, discipline him in some way, you know, suspend him for a month over the summer and he has no pay for a month, whatever it is they feel they need to do, but they need to repair the damage that they did to him, he has done nothing wrong, he's committed no crime, he's broken no law. That is what is so upsetting to a lot of people. You have people that work all throughout this district that have had DUI's or some that have hit kids in classrooms, and they're still in their classrooms." Ms. Brandenberger said that "they need to make a statement that we fully investigated, ... and ifthere is a finding that he has broken some school policy, then they need to say that he broke whatever school policy, but he has committed no crimes and he has been fully reinstated and we want the public to be reassured that Dr. Kenney has done nothing wrong, da, da, da. They need to take the steps to repair the damage that has been done. It reflects on all of us. Teachers everywhere are saying, 'if they can do this to a man who has put 30 years in and has done nothing wrong, what could they do to the rest of us.' They need to repair that." Ms. Brandenberger said that she thinks that all of the other teachers that have had hypnosis done in their classrooms should be part of the investigation/interview process. But she doesn't think that anyone who hasn't observed this should be involved. Talk with the parents and kids that have been hypnotized and they can verify that this is not a trance-like state. She said she knows this because she sat there and she saw her son get hypnotized. It is just teaching these children how to relax: themselves, something they don't know how to do yet. "Dr. Kenney isn't doing any hocus-pocus. That is just what this has been blown in to." Ms. Brandenberger stated that she is a "helicopter Velcro parent" and if she thought anybody was going to do something wrong to her kid, there would be no way they would get anywhere near him. Page 17 of 112 Investigative Report Ms. Brandenberger believes that, in this situation, if Dr. Kenney was told something, he would do what he was told. For as long as she has known him, she would be surprised if he would just flat out disregarded instruction. She said it doesn't go along with who he is. Page 18 of 112 Investigative Report DR. GEORGE KENNEY PRINCIPAL AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Dr. George Kenney, the Principal at North Port High School. The following information was leamed from this interview. Dr. Kenney provided me with a typed timeline of events, with dates as close as he could recall of those events (see Exhibit 3). Dr. Kenney stated that he became interested in hypnosis during his senior year in high school. In 1997, when he was at Pineview, he attended an interactive conference with Dr. Wand. After that, he began a serious study of hypnosis by reading books, articles, CD's and DVD's. Dr. Kenney started to speak in psychology class in the fall or winter of 2005. At first, it was to talk about how the subconscious mind works and the history of hypnosis and they worked on relaxation techniques. Dan Konyak, a teacher at North Port High School has been present from the beginning of those discussions through the present time. Dr. Kenney stated that he grew up in a military family. He had lobbied hard and ultimately was successful in getting the ROTC program at North Port High School. Sometime around 2006, he started traveling with the ROTC when they would go to competitions. There are about ten different competitions they perform, including academics, running, inspections, drill teams, etc. He would do some relaxation techniques with them to help the ROTC students get focused prior to the competition. As time went by, he had seen and studied stage hypnosis. So on some of the trips with the ROTC, he would go out by the pool and do some stand up comedy and then do some hypnosis. Some of the things he would do in the hypnosis session would be to tell the kids that their room numbers were written in Chinese and things like that. He stated that he would always finish his demonstration with saying something along the lines of "Tomorrow at competition, you are going to feel good, you are going to be focused and have plenty of energy. When running in the last five yards, you will have a burst of energy." He explained that it was just to get the kids focused and relaxed. According to Dr. Kenney, that was all done on a voluntary basis. It was usually out by the pool or the field next to the hotel. There would be possibly six to ten parents there, along with instructors. At that time, what he did with the ROTC was tell the kids to call home and be sure their parents were okay with them participating in the demonstration. Dr. Kenney admits that he can't say for sure that all of the kids did that but that was he told them to do before they could participate. Dr. Kenney stated that the maximum on the ROTC field trips was 47 and as far as volunteers were concerned, there may have been 12 to 13 who actually volunteered for the hypnosis. Page 19 of 112 Investigative Report The last ROTC trip Dr. Kenney recalls that he was on would have been in the winter of 2009. During that time, there were no permission slips being used. It was only the students getting verbal permission from their parents. Dr. Kenney stated that he felt comfortable doing this because, during those sessions, there were several parents present, the kids had volunteered and the commander and chaperones were also present. He felt very comfortable with the supervision because everyone knew each other. He also stated that there were never any complaints or any expressions of concern. He thought he was being very responsible in his actions. Dr. Kenney could only recall one occasion that occurred possibly in 2007 where two students got into a very deep state of relaxation during one of the sessions. One ofthe things Dr. Kenney had said while they were in that state of relaxation is that "They would not remember anyone hear except their commander." When he brought them out of the hypnotic state, these two kids were acting paranoid about all of the people talking to them. Dr. Kenney stated that lasted about five minutes. He then put them back down and told them that they knew everybody there and they were all friends and they would feel good and excited. When he brought them back out of it, they were fine. Dr. Kenney does not recall any other situation of a similar nature that occurred during any ROTC trips. Dr. Kenney wouldn't iet any ROTC ninth graders participate because they had never seen a similar demonstration. It was only the upperclassmen who had seen it and participated in demonstrations previously that he would let participate and only when they had called and gotten their parent's permission. Dr. Kenney stated that Commander Bartek had seen the demonstration several times. Sergeant Major Wheeler may have only witnessed one demonstration because he was recently new to the ROTC program. Dr. Kenney also stated that there were teachers and parents who were acting as chaperones and reiterated again that no one ever expressed any concerns. In the winter of2006 was the first time Dr. Kenney stated that he worked individually with a student. The student had a lot of trouble concentrating and was very anxiety ridden about the FCAT test. The student came to Dr. Kenney at the request of the student's mother, who was an assistant principal at the school at the time. Dr. Kenney worked with the student at Dr. Kenney's house. Afterwards, Dr. Kenney had the student take a practice test for the FCAT; and he got 13 out of 14 correct. The student took the FCAT several days later. The test was given in the gym and even though there was noise, and the air conditioner banging overhead, Dr. Kenney stated that he observed the student appear to be totally focused on the test and actually did a great job. After the student had done so well on the FCAT, Dr. Kenney spoke with Barbara Chompko, who was then Executive Director of the High Schools. He informed her that he had been working with a student using hypnosis and what good results they had. Page 20 of 112 Investigative Report According to Dr. Kenney, Barbara Chompko looked at him a little funny and said something along the lines of "she didn't want this to be the next FCAT strategy, or something like that." According to Dr. Kenney, she did not express any specific concerns nor did she ever say for him not to do anything along those lines again. "She was hesitant about it but never said anything about not doing it." Between 2006 and 2009, he didn't do anything with students individually. He did continue with the psychology class demonstrations and at least a couple of ROTC trips during that time frame. He did admit that during that time frame, there were no permission slips that were required. In the spring or snnnner of 2009, Ann Brandenberger, the Advanced Placement Psychology teacher, had a parent come to her and tell her that her son was frustrated and feeling inferior. Ms. Brandenberger suggested that the parent go see Dr. Kenney to see if he could be of some assistance. The parent did come to Dr. Kenney and asked ifhe would work with her son on an individual basis. With the parent's permission, he did work with the student during the summer and it went very successfully. The student took the ACT and got the score that he needed to pass. The sessions that were held with the student were done at the school in Dr. Kenney's office. Around the same time (spring/summer 2009), a graduate (who was 18 years of age) was anxious about going into the Marine Corp. According to Dr. Kenney, this graduate had come from a very dysfunctional family and Dr. Kenney felt the Marines were his only shot at getting away from the environment he was living in. The graduate was very stressed about the Marine Corp. and boot camp and wanted to be successful. He asked Dr. Kenney ifhe would work with him to help him relax and be able to better focus. According to Dr. Kenney, the student had a slight twitch in his head when he was stressed. Dr. Kenney spoke with Sergeant Major Wheeler, who used to be a drill sergeant at Paris Island. Sergeant Major Wheeler told Dr. Kenney that the boy would probably be washed out immediately because he wouldn't be safe on the rifle range. This was one of the first individuals that Dr. Kenney also worked with on the telephone. Dr. Kenney stated that this graduate had played baseball but Dr. Kenney never did do any work with him concerning his sports performance. It was strictly related to relaxation techniques so he could concentrate and do better during boot camp in the Marines. Apparently, the individual successfully made it through boot camp and is still in the Marines. According to Dr. Kenney, it was around this time that he felt the responsibility to do extra training and get certified in hypnosis. Therefore, in November of 2009, he took time off from school and got the extra training and certifications he felt he needed. According to Dr. Kenney, it was because of the great results he had gotten with students • and • . He saw a lot of promise and saw hypnosis as a tool that could be really Page 21 of 112 Investigative Report ( effective with kids. He also felt that if he was going to take the next step, he needed to at least become certified. At that point, it became more than a hobby and an interest. According to Dr. Kenney, everybody at the school, as well as Steve Cantees knew where he was going and what he was doing. He took personal time to get this certification in hypnosis. Dr. Kenney stated that even though Steve Cantees knew that Dr. Kenney was interested in hypnosis and was going for his training and certification, he's not sure that Mr. Cantees knew about his work with student. and • . When Dr. Kenney came back from his training at the Omni Hypnosis Center in Deland, Florida, he started to work more regularly with kids, primarily on test anxiety and athletic performance. He also worked with them on anger management. Those were the areas he predominately dealt with. These sessions occurred in his office, after school hours and it was with kids that he knew, or knew their parents. According to Dr. Kenney, these students "pretty much sought him out." When he did the demonstrations in psychology class, people would hear about it and students would come to him and ask ifhe could help them in certain things. Dr. Kenney stated that he has only done this to try and help the kids. He has never ever charged a student. He just was trying to give the students another tool to work with. Dr. Kenney stated that almost exclusively, these sessions were held after school hours. On very rare occasions, he might work with a student during lnnch hour, such as an athlete who had a very busy schedule and had a big game coming up. Dr. Kenney stated that he would meet with students in his office all day long, not related to hypnosis. These meetings could involve driver's licenses, trouble with teachers, discipline problems, etc. Anybody who needed to see Dr. Kenney could come to his office and speak with him. The normal traffic flow would be for them to enter Dr. Kenney's assistant's office. She kept Dr. Kenney's calendar and was more or less the gatekeeper. His assistant would often make a determination, based on the individual need, if she should interrupt Dr. Kenney if he was in a meeting with a child or with a teacher or on the phone with a parent. If it was an emergency, she would always interrupt Dr. Kenney; however if it was something that could be handled a little later, she used her own judgment as to how to handle the interruption. Dr. Kenney stated that he always kept his assistant updated to the best of his ability as to where he was going, how long he would be there and when he would be back. According to Dr. Kenney, all of his appointments, both for school and personal reasons, were kept on his calendar. He did not keep any secondary or private appointment book. Page 22 of 112 Investigative Report To the best of Dr. Kenney's recollection, in the winter of 2009, a parent called Steve Cantees regarding a demonstration that Dr. Kenney had done in psychology class. As a result ofthis parental call, Steve Cantees called Dr. Kenney to ask ifhe had permission slips to do the demonstration. Dr. Kenney said no and Mr. Cantees said that he thought it would be a good idea if he did get permission slips from the parents. According to Dr. Kenney, he agreed that it was a good idea and from that point forward, he did get permission slips from the parents before doing any demonstrations in the psychology class. Dr. Kenney stated that prior to doing the demonstrations in the psychology class, he would e-mail the permission slips to the teacher, who would hand them out to the students. Whoever brought the signed permission slips back would be able to participate in the demonstration. Dr. Kenney stated that the parent that called Mr. Cantees about the psychology demonstration had a daughter in the psychology class. This female student was involved in competitive bowling. Dr. Kenney stated that during his demonstration, he would talk to the class about having a bowling ball in one hand and balloons tied to the other and see which of the students responded to one arm being heavier and the other arm being lighter. This helped him determine the level of suggestibility of the students. This daughter never did participate in any of the demonstrations but the parent was more concerned that Dr. Kenney was using the image of a bowling ball as a heavy object and he was fearful it might affect the daughter's performance in her competitive bowling. Late in the year of2009, Dr. Kenney developed 5 CD's with the assistance of Kevin Brislin. Mr. Brislin is the TV production and electronic music teacher at North Port High School. In fact, Kevin Brislin wrote the background music and did the editing for those CD's. Dr. Kenney stated that the dialogue on these CD's is very similar to the dialogue that he would use with students in their individual sessions. Dr. Kenney stated that it is a very standard kind of process. Those five CD's involved: 1. Anger management; 2. Test anxiety; 3. Sports performance; 4. Improved attitude with school; 5. Stress control. Since that time, he has developed three more CD's involving baseball pitching, baseball batting and basketball free-throw. Dr. Kenney stated that the fact that he had produced CD's and written books, all of which were available on Amazon.com, as well as the fact that he was performing demonstrations in psychology class, was doing demonstrations during some of the ROTC trips and was helping students with their test anxiety and sports performance, it was definitely not something that was hidden. All of this was part of his regular conversation. He wasn't trying to hide anything. When asked whether Dr. Kenney thought that the district offices at the Landings would know that he was doing this, he stated that it is very possible they would not have known but reiterated again that it was nothing he was keeping hidden. As he stated, there were a Page 23 of 112 Investigative Report lot of people who did know. He's not sure if the people at the Landings "should have known" but it was common knowledge at North Port High School and in the North Port community. In fact, in the spring of 2009, there was even a newspaper article regarding Dr. Kenney hypnotizing the softball team. There was also an article in the school newspaper sometime in 2007 or 2008. According to Dr. Kenney, the last two or three graduation nights, the hypnotist who usually performs at the grad bash had asked Dr. Kenney ifhe wanted to assist him. By that time, Dr. Kenney had his certification. He also stated that he and the hypnotist are good friends and they have exchanged books and CD's and discussions about hypnosis. Dr. Kenney doesn't remember any administrator or anyone else coming to him with a concern about his participation in the hypnosis during the grad bash. When I asked Dr. Kenney about Mark Gilliland saying something about his concern over Dr. Kenney doing hypnosis at the grad bash, Dr. Kenney stated that he does not recall that. Dr. Kenney stated that Mark Gilliland has been gone from North Port High School for at least three years. The first time that Dr. Kenney recalls having a phone conversation with Mr. Cantees about individual sessions was after the weight lifting incident in October of 2010; several years after Mark Gilliland left North Port High School. In the spring of2010, Dr. Kenney developed a website geared toward athletes. He took it down recently because he wanted to gear it more toward college athletes, so he thought he should take out some of the photos of the high school athletes. Dr. Kenney stated that his ultimate retirement goal was to teach college education courses and do hypnosis with college athletes. Dr. Kenney estimates that since starting with his two original students,. and., he would guess that he has worked with 45 individuals. Not all ofthese are students at the school; some of them were college athletes and adults. He estimates out of the 45 he's worked with, 35 to 36 were students. He did state that the North Port High School students would have their sessions after school hours in his office. Sometimes, they would have their parents with them, sometimes they would have their friends with them and sometimes it would just be him and the student. Dr. Kenney also stated that some of the college athletes and the adults would have their sessions in Dr. Kenney's office at North Port High School after school hours. When Dr. Kenney did hypnotize an individual from outside the school, he would charge them but it was a donation to the school scholarship fund. Dr. Kenney wasn't benefitting personally. Any money he charged them went into the scholarship fund. In October of 201 0, Dr. Kenney heard a call on the radio which sounded like an emergency. This emergency had occurred in the weight lifting room. Since he was down ., Page 24 of 112 Investigative Report toward that end of the building, he stopped in to see ifhe could be of some assistance. There had been a student who was weight lifting and injured his shoulders. He was in a lot of pain and Dr. Kenney was fearful that he was going to go into shock. As a result, Dr. Kenney knelt down and started talking to the student calmly. Dr. Kenney explains that it was not hypnosis, it was just positive reinforcement, trying to get him to relax and to breathe and remain calm because he did seem scared to death. About three or four minutes later, the nurse came in and was trying to evaluate the student, asking, what's his name, what happened, how does she get in touch with his parents, etc. During that time, Dr. Kenney continued to talk to the student. Dr. Kenney admits that he and the nurse were probably working at cross purposes; but he didn't realize that at the time. Afterwards, the nurse called her supervisor because she wasn't real comfortable talking to Dr. Kenney individually. Her supervisor called Steve Cantees to inform him of the situation. Dr. Kenney stated that the reason he was trying to assist was because he had been successful about a year ago in a similar situation where there was an injury and the student had a componnd fracture. It was so bad that the SRO was throwing up. As the nurse was innnobilizing the student's leg, Dr. Kenney was keeping him occupied and calm. Dr. Kenney felt that they worked very well together and that was what he was basing this most recent weight lifting situation on. When Steve Cantees spoke with Dr. Kenney, Dr. Kenney stated that Mr. Cantees told him if there was ever a similar situation that he wanted Dr. Kenney to wait until somebody asked him for help. Dr. Kenney agreed. He also said that he feels he has a great relationship with the nurse. In fact, it was the nurse's husband who helped Dr. Kenney put his CD's together. Dr. Kenney also stated that the nurse is familiar with hypnosis through one of her own family members and not through Dr. Kenney. Around the same time, Steve Cantees apparently had gotten a phone call from a parent who was concerned that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis in an office that was "dimly lit." Dr. Kenney explained that his office has two light switches, one for each set of fluorescent lights in the ceiling. When both switches are on, all of the lights are on. When you put down one of the switches, only half of the lights are on. Dr. Kenney stated that when he did have a session with a student, he would close the blinds and leave only half ofthe fluorescent lights on. He didn't think that it was particularly dimly lit. He also stated that he never covered the window in his office door that lead to his assistant's office, so people could always look in and see what was going on. Dr. Kenney stated that when Steve called him on the telephone and asked Dr. Kenney ifhe was working with students individually in his office, Dr. Kenney said "yes." Mr. Cantees stated that he has this concern that the office was dimly lit and he was worried that Dr. Kenney was alone in the office with a student who was not fully conscious. Mr. Cantees told Dr. Kenney he was uncomfortable with that. Mr. Cantees said that ifhe wanted to work with students individually, he'd feel better if Dr. Kenney would do it off campus. Mr. Cantees suggested that Dr. Kenney go to a library or rent an office. Mr. Cantees stated that he would feel much more comfortable if Dr. Kenney would work with students off of campus. Page 25 of 112 Investigative Report According to Dr. Kenney, he didn't think that it had as much to do with the hypnosis as it did with being alone with a student in his office. The way Dr. Kenney took the comment about the dimly lit office, he thought they were talking about the fear of sexual impropriety. Dr. Kenney did admit that he felt that Mr. Cantees had some concerns and definitely wanted him to move his individual sessions off of campus. When I asked Dr. Kenney ifhe was concerned about a student making a false accusation and having to defend himself against that, Dr. Kenney explained that those types of accusations can happen at any time. It can happen when you are doing discipline with a student or a teacher. "In the business we are in, that can happen anytime, whether there is any kind of fonndation for it or not." Dr. Kenney stated that he felt very comfortable with the students he was working with and that there was a high level oftrust between them. Dr. Kenney also stated that any student he didn't know very well, he would not be alone with. Anytime a student wanted to have someone in the room with them, they were more than welcome; they are welcome to have their parents or friends involved. Dr. Kenney never had an issue with that, in fact, he welcomed it. Dr. Kenney stated that 50 to 60% of the time, there would be someone else in the room during a student's session. After Mr. Cantees' telephone discussion with Dr. Kenney about him taking his individual sessions off of campus, Dr. Kenney stopped working with individual students for a period of time. During that time frame, he was trying to figure out how he could continue to help the students and where he could do that. According to Dr. Kenney, he stated "I'm not saying I used great judgment all the time here ... I think I used poor judgment several times ... " For a period of a few weeks, he stopped his individual sessions and was trying to reevaluate where he could hold his sessions. He visited the North Port Library and Jacaranda Library; however, those were inappropriate settings to conduct his sessions. Dr. Kenney also stated that prior to the conversation with Mr. Cantees, Dr. Kenney had dropped off resumes at various places in town looking to see ifhe could do it in a more professional setting and on a more professional basis. Unfortunately, he hadn't had any response to his efforts. Dr. Kenney stated that since it was coming around the time for the SAT's, students were coming to him asking ifhe would work with them to help them with their test anxiety and help them concentrate. He eventually agreed and said yes he would work with them and he again started to work with individual students. These sessions did occur in his office on campus. Page 26 of 112 Investigative Report Dr. Kenney stated that it was during this time that he knew he needed to wind it down and start working with students off campus because he wanted to do it ip. a more in depth way and not try to squeeze it in, in the afternoon. It was during this time that he was able to arrange to have several students work with him on the telephone. During the spring of2011, athletes were asking Dr. Kenney to work with them and he told them that he wanted to find a place he could work during the summer, possibly someone's house. He also stated that he had been in contact with the Pro Sports Academy in Pnnta Gorda. He met with them about doing some work down there and they seemed excited about the prospect. Dr. Kenney sent them a proposal. This was all done prior to the latest telephone contact he had with Mr. Cantees. One of the things Dr. Kenney wanted to do was to be able to work with North Port High School students at no charge. Dr. Kenney says that he just wants to give kids the additional tools to help them academically, athletically and so forth. Dr. Kenney says he is very passionate about that. Dr. Kenney admits that his passion has over stepped his good judgment sometimes. He stated that he was only trying to help students be more successful and overcome some of the barriers. He stated that the barriers, in regard to standardized testing, are pretty incredible. Kids can walk across the stage and not get a diploma because they haven't passed their reading test. Dr. Kenney admits that people might state that he's been creative and innovative and that he may have pushed the envelope, "but I don't think I've stepped over the line." Dr. Kenney feels that it is his job to advocate for the students at his school and provide them with the best that he has. "This was a tool that I saw the value in, that I saw the students making very positive steps forward and I think with at least a couple ofthem, it was a life changing thing and I see the merit in it. .. and it was working." Many parents and teachers saw the positive affects it was having and it has been a part of Dr. Kenney's normal discussion for six years. According to Dr. Kenney, "I saw this as a very positive thing for kids, this is not anything I have hid, it was very common knowledge at the school and among the students." When asked how Dr. Kenney would handle the situation ifhe and Mr. Cantees' role had been reversed, he stated that in his opinion, if he were his boss, and had a serious concern about a situation, the first thing he would do would be to have a meeting with the employee and express the concern and discuss the issue. Then, ifhe felt that it was not in the best interest of the kids or was a violation of something, then he would give the person a Memo of Instruction. Dr. Kenney explains that this memo of instruction is not disciplinary in nature; it would just say "you may not or cease and desist or layout certain perimeters." ., Page 27 of 112 Investigative Report If this individual continued to do what they were instructed not to do, th,e process with a teacher would be a verbal reprimand or possibly even a written reprimand, depending on the severity of the situation. However, with administrators, you can skip steps because you don't have to follow the steps in the contact, because they are not union. Therefore, there are a variety of different levels of discipline that can be taken. According to Dr. Kenney, in regard to this situation, there was never a "do not do this," there was never a memo, there was never an e-mail, there was never a meeting, there was never anything that said "stop doing this." The two conversations Dr. Kenney recalled having with Steve Cantees were both on the phone and probably five (5) minutes in length. They were in response to something that had come to Mr. Cantees' attention. Dr. Kenney felt that he had answered Steve Cantees' concerns when Steve Cantees suggested getting permission slips, Dr. Kenney agreed and said "you are probably right, we should be using permission slips." When Steve Cantees stated "I'm not real comfortable with you doing this on campus, I prefer you move it off campus," Dr. Kenney said "You know what, that's probably not a bad idea." According to Dr. Kenney, he and Steve Cantees have a very good rapport and he hopes that they can get through this without having that rapport damaged. According to Dr. Kenney, "Obviously, coming away from these two conversations, Mr. Cantees had a different perspective from what I did, but that wasn't 'stop doing this or you know what, we need to meet about this.'" Dr. Kenney stated that he felt confident in his ability in what he was doing, the training that he had and the rapport that he had with the students and the good he was doing. Dr. Kenney is not certain that Steve Cantees' timeline is quite accurate in that Mark Gilliland has not been at North Port High School for at least three years. And the first time Dr. Kenney ever helped out at grad bash was in the last year or two. According to Dr. Kenney, the deal he had with the administrative staff was that Dr. Kenney and Karen Wilks would go to graduation night at Disney World and then at project graduation, the other administrators would take the late shift. Dr. Kenney would get to proj ect graduation earlier in the evening and stay there through the hypnotist part, usually 11 :00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Once that was done, he would leave and the other administrators would stay until 5:00 a.m. or 6:00 a.m. Dr. Kenney stated that if Mark Gilliland was there, and he's not saying that he wasn't, but given the schedule of events, he would have been showing up after the hypnosis session. Therefore, the first time Dr. Kenney recalls having any sort of phone conversation with Mr. Cantees about individual sessions was after the weight lifting incident in October 2010 that would have been several years after Mark Gilliland had left North Port High School. ., Page 28 of 112 Investigative Report Dr. Kenney also disagrees with Mr. Cantees' time frame as far as the adult firefighter coming out of his office in September of2010 to February 2011. Dr. Kllnney stated that the firefighter's individual session was at least one and a half years ago, and he doesn't recall any incident that occurred between September 2010 and February 2011 involving an adult firefighter. The only individual he remembers that was an adult firefighter that he treated was Rick Jones and that would have been around June of2009. Dr. Kenney said there are very few adults that he worked with and Rick Jones was the only firefighter. Dr. Kenney stated that he had three (3) sessions with., the young man who recently committed suicide. One of those sessions was in a classroom setting and two were individual sessions. During the two individual sessions, there were other students present in the room with • . When I asked Dr. Kenney ifhe has ever done a session with., he initially said no, but later admitted that he had. He also admitted that he initially lied to Steve Cantees about having a session with • . Dr. Kenney also stated that he had worked with. on track and football issues. The last time he worked with. was approximately six (6) days before his car crash. When Dr. Kenney got the phone call from the newspaper stating that there was going to be an article concerning hypnosis a n d . suicide, he felt he should cal_ parents and give them a bit of a heads up to let them know that something was going to be in the paper and they might be contacted. He didn't want them to be blindsided. Dr. Kenney stated that he had had previous conversations with. family and they had told him how much their son enjoyed spending time with Dr. Kenney and how they thanked him for his help with their son. As a result, he wanted to let them know about the upcoming newspaper article and the fact that it was probably going to come to light because o~ suicide. Dr. Kenney stated that he did not tell them not to talk to the press but did tell them that they could say whatever they wanted; he just wanted to let them know that they might be contacted. He did tell. mother that he was concerned that if it did get out into the press; it could be the end of his career. Dr. Kenney also stated that in November 2010,. was going to be taking the SAT/ACT and asked if Dr. Kenney would work with her. He worked with. one (1) time just before she was getting ready to take the exam. Her mother was present during that sessIOn. Dr. Kenney admitted to me that he had lied to Steve Cantees when Steve asked him if he had ever had a session with. and he told Mr. Cantees "no." Dr. Kenney admits that that was wrong and he lied because he knew how it would be misconstrued if the press wanted to make something out of it that it was not. Dr. Kenney feels that there is no correlation with what he is doing with the students and these deaths. It's a very unimaginable coincidence but he initially felt that if that information came out, it would be made to appear to be something that it was not. ., Page 29 of 112 Investigative Report Dr. Kenney feels terrible about the situation that he has put the school djstrict in, he feels awful about putting his school and his students through something that they didn't need or deserve to have to endure on top of all the tragedy they have already experienced. (Investigator's Notes: During this conversation, Dr. Kenney became very emotional and started to cry.) In Dr. Kenney's opinion, he was never told specifically to stop. He doesn't think he stepped over the line or violated anything. He admits that he used poor judgment several times. He also stated that he wants to be at North Port High School next year. He's willing to take responsibility for what he has done and do everything he needs to do to set the record straight. Page 30 of 112 Investigative Report WILLIAM J MASSOLIO ASSISTANT PRlNCIPAL AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Monday, May 23, 2011, I interviewed Mr. William Massolio. Mr. Massolio is an Assistant Principal at North Port High School and has been for four years. The following infonnation was learned from this interview. Mr. Massolio's knowledge of Dr. Kenney using hypnosis with students is only second hand, through other people who have told him that it was occurring. Sometime before Christmas of this past year he did observe a video that was on You Tube that showed Dr. Kenney hypnotizing an individual student. "We never talked about it, he never talked to me about it, and certainly I wasn't there for any ofthe sessions." Mr. Massolio recognized the room where the session was being held as that of Dr. Kenney's office at NPHS. He did not recognize the person in the session; but stated that the individual appeared to be of student age. Mr. Massolio stated that there were times when he would go down to Dr. Kenney's office in order to speak with him about an issue of some sort and he would be told that Dr. Kenney was busy with a student and that he didn't want to be disturbed. There were other times that Mr. Massolio would be told that Dr. Kenney was in a class doing a demonstration. Mr. Massolio thinks that someone, (he can't remember who or when) told him that this was something Dr. Kenney was doing, and working towards doing and perhaps going to school for it. As the years went by he had heard more about it taking place, especially in the athletic area. Mr. Massolio stated that Dr. Kenney never mentioned to him what he was doing with hypnosis. On occasion Dr. Kenney would say he "I'm working with this student" and leave it at that. Mr. Massolio knew Dr. Kenney was very interested in athletics and their programs, particularly basketball, and that Dr. Kenney would travel with them a lot. When Dr. Kenney went to away games he would say "I've been working with." or another student like that. Mr. Massolio assumed it was hypnotism, because he "heard" more of Dr. Kenney's interest in sports related hypnosis, sports related focusing, "things like that." Mr. Massolio stated that he did have some concerns about it and didn't think it was a very good idea, but it seemed to be somewhat public knowledge. One time last year he read an article in the paper, which had been posted on the schools bulletin board, that Dr. Kenney had hypnotized the softball team before a game. After seeing the article Mr. Massolio said he went to their athletic director and said "did you see this article?" and he was kind of taken back and subsequently it was taken down from the bulletin board, he thinks by Dr. Kenney or by the athletic director, "I'm not sure who it was." Mr. Massolio ., Page 31 of 112 Investigative Report said that there seemed to be a lot of people that knew about it and nobody seemed to be that concerned about it. Mr. Massolio said he never heard anything negative about it. The only thing he ever heard that could be construed as negative was sometimes, when you went to Dr. Kenney's office and said "I need to see Dr. Kenney about something- you were told he was busy with a student, and that was kind of code I think, for he's busy doing something and he doesn't want to be disturbed, unless it's really an emergency." Dr. Kenney was really good about meeting with the staff every morning unless he was committed elsewhere. During those meeting that lasted approximately half hour, they would discuss whatever issues were out there on the bricks with kids, parents, and teachers, etc. Dr. Kenney would give them direction as to what he wanted done, and they would discuss things they were working on, especially if it was relevant to the entire group. Mr. Massolio said that the meetings would begin at 6:30 a.m. every morning and were attended by all the administrators and twice a week the meetings also included their behavior specialists. Dr. Kenney really felt that the meetings were an important thing to do. Mr. Massolio does not have first hand knowledge or specifics of any sessions; but through second hand information he said he was aware that Dr. Kenney was conducting both individual and group hypnosis sessions for students, teachers and staff members. Mr. Massolio believes that those sessions were for things like taking the Administrative FELE test or to quit smoking. Mr. Massolio believes that those sessions took place on campus. Mr. Massolio said that he had no first hand knowledge of Dr. Kenney having permission slips, but he had heard that he did, both in a group setting and on an individual basis. He never saw any permission slips, but he did ask a couple of coaches and he was told "yes". Mr. Massolio is not aware of there being more than one kind of permission slip. Mr. Massolio has no knowledge of where any permission slips were kept. He stated that when this whole thing broke in the papers, Mr. Cantees asked him to find out if there were any materials on campus that would be relevant to the investigation. Mr. Massolio went to Ms. McLaren and asked her and she told him that Dr. Kenney kept everything personally and all she had was his calendar. Ms. McLaren did not indicate to Mr. Massolio that she had any idea as to how many slips there may have been. Mr. Massolio states that from second hand information he recalls that" in discussions with administrators and others, there was something that came up at some point in time about the School Board being aware or people at the school's district office being aware that he was doing this and that he had been told not to do it anymore, and that seems to me to have come up within this past year, I can't say exactly when, it may have even been last year it came up, everything kind of blends together, but there was, at least Page 32 of 112 Investigative Report second hand information to me that 'yes, he's been talked to about this, and yes, he's been told not to do it anymore." Mr. Massolio doesn't know who he heiJId this from and doesn't know who would have told Dr. Kenney to stop; he can only assume it would have been his innnediate supervisor, Mr. Cantees. Mr. Massolio doesn't know anything about what the conversation was or how it was handled Mr. Massolio said that when information comes to a supervisor, no matter what the level, if there is behavior that's questionable in an area you have supervision over, "it is your responsibility to investigate it, and to look into it and to figure out what's going on and then to make some determinations as to ifthere are any consequences at that time. If there is activity that is going on that is inappropriate, the least that is going to be done is say "it won't happen anymore". Mr. Massolio stated that his approach would be to contact the person and say "can I talk to you?" He would then bring them in and make it as informal as possible so it's not an accusatory type of thing, but advise the person that "this is the information that came to my desk, I have to look into this, this is a serious accusation, can you tell me why someone would bring this to me? Is this something you are doing? If you are doing it, why are you doing it? How do you justify it and secondly, did you clear this with anybody I don't know about? What precautions have you taken to make sure this won't be fonnd to be inappropriate by our teachers and our staff and our parents? In this particular instance, I think I would have said to him, if in fact you have done this in the past, we need to talk about that, but I will tell you one dog gone thing, it better not be done anymore. I am not making a judgment if you had good intentions or bad intentions, I would assume you had good intentions; otherwise we are having a different conversation. Let's assume you had the best of intentions, what place does this have in the roll that you have and what place does this have at a school. I can't come up with answers that make this reasonable, so this needs to stop. That is the minimum." That is what he assumes took place, at least he hopes it did because that is the way he would have handled it. If, for some reason, the action continued, he stated, "I would call in that person and say, there are two things that could have happened here. One is, you are not intelligent enough to figure out what I said. The second one is you don't care about what I said. I'll be honest with you, the second is way worse than the first one. The first one allows for some education to take place or for me to commnnicate better, but that one is hard for me to believe. The second one puts me in a position where you are totally being insubordinate and that is not acceptable." Mr. Massolio stated that the last he heard of a session that Dr. Kenney had with someone on an individual basis was only through second hand knowledge. It is difficult to place a timeline on it, because of the number of tragedies they have had, but he said he recalls it to be somewhere in the midst in those tragedies, and was probably at least a month or six weeks ago. Mr. Massolio said that he might have heard it from a student who told him that he had met with Dr. Kenney and that would have been during basketball season. Page 33 of 112 Investigative Report Dr. Kenney was very involved with the boy's basketball team. Mr. Massolio said that he thinks the sports angle of hypnosis is something that fascinates Dr. KeJ1l1ey and that Dr. Kenney saw a connection between his technique and helping athletes improve their performance and from what he would hear from the coaches, Dr. Kenney very much wanted the school's teams to do well. Mr. Massolio thinks that Dr. Kenney saw a connection between the technique and helping them improve their performance. Mr. Massolio is not aware if that theory was actually proven out by the results because that became a point of humor with some people. In fact, that is how Mr. Massolio would hear about some of the Dr. Kenney's sessions; people would say, "I hear he worked with so-and-so and did you see the guy play last night, he was horrible, or something like that." Mr. Massolio was not aware if anybody from the School Board may have directed Dr. Kenney to do or not to do any more hypnosis sessions. Mr. Massolio had only heard, second hand, that Dr. Kenney "was told by somebody not to do it and that we knew he was obviously doing it, when that took place I do not know." Mr. Massolio personally feels terrible for Dr. Kenney. He has known him for twenty- plus years; they have known each other since Dr. Kenney was a band director at Lemon Bay High School. Mr. Massolio has never known Dr. Kenney to do anything except good decent things on behalf of his kids. Dr. Kenney has always been very supportive of Mr. Massolio and with the things he wanted to do and the programs he has tried to initiate. Mr. Massolio said that he and Dr. Kenney have not always agreed (and that's o.k.). Mr. Massolio's idea is to create opportunities for kids and teachers that move structures forward, create cultures that enhance education, excellence, pulling the school together. As an administrator he wants a license that will allow him to do these things and Dr. Kenney has been really good at letting him do those kinds of things. Mr. Massolio feels they have accomplished a number of new things for Northport High, i.e. Dual enrollment, advanced placement, an engineering program next year, freshman transition team, working with the athletic program. Dr. Kenney has always been fair, decent and although they sometimes differ on the details of some things they generally have the same philosophy. Mr. Massolio's focus at Northport is to make things better, to create a positive impact at school so people want to bring their kids there, so they can hire the best teachers who want to teach at that school. Everybody wants to be part of a quality organization. He devotes much of his time in doing that. So when something like this happens, it takes away from that tremendously; "it now takes many of the forward steps we've made and puts us into reverse mode." Right now they are just trying to hold gronnd. They will have to ward off - for no telling how long - all the little jokes and stabs and innuendos, and some rightfully so . .' Page 34 of 112 Investigative Report Although he is part of the system, he also feels he is one of the biggest critics of the system in general, not in Sarasota County, but education in general. HeJeels that there is enough money; it's just not spent well. Mr. Massolio thinks there is a lot they are not doing that they should be doing. He thinks for the most part people ''kick the can down the road" and hope somebody else will resolve the problem. Mr. Massolio thinks this whole situation is a terrible waste of time, energy and limited resources, and that Dr. Kenney should have known better, and if this was known by his superiors, it should have been stopped. Mr. Massolio's focus right now is to get thru the next couple of weeks with the teachers, graduating class, staff the school for next year, and all of this interferes with that. Mr. Massolio is also concerned that some parents will pull their kids out ofthe school. He said he knows that they will have a humpty dumpty summer but they will put all of the pieces together again. He is pessimistic now, but he will feel better with each coming day. Mr. Massolio said he doesn't know what the fallout will be, but whatever it is, there will be people that say it's wrong. Mr. Massolio likes Dr. Kenney as an individual and also thinks a lot of his wife. He knows that this can be, and is hard on a family and he hopes for the best for Dr. Kenney. Page 35 of 112 Investigative Report RONALD CORSO ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Monday, May 23,2011, I interviewedMr. Ronald Corso. Mr. Corso is an Assistant Principal at North Port High School and has been for the past five (5) years. He has known Dr. George Kenney for the past ten (10) years. The following information was learned during this interview. Mr. Corso has no first hand knowledge of Dr. Kenney hypnotizing students. He has never witnessed Dr. Kenney conducting any classroom presentations. He has never observed Dr. Kenney hypnotizing any individual students one on one. The only knowledge he has was from other people talking about it. He can't recall the first time he heard about Dr. Kenney hypnotizing students. He thinks it was a few years ago, but he can't recall a specific date or year. If he had to guess, he would estimate he first heard about it a couple of years after he became assistant principal. Mr. Corso never had any direct conversations with Dr. Kenney about hypnosis and Dr. Kenney never disclosed anything to Mr. Corso. Mr. Corso stated that he never talked to Dr. Kenney about it. Mr. Corso was just too busy to even ask. As a result, he has no knowledge of how he did hypnosis, where he did hypnosis, who he hypnotized, etc. He did hear that Dr. Kenney was conducting presentations in Ms. Brandenberger's class, Mr. Konyak's class and more recently in Ms. Pryer's classroom. He also heard that Dr. individually with some athletes and other students such as: brother. Mr. Corso does not know for sure where Dr. Kenney would hold these sessions, but he assumes they were in his office. There were times he tried to see Dr. Kenney about certain issues and he was told by Dianna McLaren, Dr. Kenney's administrative assistant, that Dr. Kenney "was working with a certain student." Mr. Corso is not sure what that meant. It could be that Dr. Kenney was talking to a student about attendance or grades or it could have been involving hypnosis. Mr. Corso does not know. He didn't look in to see what was going on. Mr. Corso does not know if Dr. Kenney had any sessions with anyone other than students. Mr. Corso has no idea how Dr. Kenney and the students got together. He does not know if the students sought out Dr. Kenney or vice versa. Mr. Corso knows nothing about permission slips except what he has read in the paper. ., Page 36 of 112 Investigative Report Mr. Corso thinks that the district knew about Dr. Kenney and his hypnosis, a few years ago, but he has no first hand knowledge about that. The only thing he k,nows is what he has read in the paper. If Mr. Corso had to take a guess as to the last time he heard anything about Dr. Kenney doing any sort of hypnosis or relaxation techniques, would probably have been near the end of basketball season, but he doesn't know any specifics concerning that. He thinks it was something he may have overheard. Mr. Corso never expressed any concerns to anyone, either at North Port High School or at the Landings, about Dr. Kenney and hypnosis. He just assumed there was an understanding between Dr. Kenney and the district officials. Mr. Corso stated that Dr. Kenney cares about people. Dr. Kenney would never do anything to hurt anybody. "Did he make a bad judgment? Probably." Mr. Corso respects Dr. Kenney and knows that Dr. Kenney's heart was in the right place. ., Page 37 of 112 Investigative Report TOMAS DINVERNO ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Monday, May 23,2011, I interviewed Mr. Tomas Dinvemo, one of the Assistant Principals at North Port High School. Mr. Dinvemo has been at NPHS for 8 years. This is his first year as an assistant principal. The following information was learned during this interview. The first time he learned of Dr. Kenney doing any sort of hypnosis was when he heard that Dr. Kenney was doing demonstrations in the psychology classes. This occurred sometime in the school year of 2008-2009. In the spring of2009, Mr. Dinvemo asked Dr. Kenney ifhe would come into his class and do a demonstration for his advance placement classes to help them with their AP test. As it turned out, Dr. Kenney's visit to the class wasn't about hypnosis. Dr. Kenney came into the class for about ten minutes and talked about preparing for the AP test and feeling good about taking it. There was no "counting down or anything else you would associate with a hypnosis session." It was not like what he had heard Dr. Kenney would do in the psychology class, where he would get the whole class involved and then do a demo on one or two students and have them get up and do something funny, like put on lipstick or something else, which was very innocent. Mr. Dinvemo had heard that Dr. Kenney got permission slips from the students in psychology class, but he never saw them nor would he have had any reason to see them. It is just what he heard. Mr. Dinvemo was never present in any group or individual hypnosis sessions conducted by Dr. Kenney. He had learned, from talking to Dr. Kenney, that he was conducting individual one on one session with student athletes. Dr. Kenney discussed with him that he was doing sessions with at least two students. One was., a basketball player. Dr. Kenney was was., telling Mr. Dinvemo that he had been working with. on foul line shooting. The second student basketball season. another basketball player. This was occurring during this year's Mr. Dinvemo never saw any of the student sessions. He thinks some may have occurred in the gym and some in Dr. Kenney's office, but he does not know for sure, but they did occur on campus. Mr. Dinvemo stated that it was common knowledge around the school that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis in psychology class and with athletes. Just recently he had heard that at least one staff member, Matt Mitchell, may have sought out Dr. Kenney to help with his test anxiety in passing the Florida Educational Leadership Exam (FELE). Mr. Dinvemo knows that Matt Mitchell passed the FELE. Page 38 of 112 Investigative Report He does not know if anyone at the district offices knew that Dr. Kenney was conducting hypnosis sessions, either in a group or one on one; nor does he know if anyone from the district offices ever had any discussions with Dr. Kenney about his activities or told him to stop. Mr. Dinverno never heard complaints or anything of a negative nature concerning Dr. Kenney or his use of hypnosis. Mr. Dinverno had a conversation with Dr. Kenney in early April, wherein Dr. Kenney told him Mr. Dinverno that he was planning to associate himself with a sports complex and do his hypnosis privately. Mr. Dinverno has thought about the current situation and, in his opinion, there is no question in his mind that Dr. Kenney would never do anything to hurt a student. Dr. Kenney has a very passionate personality and he just wanted to help kids . ., Page 39 of 112 Investigative Report PAUL J PAQUETTE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Monday, May 23,2011 I interviewed Panl Paquette. Mr. Paquette has been an Assistant Principal at North Port High School for 10 years, and has been with the Sarasota school system for 32 years. The following infonnation was learned during this interview. Mr. Paquette's first knowledge of Dr. Kenney hypnotizing students was that he was going into Psychology classes. He states that "pretty much everybody knew that". Mr. i.. _ Paquette is an ex-wrestling coach and he continues to stay "somewhat involved" with the wrestlers. He was told by a wrestler's mother that Dr. Kenney was "working with her son"; the mother told him that she sat in with her son on most or all of his sessions. The student mother indicated to Mr. Paquette that her son was undergoing hypnosis for self control and that. would get down on himself and also had anger issues. She questioned Mr. Paquette as to what he should key in on with regards to wrestling. Dr. Kenney later also asked Mr. Paquette about tips for wrestlers, and what types of little things could be done to get them more focused on what they are doing. Mr. Paquette said the he recalls the time frame of being sometime in the 2009-2010 school year; he was not able to detennine if it was the beginning of the school year or in the second semester, however, he recalls the work with. to have taken place in the 2009-2010 school year. He was never present when anybody went in or came out after having a session. He was never present when any sessions were conducted. He is only aware that _ mother was there with her son's sessions because she told him so. Mr. Paquette said that he believes that Dr. Kenney sometimes had parents in the sessions and sometimes it was another kid in there. Lately he heard thru secondhand (and there is a lot of that going around) that Dr. Kenney liked to have other people in there so he didn't feel like he was alone. He stated that he believes the sessions were nonnally conducted in Dr. Kenney's office. Once he knocked on Dr. Kenney's door and walked in, however, when he realized that is was during a session, he shut the door and walked away - he didn't want to interrupt. During that brief moment he recalls only hearing Dr. Kenney talking in a low voice; he did not see much of anything. He did not know who was in the session. He recalls that. was trying to have once a week sessions. He also recalls him working with basketball player. helping him with grades, and preparing for FCAT's. Mr. Paquette said that Dr. Kenney will do anything to help kids. His opinion of Dr. Kenney is that "there is not a cell or bone in Dr. Kenney's body that would want to hurt one of their students or any kid". He honestly feels that Dr. Kenney only wants to try to help people. •• Page 40 of 112 Investigative Report He stated that approximately a month ago (April 2011 ) he had questioned Dr. Kenney about permission slips and that Dr. Kenney said he had them and he showed him a 3-ring notebook that he had with what Mr. Paquette estimates as 20 permission slips in it. Dr. Kenney kept the notebook in his office, but Mr. Paquette is not aware of the exact location. Mr. Paquette discussed that since he himself had been involved in a controversial experience in the early 80's with Health Education that had media presence, he was worried about the potential of any negative impact that could surface regarding Dr. Kenney's and hypnosis. He stated that he was worried about him (Dr. Kenney) personally, and as to where everything was going. Dr. Kenney understood his concerns and showed him the steps (permission slips) he was taking and that he could prove it was on the up-and-up, and that he was just trying to help kids. Mr. Paquette said Dr. Kenney also kept a chart of what he talked about with each student and checked off things on it that was also kept in the notebook. The chart just had squares and checkmarks on them, and some notes concerning calming technique, self-esteem. He recalls that his discussion with Dr. Kenney was initiated regarding., because Mr. Paquette had several conversations with _ mother discussing and making sure that her son was going to graduate, etc. He knows that the mother was in there all of the time; she makes sure she is involved. • also has a younger brother,., Mr. Paquette said that he may have also had sessions, but he has no knowledge of that. Mr. Paquette is proud of his relationship with Dr. Kenney and their accomplishments at the school. He recalls Dr. Kenney had worked with a basketball player. helping him focus and improving his free throws. As he recalls, there was something in the paper about that. Mr. Paquette said that it seemed like a lot of people knew Dr. Kenney was doing these sessions. People at school knew, Psychology courses were involved, he was working with., and it was Mr. Paquette's perception that "it was known by those up above them." He also thought there had been an article in the paper one time about the softball or volley ball team and that Dr. Kenney had a motivation speech with them. Mr. Paquette does not know for sure, but he had "heard thru administration that Steve Cantees might have had a talk with Dr. Kenney to discuss what he could or couldn't do." His perception is that it was "maybe don't do it"? However, he has no idea when Dr. Kenney was told or how many times he may have been talked to. He only heard thru word-of-mouth that he was "asked not to do it"; and Mr. Paquette has no first-hand knowledge of that. ., Page 41 of 112 Investigative Report Mr. Paquette said that in talking with the group of administrators at North Port High School before this "blew up" there may have been some talk and concerns among them of "is it right" or "is it wrong"? Is hypnosis more of a technique, or something you bedazzle? He feels that there are a lot of people who would question the use of hypnosis in a school and that would be most of their concerns. Mr. Paquette emphasizes that "everybody there knew that he was only trying to help kids, however the question that comes to mind was it the right thing to do in schools?" He has no first hand knowledge of who or what anybody at the School Board may have told Dr. Kenney to do, or what parameters were set, when he was told, or how many times he may have been told. He has no first hand knowledge of anything written. He stated that he had heard that Dr. Kenney worked with some ofthe baseball players; maybe a pitcher; but he recalls it happening last year or the year before. Mr. Paquette said that he didn't think anything happened this year 2010-2011. As far as sessions with. he thinks he may have had "some" this year, but "very few" compared to last year. It is Mr. Paquette's opinion that this could have been avoided by "obviously not doing it". He states that if Dr. Kenney did it, then he did it the right way. He does have a certificate or license. He went to a school for classes and he took time offto attend. Dr. Kenney never denied it; he was open and honest about it. Dr. Kenney invited Mr. Paquette into sessions, which prompted Mr. Paquette to express his concerns with Dr. Kenney; again because of his personal controversial experience of the past. Mr. Paquette discussed the fact that after he obtained his Masters Degree, Dr. Kenney had been instrumental in working with him in getting him the position of Assistant Principal and that he is very dedicated to Dr. Kenney. He is not aware of any other administrators having had discussion with Dr. Kenney, either individually or as a group. The administrators meet everyday at 6:30 a.m. Dr. Kenney would occasionally state that he was "working" with somebody, but they weren't always sure what it was (i.e. hypnosis, grades, etc.). Dr. Kenney had an advisory group of kids that were at risk for drop out, he really just wanted to help, and it is Mr. Paquette's opinion that it has helped. Mr. Paquette is very sincere stating that Dr. Kenney is a "good man who really cares about kids and thought he was helping kids". He has never heard anything negative about Dr. Kenney. Mr. Paquette stated that with all of the tragedies they have had he personally feels there is no tie in with hypnotism. Being a health educator he recognizes that there is controversy among psychologists and psychiatrists, but in Mr. Paquette's opinion "there is no relation at all." Mr. Paquette concluded the interview by saying he "would like to see Dr. Kenney back". ., Page 42 of 112 Investigative Report COMMANDER STEPHEN BARTEK SENIOR NAVAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTOR AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Monday, May 23,2011, I interviewed Commander Steve Bartek, the Senior Naval Science Instructor at North Port High SchooL He has been at North Port High School since July 2002. Prior to his arrival at NPHS, he was in the Navy for 28 years. The following was learned during this interview. Mr. Bartek was knowledgeable about the fact that during some of the ROTC away trips, Dr. Kenney would perform "entertainment and relaxation" demonstrations before a drill meet. They would take volunteers, maybe 18 to 20, and then after the first 5 or 6 minutes, Dr. Kenney would narrow it down to eight or ten students that seemed more susceptible. Mr. Bartek described it like the hypnosis demonstrations you would see at the fair, " ... Your shoes are foam ... you can't remember the number six ... you won't be able to find your room ... that type of thing ... " The demonstration would last 30 to 45 minutes. He can remember it taking place at approximately, three or four drill meets. It didn't happen at every drill meet and it didn't happen every time Dr. Kenney traveled with them. He thinks the first time would have been in either 2004 or 2005 because they didn't travel the first year or two Mr. Bartek was at the schooL The last group demonstration Mr. Bartek recalls would have been at their state competition in early March of2010. The previous time Dr. Kenney held the demonstration would probably have been during their summer training program in July 2009. Dr. Kenney met them at the library or the media center after the students had been out running around and doing all of the physical activities. When they were finished, it would be around 10:00 -10:30 a.m. and they would go upstairs to the media center and he would do his "entertainment" session. The first time he saw Dr. Kenney doing this type of hypnosis demonstration, it was a bit of a surprise, but after seeing it a couple times, it seemed like it was just part of a routine. Dr. Kenney never asked them to hand out permission slips or to collect any type of permission slips. "Permission slips were never part of the equation." Dr. Kenney would ask for volunteers of who wanted to participate and he did encourage the students to tell their parents that they had participated. These demonstrations were never hidden, but there were no permission slips obtained that he knew of. In fact, the parents that came along on these overnight ROTC trips were always invited to watch the demonstration. It was never anything that was hidden or kept secret. It was very open. This usually happened around the pool at the hotel or in some other quiet place. Usually after about 15 minutes, the hypnotic suggestions for most of the students would wear off. There were a couple of occasions when Mr. Bartek had to get with Dr. Kenney after a session because a student still couldn't remember his room location or could not remember the number six or wouldn't go into his room because he didn't recognize anyone. At that point, it ceased to be funny because they were trying to get everyone to ., Page 43 of 112 Investigative Report bed because they had to be up at 6:00 a.m. the next morning. Dr. Kenney would have to talk to the student and bring him back out of it. Then he would be fine. Also present on these ROTC trips was Ron Barchee (sp?). He is now gone and has been replaced by Sergeant Major Fred Wheeler, who has been at NPHS for the past two years. Also present on some of the trips would be Keith Little. He is one of the ESE aides. His wife works at NPHS as well. He is an air rifle coach. Dr. Kenney would only travel with the ROTC once a year and on rare occasions twice in some years. Mr. Bartek estimated that, during the time he has been in the ROTC program at NPHS, Dr. Kenney has probably performed five (5) to seven (7) demonstrations during the various ROTC trips. Most of those would have been during the Orlando trips and one possibly occurred during a Miami trip. The demonstration was always the same, the same dialogue, the same suggestions. Mr. Bartek mentioned that Dr. Kenney also did individual sessions with some of the ROTC students. These sessions were geared toward test anxiety and passing the FCAT. Dr. Kenney worked with., the commanding officer. He graduated in 20 I O. He was having real problems getting good scores on the SAT's to get into college. • passed and got an ROTC scholarship. Dr. Kenney would schedule these with the kids after school and occasional during the ROTC practice time. Mr. Bartek never observed any of these individual sessions. Mr. Bartek also thinks that Dr. Kenney worked with the parents (Kim and John Allen) of a cadet. The parents were trying to quit smoking. Mr. Bartek has never experienced hypnosis. He has only watched Dr. Kenney's demonstrations and similar demonstrations in other venues. Mr. Bartek could not recall the student's name, but approximately one to two years ago, there was a young man who had an involuntary "tick" and he wanted to get into the Marine Corp. Dr. Kenney worked with this boy. Mr. Bartek stated that as far as he knows, he was able to get into the Marines and has been successful. Mr. Bartek also mentioned that there were a couple of other students that met with Dr. Kenney for help in passing their FCAT's. Mr. Bartek stated that he is 99% certain that the students that participated in the individual session did so with their parent's permission. However, he does not know if there were any permission slips obtained by Dr. Kenney. There could have been, he just never saw any paperwork. Mr. Bartek stated that Dr. Kenney liked helping students. The entertainment value was good because it helped in the bonding and unit cohesion. Dr. Kenney would ask to come on these trips and Mr. Bartek could not say "no." Sometimes it was a bit of a distraction because Mr. Bartek was trying to get the guys to shine shoes and do brass and whatever Page 44 of 112 Investigative Report else and Dr. Kenney wanted to do the show. Mr. Bartek hated to split the group and say you two-thirds can go because you have finished with your stuff. As a result, sometimes it was a bit of a distraction, but it didn't bother him to the point where it made him think that it wasn't a good thing to do. Mr. Bartek stated that Dr. Kenney was a principal and a PhD, so he assumed he knew what he was doing along those lines. Mr. Bartek did admit that he thought it was somewhat unusual and he had never seen anything like it any place before, but he did not question it. There was never anything he saw that made him concerned. The students he was aware of that had gotten individual sessions with Dr. Kenney seemed to have success in their individual areas. He can't say if they would have passed their tests with out Dr. Kenney's help, but the track record up until that time was that they had not been passing the test. Dr. Kenney would hold these sessions in his office after school hours. Mr. Bartek stated that he has only heard good feedback about Dr. Kenney and his hypnosis practice. He has a daughter at Venice High School and if she were hypnotized in the group entertainment session, it would not have bothered him. He would want to know if she participated in anyone on one session, however. Mr. Bartek stated that at Project Graduation, he has watched a hypnotist do almost the same type of demonstration. This is one of the reasons why he legitimized what Dr. Kenney did. Mr. Bartek never received any negative feedback from any students or parents. Mr. Bartek has no knowledge if anyone had ever expressed any concerns over Dr. Kenney and his hypnosis practices to the district offices. Nor does he have any knowledge of anyone from the district offices meeting with Dr. Kenney or telling him to stop his hypnosis practices. It was always Mr. Bartek's assumption that the school district "pretty much knew about it, when you do anything this big ... because I think he would do some of the sports teams ... that is something you don't try to say didn't happen ... my assumption was that it was okay... so therefore my assumption was that the Board either knew about it or condoned it, ifnot tacitly ... ifnot explicitly saying it is okay that they at least condoned it. . .it was just not one of those things that you hide ... he didn't say, 'I'm going to show you something but don't go home and tell anybody,' it was never that kind of thing, it was all open." ., Page 45 of 112 Investigative Report SERGEANT MAJOR FREDERICK WHEELER NAVAL SCmNCE INSTRUCTOR AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Monday, May 23,2011, I interviewed Sergeant Major Frederick Wheeler. He is a Naval Science instructor at North Port High School and has been at the school for 2 years. The following was learned from this interview. When he got to North Port High School two years ago, he was told that Dr. Kenney, would, on occasion, hypnotize ROTC students and that it was a "fun thing." Since he has been at NPHS, he is aware of two (2) hypnosis demonstrations put on by Dr. Kenney. The first occurred during Sgt. Major Wheeler's first year at school, around the third week of July 2009 during mini boot camp. The second and last time occurred at the State Championships in March 2010. During the mini boot camp in July 2009, Dr. Kenney took the students into the media center and through the process of calming music and talking to the kids; " ... they kind of acted out with some funny gestures and stuff like that ... we all laughed about it and it was over." Sgt. Major estimates that there were about 20 people in the room including him and Commander Bartek. Dr. Kenney asked for volunteers. It was only the volnnteers who participated. He estimates there were about 10 student participants. The last demonstration that took place occurred at the State Championships in March of 2010. This demonstration took place in either Dr. Kenney's room or a student's room. Sgt. Major was not present for that demonstration. He doesn't know if it was the same or similar type of demonstration that he saw in July 2009. He did see some of the kids afterward "acting out," not knowing the number six and some would have lipstick on. These were the same results that he observed the first time he saw the demonstration at the mini boot camp. He does not know ifthere was any parental permission slips obtained. There were none that he saw. Sgt. Major has heard about students having individual one on one sessions with Dr. Kenney for various reasons. The only one he knows of was., who was the commanding officer this year. Sgt. Major was told he had a session with Dr. Kenney because he was having problems with the FCAT's and was trying to get focused. His whole thing was test anxiety. He thinks he had a session with Dr. Kenney, but he doesn't know when it was, were it took place or how long it lasted, or if anyone else was present, etc. He is unaware of any teachers or adults that may have had sessions with Dr. Kenney. When he first arrived at NPHS and learned of Dr. Kenney doing hypnosis, he was surprised. He was told by Commander Steve Bartek that it had been going on for some time "and this is what they have always done." He is nnaware if the school district knew about Dr. Kenney performing hypnosis. Page 46 of 112 Investigative Report Sgt. Major Wheeler did not observe anything negative about the demonstrations. It was all very light hearted and funny. There was nothing negative or malicious about it. Sgt. Major Wheeler and Commander Bartek work for Dr. Kenney and his interaction with Dr. Kenney has been with the ROTC students. He likes Dr. Kenney. He thinks Dr. Kenney brings a lot to North Port High School. He is well respected and the short two years Sgt. Major has been at the school, he admires him. 'Dr. Kenney really cares about students." He is unaware of anyone instructing Dr. Kenney not to do hypnosis demonstrations or sessions. Page 47 of 112 Investigative Report KATHY WILKS PRINCIPAL AT BROOKSIDE MIDDLE SCHOOL On Tuesday, May 24,2011 I interviewed Kathy Wilks. Ms. Wilks is currently the Principal at Brookside Middle School. She was previously at North Port High School for 9 years, of which she was an Assistant Principal for 5 of those years. The following information was learned during this interview. Ms. Wilks is knowledgeable of Dr. Kenney's hypnosis sessions. Her initial knowledge was when Dr. Kenney worked with her son. back in 2004-2005 when he was a student at North Port High School. • was an eleventh grader and he was having trouble with the FCAT. Dr. Kenney had mentioned to Ms. Wilks that he may be able to assist her son with relaxation techniques and he discussed it with her. Dr. Kenney probably sat with 1 45 minutes to an hour working on relaxation techniques. Later after a practice FCAT did fme. _ appointment was during an evening and Ms. Wilks was present during the session. She states the sessions were mainly breathing, relaxing and discussing the feeling of confidence and being relaxed before going into the test. • only had one session; it was when Dr. Kenney was first starting to do hypnosis. Dr. Kenney was helpful in her son getting transferred to North Port High School from Riverview High School where he was having academic problems. Dr. Kenney took him under his wing to assist him in school, classes, and in general just in doing well. Dr. Kenney initially approached Ms. Wilks with the idea; she believes that he had just started hypnosis around that time. Ms. Wilks and Dr. Kenney had a close relationship (as far as a teacher/administrator). Prior to their conversation she had not heard anything about him doing hypnosis sessions. Subsequent to that Ms. Wilks is aware that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis on students. She does not recall how many students. She knows that he went to Psychology classes and did demonstrations there with the students. During the 2008-2009 school year she sat in and observed one group session after Dr. Kenney told her that he was going to be doing a class demonstration and invited her to go and observe if she wanted to. Dr. Kenney would also talk to Ms. Wilks about his working with different students; at least one time she recalls sitting in a session in his office just to watch. It was very similar to what he had done with her son, using relaxation. She didn't know if she was asked to sit in because it was his policy and he needed someone to sit in, or ifhe mentioned it to say "I am doing this if you are interested in watching". This took place a couple of years ago when she was an Assistant Principal at North Port during the 2008- 2009 school year. Ms. Wilks did not have knowledge if there was always someone else sitting in during sessions. Ms. Wilks was aware that Dr. Kenney was doing sessions last year (2009-2010), but she did not sit in on any of them. Page 48 of 112 Investigative Report Ms. Wilks said Dr. Kenney had a permission slip that he required parents to sign. She never saw it or asked to see it; she does not have any knowledge as to whether he may have had different forms for individuals, classes and/or groups. Ms. Wilks stated that she thinks that Paul Paquette had also sat in on sessions, and Jeremy Sunnners, who previously worked at the school as an aide, had sat in on sessions also. She stated that there was a session when Dr. Kenney worked with some of the students when it was time for FCATS. It was held in the theatre and she also sat in on that sometime in 2008-2009. Ms. Wilks states that it was "very well known" that Dr. Kenney performed hypnosis sessions; it was something that they all knew was happening. Sometimes, afterschool if you needed to touch base with him, he would be in with a student(s). It was just "very well known". There was an occasional discussion among the administrators concerning the fact that they were unable to talk with Dr. Kenney about an issue that they were dealing with (because he was working with a child) but there was never any discussion or concerns of it being harmful or ill-intentioned. Ms. Wilks is not aware of anyone expressing or reporting any concerns to anyone in the Landings. Ms. Wilks recalls that during the 2008-2009 school year is when Dr. Kenney mentioned to her that he had a conversation with Steve Cantees. Ms. Wilks was not present during their conversation; she is not aware of whether the conversation took place by phone or in person. It was after that conversation Dr. Kenney told her they had spoken and there was going to be a shift in referring to it as a relaxation type thing. He did not say or indicate that Steve told him not to do it. Ms. Wilks understood that what came out of the discussion was "rather than calling it hypnosis to refer to it as relaxation techniques and test taking strategies, and focus". It was not clear to Ms. Wilks if that was their agreement with each other or ifit was just Dr. Kenney's way of calling it something else instead of having the "hypnosis" label on it. The fact that he kept doing it, and it was more public (because he did the CD) and his working with the teams, she assumed everybody knew about it. Ms. Wilks states that she and Dr. Kenney had a very close relationship and she feels that ifhe had been told not to do hypnosis and continued to do so she would have known. She would have questioned him with "How would Steve feel about this, if he told you to stop?" As far as Ms. Wilks' knowledge of Dr. Kenney's CD's, she didn't know if they were audio or video and she did not know what he was doing with them She never watched or listened to any of them. Dr. Kenney did show her some of the cover art while it was being designed. She doesn't recall the design of the cover; she just remembers acknowledging that it something he was doing. Ms. Wilks knew that Dr. Kenney had ., Page 49 of 112 Investigative Report previously written a book on helping parents with struggling teenagers. The book was available on Amazon. Sometimes when working with kids he would give it to parents to use as resource; she didn't know if that was his plan with the CD as well. Ms. Wilks feels that if Steve Cantees told Dr. Kenney not to do something that, given the closeness of their relationship, Dr. Kenney probably would have told her. Ms. Wilks recalls that Dr. Kenney did bring up that a conversation had happened, but what she remembers coming from it was "it was going to be, urn, just be more careful about, you know, the way that it was phrased." The evening in 2004-2005 when Dr. Kenney was working with Ms. Wilks' son., Barb Chompko, who was the Executive Director for High Schools called Dr. Kenney's house. Ms. Wilks answered the phone because Dr. Kenney was working with her son. She told Ms. Chompko that Dr. Kenney wasn't available. Ms. Wilks was not sure if Dr. Kenney had shared what he was doing (as it was new to her too). Ms. Wilks said that a few days later Dr. Kenney talked with Barb Chompko and told her what he was doing. The next time Ms. Wilks saw Barb Chompko she told Ms. Chompko that Dr. Kenney was working with her son said told her "when you called that night, I wasn't real sure if you knew why I would be over there; it was a little bit awkward to be over at his house." Ms. Wilks knows that as far back as aronnd February 2005 that discussion had taken place with the Executive Director, Barb Chompko and that she was aware that Dr. Kenney was having hypnosis sessions with students. Ms. Wilks stated that Barb Chompko retired, moved down to Charlotte, but she also thought she has since moved out west to either Colorado or Las Vegas. That has been 3-4 years ago, and since then Steve Cantees has taken over her position. Ms. Wilks never watched Dr. Kenney work with any of the sports teams, but he did talk about his working with the teams and trying different ways to focus and relax before a big game, or with their shooting, or pitching. Ms. Wilks definitely remembers that he worked with basketball and baseball; she does not recall anything about softball. Ms. Wilks is nnaware if Dr. Kenney ever held group sessions without permission. She knows that he worked with "certain players". Ms. Wilks knows that he worked with. a basketball player, and some baseball players, but she did not know specific names. Ms. Wilks never saw Dr. Kenney working with ROTC groups, but she knew he went on trips with them and from what she heard from discussion was that he did "all in fun" demonstrations, like putting lipstick on and doing silly stuff. Ms. Wilks is not aware of anybody or anyone making complaints about Dr. Kenney doing this. Ms. Wilks said that there were times, as an AP team, that they would get frustrated because they were nnable to get to Dr. Kenney when they needed his advice on something. It had nothing to do with what he was doing with hypnosis. There were just times they questioned the validity that hypnosis had, but none of them ever felt that kids were being damaged. Dr. Kenney is very good at heart. Ms. Wilks stated in her son's case, "hypnosis was worth a shot. " Page 50 of 112 Investigative Report Ms. Wilks is not aware of any subsequent conversation that Dr. Kenney ever had with anybody at the School Board. It was very "well known" to them that the hypnosis was happening, she said she knows that North Port is a long ways away from the Landings so there may have been some assumptions as to what was happening, however, she does know for fact that Barb Chompko was aware of what Dr. Kenney was doing. She knows that Dr. Kenney went away for a week of training on hypnosis; she thinks it was November 2009; during his absence she was left to oversee the school. Dr. Kenney did not "keep it secret" from anybody, they all knew where he was going and what he was going for. Ms. Wilks said that Dr. Kenney never shared with her ifhe was given any kind of written waming or advice not to do hypnosis. Ms. Wilks is not aware of anybody that he would have shared anything like that with. Of all ofthe Assistant Principals she probably had the closest relationship with him, and he would tend to share more with her than others, but he never disclosed anything to her about anything ever being in writing, she was just told of the one conversation that Dr. Kenney and Steve Cantees had about referring to it as relaxation techniques. Ms. Wilks said that Dr. Kenney has a great relationship with his administrative assistant, Dianna McLaren, he trusts her a lot. Dianna would always know when Dr. Kenney was having a session with a student, and Dianna would tell them when he was working with a student if someone inquired. Ms. Wilks said that other than., she knows that he did have individual sessions, but she is not aware of who those students were. She recalls a couple of years ago that. was a pretty big basketball player but she was not sure if Dr. Kenney had worked with him or not. She definitely recalls that Dr. Kenney worked with baseball players, but does not recall any names. Ms. Wilks stated that Dr. Kenney is "one ofthe most caring people that's out there"; he authentically cares about the kids. She has experienced this from a teacher's standpoint, a parent's standpoint (with her own son), and from an administrator's standpoint. Dr. Kenney was a mentor for her as an administrator. She knows that prior to his marriage he was a foster parent, and he has constantly had a desire to help kids that struggle. Ms. Wilks stated that the kids at school absolutely adore him. He is seen as a father figure and not just trying to be cool. For a lot of kids without a strong male figure in their lives, Dr. Kenney is there for them. Ms. Wilks stated that Dr. Kenney is always willing to try to work with students to get them on track, and because of that he is very well respected. In Ms. Wilks opinion she understands the concerns of outside appearance, but knowing who Dr. Kenney is as a person, hypnosis is just an extension of him looking for ways to try to help. She believes that if hypnosis is causing concern and problems, then it doesn't need to happen anymore at school, but as far as her feeling of "does Dr. Kenney need to ., Page 51 of 112 Investigative Report be removed from his position? "Absolutely not", she feels it would cause even greater damage to an already fragile schooL Dr. Kenney was out of town a few years ago when a student was killed. Ms. Wilks recalled it being her first year as an Administrator. The AP's were dealing with it, but the feeling was "if Dr. Kenney can just get back everything's gonna be o.k." Ms. Wilks feels that North Port High School is a tough school to work in; it has a very, very needy population of students, for different reasons. The people who work there do so because they believe very strongly in the school and for what it is doing for the kids. Ms. Wilks feels that when working with a needy population and a struggling community that does not have a great deal of parental support; you look at unconventional ways of reaching those kids. Ms. Wilks feels that is where Dr. Kenney's heart is and was. As much as the staff there cares, if anyone at the school felt that what Dr. Kenney was doing was detrimental to the students it would not have been something that they would have accepted . ., Page 52 of 112 Investigative Report DIANNA L. McLAREN ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT FOR DR. KENNEY AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Tuesday, May 24,2011, I interviewed Dianna McLaren. Ms. McLaren is currently the Administrative Assistant to the Principal, and has been in this position for approximately 7 years. The following information was learned during this interview. Ms. McLaren is knowledgeable of Dr. Kenney's working with students in his office, and she is aware that he scheduled classroom hypnosis demonstrations. She recalls that he started doing this "maybe" two years ago, possible three years ago but she is unsure. She does recall demonstrations last year and this year. Ms McLaren said she thinks Dr. Kenney started this after attending a school and becoming certified. She said he never really discussed with her how it developed or what stirred his interest in wanting to do hypnosis, but she knows he did go to a school which she believed to be in Deland, where he took courses and got certified. Ms. McLaren was not aware of Dr. Kenney doing this back in 2004-2005; it seems "pretty long ago to me". She indicated that to the best of her knowledge "maybe 3 years" ago which would be 2008-2009. Ms. McLaren was never present at any of Dr. Kenney's sessions. Dr. Kenney would schedule the students himself. They use a G-Mail calendar that automatically updates on her calendar. Students that would come in wanting help with FCAT, SAT, ACT would come in during the school day and ask for a permission slip. If their parents sigued it they would bring it back and Dr. Kenney would usually talk to the student. Dr. Kenney kept the permission slips, but Ms. McLaren is not aware of where Dr. Kenney kept them. Dr. Kenney would then schedule a time on his calendar for the student to come in. Ms. McLaren is unaware of any other Day-Timer or private calendar that Dr. Kenney kept. She said that he would also put is personal appointments (i.e. Doctor Appointments or evening appointments) on the G-Mail calendar. Most ofthe scheduled appointments were after 2: 15. Sometimes Dr. Kenney would stay later if the students were athletes. He would work around their practice, sometimes 4:00 or 4:30 p.m. Ms. McLaren said that Dr. Kenney did lunch duty, so he was gone for all lunches, so he usually did not schedule appointments during lunch Occasionally there may be a student during the day having a SAT coming up that they needed to pass in order to graduate and they would sometimes come a week or two before the test and ask for Dr. Kenney's assistance. He would give them a permission slip to have their parents sigu and he would try to work them in whenever he had an opening. Ms. McLaren said she has printed (and submitted) the calendar for this school year by week and put the months together. She has also printed the three teachers for the classrooms she knows he went to for demonstrations. Prior school year calendars are not Page 53 of 112 Investigative Report available; they used to use Outlook and when they changed systems, those calendars were deleted. Ms. McLaren said there were two permission slips, one for the classroom group sessions and one for the individual. She said that Steve Cantees has copies, and she said that she also e-mailed both of them to Scott Ferguson at the Landings. Ms. McLaren said that "sometimes there was, sometimes there wasn't" somebody else present during the session. She was not aware of any particular scenario of when there was or wasn't. She said that sometimes a parent would come in after school and they were always there. There was never any time that it was said "no, you can't come in here." There were instances where he had people in there just to observe. Ms. McLaren is not aware of any video taping of sessions. She knows he had a CD or DVD that she thought was available on Amazon. She thinks the CD was for test anxiety. She thinks it was this year that he put it together. She does not know who worked with him, but she thinks one of the art teachers helped him with the cover. She assumed he did it all himself. She knows there was a self tutorial on Amazon that he used. She said she knows that is what he did when he did his book; he indicated how easy it was to her. She is aware that he did one book. Ms. McLaren said she never heard Dr. Kenney express any concerns of being alone with a student and that anything could be misinterpreted. Ms. McLaren's recollection of the number of sessions Dr. Kenney had with stndents was approximately three times a week. There would be a week here or there that he was not working with students, but approximately 3 out of 5 days he would work with one or two. Ms. McLaren said that there were occasions when one of the AP's or a teacher may need to speak with Dr. Kenney and he was not available because he was in with a student. This would not OCCllI very often. Dr. Kenney would always follow up with the person upon knowing that he was needed. Ms. McLaren said the one-on-one sessions were generally held in Dr. Kenney's office. She said he sits at the conference table and that is where he conducts the sessions. She could never overhear any of the conversation( s). Ms. McLaren is aware of group sessions with Tanya Pryer (Sociology 1Psychology), Dan Konyak (Psychology 1 History) and Ann Brandenberger (AP Psychology 1Psychology 1 History) Permission slips were always obtained for those kids that wanted to participate; it was always left up to the student if they wanted to. Ms. McLaren never attended any of the group or individual sessions. Ms. McLaren recalls that a parent carne to Dr. Kenney sometime last year 2009/2010 wanting to quit smoking. She does not recall the individual's name, but did state that they were a parent of one of the school's students . .' Page 54 of 112 Investigative Report She believes that he worked with several of the secretaries' one or two times that wanted to quit smoking; but that was after Ms. McLaren had left for the day so she doesn't' really know anything about that other than the fact that one of the secretaries stopped smoking. Ms. McLaren stated that Dr. Kenney only used a written permission slip. He would not accept verbal permission. She estimates that he may have had somewhere between 30 and 50 permission slips. She would put them in his basket by his door and that was the last time she saw them. She does not know what he did with them. Ms. McLaren said that she thinks that everybody knew that Dr. Kenney held these sessions and that it was widely known throughout the campus. She does not know if anyone in the Landings had knowledge or if anybody ever contacted someone at the Landing with any concerns. She has no knowledge of anybody from the Landings ever contacting or having a meeting with Dr. Kenney to discuss his hypnosis sessions. She said that she would have had to schedule that appointment on the calendar and she never did. Ms. McLaren has no knowledge of Steve Cantees and Dr. Kenney having any kind of discussions (even on the phone). Dr. Kenney never mentioned anything like that to her. In Ms. McLaren's opinion, if Dr. Kenney had been formally informed that he was no longer allowed to do hypnosis, she cannot believe that he would have continued to do it. She states that Dr. Kenney is one of the most ethical people she has ever worked for and she cannot believe that he would have done that. She stated that there is a procedure that is used when teachers are warned about a problem; it is called a "hearing", but it is really just a meeting. There is a form letter drafted that they have to sign as does the administrator they met with. That signed letter goes in the teacher's file. She is unaware of Dr. Kenney having any similar meeting with anyone from the district offices. Ms. McLaren has read in the paper about all of this, and feels very strongly that Dr. Kenney would not have violated instructions ifhe had been given any. She knows that he only did this because he thought he was helping students. She said that students frequently would stop by to thank Dr. Kenney for his assistance. Just last week, a girl, whose name she could not recall, stopped by to tell Dr. Kenney "thank you for working with me, my score went up 20%". Ms. McLaren was not aware of sports teams having group sessions. She was aware that Dr. Kenney had worked with one of their basketball players,., on an individual basis. Ms. McLaren has no knowledge of specifics, parameters, who, when, what or if anything was told to Dr. Kenney regarding these sessions. Ms. McLaren knows that Barbara Chompko, the Executive Director of High Schools, prior to Steve Cantees, would visit the school when she was in the south county. Steve •• Page 55 of 112 Investigative Report Cantees does not visit the school as often as Ms. Chompko did. Ms. McLaren said that when Mr. Cantees would visit the school, that visit would be scheduled on the calendar. Time would be blocked out for him to be there. Mr. Cantees would meet with teachers and do classroom walk through's. He would always start out with the administrator's then break out into different classrooms. Those visits were always scheduled. Mr. Cantees did not often do an unscheduled drop-in visit. Ms. McLaren doesn't know the answer as to how this whole situation could have been avoided. She does state that Dr. Kenney felt he was able to do something that was helping students and she certainly doesn't think that anything he could have done would have affected the boy that killed himself. She has never worked with an administrator that cared so much for the students. She said he cares deeply for the staff, but the students are so important to him. Even on days when he is booked solid, he will always find time for a student that needs him, he will make time, and he will never say he is too busy. If necessary, he may do a walk and talk, like when going to lunch duty. Dr. Kenney was always happy for any student's success. He would always recognize and make a special deal about kids getting awards. He would often present them with die- cast mascot awards. Dr. Kenney would never do anything that would hurt himself professionally or that could possibly hurt the students. In Ms. McLaren's opinion, she wants Dr. Kenney back at the school, not for her personally, but for the students "they love him". They have had a very traumatic year. Dr. Kenney is the "glue that just holds the school together". Dr. Kenney was instrumental in the community while developing the school and he needs to be there. She feels that it would be devastating for the students to have experienced what they have this year and lose him, and especially bad for him not to be there for graduation. Depending on the results of the investigation, she stated that there may need to be some type of reprimand or something, but his whole career has been about helping students and she feels that it never occurred to him that he was doing something wrong or harmful to anyone. He is needed at the school. Ms. McLaren said she answers phone calls all day long and has never received or had any complaints or had anyone raise any issue about Dr. Kenney'S hypnosis sessions . .' Page 56 of 112 Investigative Report TANYA PRYER PSYCHOLOGY/SOCIOLOGYIHEALTH TEACHER AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Tanya Pryer. Ms. Pryer teaches Psychology, Sociology and Health. She has been with North Port High School for 7 years. The following information was learned during this interview. Ms. Pryer stated that her knowledge of the first time Dr. Kenney came to her Psychology 1 class was the 2009-2010 school year, although she had heard that he had previously done demonstrations in other psychology teacher's courses. She is not positive on who contacted who, but she did talk with Dr. Kenney and they set up a time so he could come into her class to explain the process, take volunteers and do a demonstration. Dr. Kenney said that he would bring a student with him that he had worked with before to show a quick demonstration as to what was involved. Dr. Kenney emailed a permission slip to Ms. Pryer to print off and give to the kids a couple of weeks beforehand; and the students had to bring the signed slips in if they were interested in participating. She stated last year (2009-2010) there were 3 sessions each semester (a total of6). This year first and second semesters combined would have been four sessions because she only has two psychology courses this year (2010-2011). On an average she said there were probably eight students interested each time. Ms. Pryer said when Dr. Kenney discussed his explanation of what hypnosis is that he talked about "how it wasn't something that you would give up your control" and about "cooperation". She said that she and her students had also talked about that and that they also discussed "states of consciousness" as that was the chapter they were in. They had also covered sleep and dreams, drugs and how they affect the brain, meditation, hypnosis, bio feedback. Dr. Kenney told them that the hypnosis was something that they would cooperate on just by his suggestion - kind of like the power of suggestion. He said that it would never cross any moral boundaries. Dr. Kenney gave an example as if "I gave you a knife and said stab this person, but you would never do that, you would bring yourself out and you would never follow thru with that". He mentioned just how powerful our minds can be. Dr. Kenney told them that "this may not happen for you, you can try it, and ifit doesn't work it's not a big deal". Ms. Pryer said that after getting the permissions slips from the volunteers, the first thing that he would do was bring in a subject that he had worked with before and he would demonstrate the whole process to the class. Then he would ask the volunteers to come up. He would start by turning on some music, have them picture themselves sitting on a beach and relaxing, going thru a whole process of relaxation. She remembers him saying "when I tell you to you, will try to open your eyes, but you're not going to be able to" because their eyelids were heavy. When he did that and it was not working for some of them so they would get up and return to their seats, and that anytime they wanted to get ., Page 57 of 112 Investigative Report up and go back to their seats they could. Some of the activities that he had them do for example was a dance competition where he switched the music, or he gave them lipstick ant told them that they were in competition to win football tickets to a Buc's game, and that the had to decorate another person to try to win the competition. He would have them race to get those same tickets across the room, but he told them that their feet had weights on them and made them heavier as they were trying to get there. He would also take one person out of the group and do an age regression; and have them sing the Barney song like they were 5 years old, and then age progression to make them older. Ms. Pryer said that she never saw anything negative about what he did, nobody ever got angry or upset. She said that the biggest complaint she was aware of was that "a boy had lipstick on his face" afterwards, but it would clean up. Ms. Pryer said that in her classroom he only performed demonstrations like she remembered seeing when she was in high school - which was like a comedy skit. She said that Dr. Kenney was not performing hypnotherapy and she did not see him do individual sessions or anything other than these entertainment sessions. She was unaware of any of her students that went and saw him outside of class. Nobody ever mentioned anything to her about that. When Dr. Kenney brought in people he worked with before, she said that she didn't know the nature of how he had worked with them; it could have been in another Psych class for all she knew. She said it would be different people. Ms. Pryer remembers the one last year was another time it was a student she did not know, and the one this year was a ba1ikeitbaJ The demonstration Dr. Kenney performed with those kids before the general demonstration was that he would basically go thru the same relaxation things. Then he would "tie red balloons to their wrist and have them feel like they were floating." He would then have them drop and he would catch them and lay them down on the floor. Ms. Pryer stated that she did not particularly know of any staff members that had sessions with Dr. Kenney for any sort of help or assistance. She recalled that a co-worker had talked about her migraines and that her husband also had anxiety, but Ms. Pryer was not aware if either of them ever saw Dr. Kenney about those things. Ms. Pryer stated that she was not aware of anybody, either staff or anyone else that may have gone to Dr. Kenney and expressed concerns as to what he was doing, the appearance of what he was doing, or the repercussions of what he was doing. She said that all of the teachers around her knew that Dr. Kenney came into her room for demonstrations. They never questioned it or expressed concerns, because it was just a demonstration. Ms. Pryer had no knowledge of Dr. Kenney ever being instructed to only do certain types of hypnosis, or not to do individual sessions. She also had no knowledge of CD's that he produced. Page 58 of 112 Investigative Report Ms. Pryer said that within her circle, as well as "pretty much common knowledge around North Port High School was that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis" including group sessions, sports team members, and individuals. None of her students approached her asking if she thought that Dr. Kenney could help them improve anything. She did have a student, after participating in a group session that slept a lot better and wasn't having migraines as much. Dr. Kennedy had said during the demonstration that "you will have a nice restful sleep tonight," but there was never anything specific as to dealing with migraines. She is not aware of Dr. Kenney having specific individual sessions or releases signed by parents for those sessions. She knows for sure that Dr. Kenney was adamant that they had releases for her room and that was back as far as 2009. She recalled that when she started teaching Psych he had already been participating in other Psychology classes. As stated before, she did not recall who approached who, but Dr. Kenney had everything set to go the first time that he came to her class. The other classes Dr. Kenney did demonstrations in were also with Psychology teachers, Ann Brandenberger, and Dan Konyak. Ms. Pryer said she felt partial to Dr. Kenney. She has had three principals in seventeen years, and has had wonderful luck with all of them; one was in lllinois and one was in Sarasota. Ms. Pryer stated that she knew Dr. Kenney to be very supportive. Although she personally had never been in any controversial type situation with Dr. Kenney, she knew he was fair; he would take time to listen to everything and think things through. Ms. Pryer said that, to her, that is "pretty huge" because he is not just "black and white" he listens to things. Dr. Kenney always seemed to handle things well and with what they have endured this year, the stresses this year have been unbelievable. She said that Dr. Kenney was good friends with the teacher that was killed this year. She said that to be to be a leader in their kind of a school is a tough job, especially when you have faculty and students falling apart all around you, she often wondered who Dr. Kenney went to for support. Ms. Pryer sees Dr. Kenney as a person that even her own children run to hug when they see him at ballgames, so she felt that Dr. Kenney is close to their family. She said that Dr. Kenney had always been supportive of her husband, and respectful to her. Ms. Pryer said one of the reasons she respects Dr. Kenney so much and to provide an example of the kind of person Dr. Kenney is as a person, was when her husband, Matt, was considering going for the head football position. Dr. Kenney called Ms. Pryer down to his office and they sat and talked about how she felt about that and their conversation took place before Dr. Kenney really encouraged Matt or anybody else to go for the job. She said that they talked about "how is this going to affect your family?" "How is this going to affect you?" "You know that he'll be gone a lot". Ms. Pryer said that not everybody would have done that, that sometimes it is more about who is best, who is going to win the games. She said that Dr. Kenney is beyond that and that he cares about Page 59 of 112 Investigative Report the person in the position as well as their family, so she said that after that, Dr. Kenney 'jumped up five more notches for me, because that is caring about the real stuff'. Ms. Pryer said the Dr. Kenney cares alot for her husband and that he is very supportive of him. Ms. Pryer did not have one negative situation to note; she stated that Dr. Kenney is a good leader. Ms. Pryer said that knowing Dr. Kenney and his personality, ifhe was told "not to do something" she cannot image that he would have violated that order. She does know that he always seemed to walk the line and make sure that everything was going the right way and did what was right. She indicated that he cares a lot for staff and students and that he is invested at North Port High School. She has heard rumor that he stands up for them at board meetings at the Landings but she doesn't know how he is with authority above him. She said that she had a 19 year old student in second period that had been in trouble for DUI and all kinds of other things and he will be wearing his cap and graduating. That student put his cap and gown on during first period, he was so proud. The student asked Ms. Pryer "is Dr. Kenney going to be there?" and she had to tell him that she didn't know. That student told her that "I'm telling you I'm not walking across the stage ifhe's not there". She said that there is a lot of talk like that going on right now, and there is anger and when the students make comments like that, it demonstrates how strongly they feel. Ms. Pryer said that in the other schools she has been in, she didn't think the kids would have backed their Principal like the kids at North Port back Dr. Kenney. She said that there were circumstances that occurred this year, that when the kids heard Dr. Kenney on the intercom breaking down, they realized that he is affected by everything too. She said that she felt that this probably has made the students connection with Dr. Kenney even stronger. In closing the interview, Ms. Pryer stated that she hoped that the investigation will present facts and that emotion will be put to the side. She stated that "it seems to be all nonsense taking place and if there was any conversation of 'don't do that again', then she understands possible discipline measures would be necessary", but she would hate to see Dr. Kenney's wonderful career ruined by this situation, and she also said she hated to see the kids feeling angry and confused. Ms. Pryer said that Dr. Kenney may have made a wrong choice, but she felt that with what had already been said in the media and the dealings of the board that enough punishment had already been done. Ms. Pryer would like for Dr. Kenney to remain their Principal. ., Page 60 of 112 Investigative Report JANICE REDENBO BOOKKEEPER AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Janice Redenbo. Ms. Redenbo is the bookkeeper at North Port High School and has been since the school opened. She has been with the school district for 17 years. The following was learned from this interview. Ms. Redenbo was aware that Dr. Kenney was conducting hypnosis at North Port High School. She doesn't recall exactly when she learned of it. She did state however that it was "public knowledge." She explained that she does a service for Dr. Kenney by reading the newspapers and cutting out various articles. She then puts those articles in his basket every morning for him to read. She thinks it was last year sometime; there was an article in the newspaper about him hypnotizing the girls' volleyball team. It was also well know that he wrote books on the subject of hypnosis. She stated that North Port High School always had a hypnotist show up for the students at their Project Graduation. Dr. Kenney does not do the show but he is there. "There have been tons of articles in the paper for that too." She stated that John Spiegel from Simon Says is hired on contract. Unfortunately, he is not doing it this year because it was mutually agreed that it wouldn't be in the best interest of North Port High School. According to her, it is the highlight of the night. Because it was such a success at North Port High School, other schools such as Lemon Bay, Port Charlotte, Desoto, Lehigh Acres, etc. all started doing the same thing during their Project Graduations. Ms. Redenbo approached Dr. Kenney to see ifhe could help her son with his SAT exams. Her son has a problem taking tests and he failed his FCAT's twice. She thought that possibly Dr. Kenney could help him relax and help him get better prepared for the test. She approached Dr. Kenney approximately two (2) days before the SATs and asked ifhe would be able to help her son. (Note: Her son graduated last year.) Dr. Kenney stated that it usually takes more than one session but he would be willing to do what he could. He told her that there was a permission slip that needed to be signed by her before he could work with her son. She went to Ms. McLaren and asked her for the permission slip, signed it and left it on the desk. The Friday before the SATs, her son had a session with Dr. Kenney. The session occurred at approximately 4:30 in the evening after school. She was not present in the room because she felt that her son wouldn't relax as much if she was there, so she invited one of his friends to sit in on the session. The friend was so impressed with the session that he wanted to be hypnotized as well, but because the test was the next day and Dr. ., Page 61 of 112 Investigative Report Kenney didn't have a permission slip from the student's parents, he couldn't work with the boy. Ms. Redenbo can't say whether the one session with Dr. Kenney helped her son; however he did pass the test and he felt he was better prepared. He went to bed earlier and got up the next morning, had breakfast and was pretty relaxed going in to take the test. Ms. Redenbo also stated that she and several other adults at the school had asked Dr. Kenney ifhypnosis would help them quit smoking. Four (4) ofthem decided to see Dr. Kenney about quitting smoking and they had sessions with Dr. Kenney. She stated that she remembers everything that occurred in those sessions. He had them close their eyes and told them to visualize various things such as tobacco companies making a lot of money and to substitute their cravings for cigarettes with something healthier like carrots. She stated that she thinks everybody was totally aware, as was she, as to what Dr. Kenney was saying and what was going on aronnd them. She did not feel that there was anything negative about the session she had. The only other individual Ms. Redenbo knows that may have had an individual session with Dr. Kenney was a student,., who was a basketball player. Ms. Redenbo doesn't know specifically if anyone at the Landings knew that Dr. Kenney was performing hypnosis and stated that she would be surprised if they didn't, since it was so well known and was not kept a secret. She further stated "That's a real bad statement of affairs at the Landings for them not to be aware of something that was not even trying to be hidden." Ms. Redenbo stated that after Kenney was put on administrative leave, Mr. Cantees came to the school. He said they were there making themselves available to staff for questions or concerns and they would answer anything that was asked of them. Ms. Redenbo went into Mr. Cantees because she wanted to ask him what she should do about the part of the graduation where the hypnotist was to perform. In her opinion, Mr. Cantees was not there to answer their questions, he was there to ask the staff questions. She felt he was being deceptive from the very beginning. Ms. Redenbo stated that she was asked if she was aware if any ofthe assistant principals knew of any individual sessions and her response was "Look, if you want to keep a secret in the high school, you couldn't; never mind keeping something that wasn't meant to be a secret. .. it was in books, it was in the paper." According to her, Mr. Cantees stated that he was unaware that anything like this was taking place, yet two days later, she read in the paper that he had allegedly told Dr. Kenney to stop. In Ms. Redenbo's opinion, if Dr. Kenney was told to stop, he would have either stopped immediately or he would have argued his point in showing that what he was doing was acceptable and ask to district to reconsider their position. •• Page 62 of 112 Investigative Report Ms. Redenbo thinks that Dr. Kenney is a very honest and honorable individual. When he hired her, he said that there are two reasons why principals get fired, one is sexual misconduct and the second is financial misconduct. He said that he knew that she knew the rules and procedures and would have no problem speaking out if she thought that something was odd and that she would stand up to teachers and not let them do something inappropriate. She stated that Dr. Kenney has always followed procedures and she has never caught him in a lie in the 11 years she has known him. She stated that she has been in the district for 17 years and he is the top principal she has ever worked for, "he is number one." Ms. Redenbo provided the investigator with a pamphlet entitled "Identifying or Reporting Professional Misconduct" that is printed by the Florida Department of Education. She stated that in her review of that pamphlet, she sees nothing in there that Dr. Kenney did that was inappropriate. (See Exhibit 5.) Ms. Redenbo stated that she is aware that there is a progressive discipline or a step by step process that is supposed to take place with teachers and union members but she has no idea if that same process applies to assistant principals and principals. Ms. Redenbo is unaware if there was ever anything in writing that Dr. Kenney would have received from anybody at the school board. She asked Dianne McLaren, who is Dr. Kenney's Administrative Assistant and a friend of hers, if she recalled ever receiving an e-mail or a phone call. According to Ms. Redenbo, Dianne doesn't remember seeing anything, ever. Ms. Redenbo stated that she would like to have George Kenney back "tomorrow," stating that the students need him. "He is the foundation of the schooL" Page 63 of 112 Investigative Report TOM MCLAUGHLIN HEALTH TEACHER AND ASSISTANT BOYS BASKETBALL COACH AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Mr. Tom McLaughlin. Mr. McLaughlin is the Health teacher and Basketball Coach at North Port High School. He has been there five years. The following information was learned during this interview. Mr. McLaughlin thinks Dr. Kenney has been doing hypnosis at NPHS for approximately three or four years, from approximately 2007-2008. He has been doing hypnosis primarily to alleviate anxieties for testing, increase focus and to help with social issues. He has never heard anything negative about the hypnosis Dr. Kenney has conducted and he estimates that Dr. Kenney has probably seen 50-60 kids over the past years, but that is only a guess. The only "group sessions" Mr. McLaughlin is aware of involves the basketball team and the "group" was only three to four players at a time. He thinks that parental permission was obtained on everyone who participated. Sometimes these sessions took place in the locker room and sometimes in Dr. Kenney's office before games or practice. Mr. McLaughlin was not present in any of those sessions. He also knows Dr. Kenney has done individual sessions as well as Mr. McLaughlin's son. Mr. McLaughlin also stated that there was a student that had a twitch. He was a pitcher on the baseball team and he also wanted to go into the Marines. His twitch was almost like a Tourette's type of affliction. It became a concern when he was on the mound pitching. He was also concerned that it might prevent him from getting into the Marines. "Dr. Kenney really worked with him and did a marvelous job with this young man." Mr. McLaughlin never participated in any hypnosis sessions, but his son had some sessions with Dr. Kenney. Mr. McLaughlin sought out Dr. Kenney during the 2009-2010 school years to see ifhe could help his son with his test anxiety and focus. Over the course of a year, his son probably had seven or eight sessions with Dr. Kenney, in his office after the end of the school day. Mr. McLaughlin sat in on one of those sessions. He stated that he saw a lot of positive results from those sessions. His son played on the baseball team and it was very helpful in getting him to focus. He also did much better with his test anxiety. "It just seemed to relax him .. .it really did." As far as he knows, no one ever expressed any concerns or any negative comments about what Dr. Kenney was doing with the hypnosis. "It was always positive." He doesn't know if Dr. Kenney was ever told by any of his superiors to stop the hypnosis, but with his knowledge of Dr. Kenney, "If George was told to stop, I'm sure George would have stopped." Mr. McLaughlin went on to state that "usually if a boss tells someone to stop doing something, you would think that there would be something followed up with in a Page 64 of 112 Investigative Report hard copy ... sometimes, in a verbal conversations, and somebody said, 'hey be careful' does that mean stop? ... I don't know." According to Mr. McLaughlin, "I don't think anybody did not know what Dr. Kenney was doing, at least on this campus and for quite sometime .. .it wasn't anything secret." This is Mr. McLaughlin's 26th year in this county and he has worked for quite a few administrators. Dr. Kenney is one of the most thorough individuals he has come across. He has great follow through and he is a very honorable and trustworthy guy. . In Mr. McLaughlin's opinion, it is unfortunate that it has reached this point. He thinks it is a knee jerk reaction to public opinion. It should have been a minor issue or even a moot issue. "Maybe a minor reprimand of some sort in the sense that it might have been out of the scope of some things that are not common practice ... does the crime potentially fit the punishment in reference to someone being dismissed from their job or put in an alternate position ... absolutely not...now that we have gone this far, it angers me simply because you have now put the man in a position where it could affect his leadership, and that is just awful, because there was no reason for it. .. and he has been a good leader, a very good leader ... for the population of this school and the make up of this school, he has some outstanding qualities." Page 65 of 112 Investigative Report CURT ALLEN ECONOMICS TEACHER, HEAD BASKETBALL COACH AND ASSISTANT TRACK COACH AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Coach Curt Allen. Coach Allen is the economics teacher, the head basketball coach and the assistant track coach at North Port High School. He has been at NPHS since one year after the school opened. The following information was learned during this interview. Coach Allen's ')ourney" with this started basically with a kid by the name 0 • . He was one of North Port High School's top basketball players and probably one of the top in Florida. Coach Allen and Dr. Kenney have always had a good professional relationship. During the time period of 2009, Coach Allen was worried about!IW because he was having some "issues" at school. As a result, Coach Allen met with Dr. Kenney to discuss what could be done to help. deal with some of these "issues," During that conversation Dr. Kenney told Coach Allen that he has some things that might help. Dr. Kenney stated that he did hypnosis. He also told Coach Allen that he had worked with a few baseball players and he had put out a CD. Dr. Kenney showed him a web site. Coach Allen was still somewhat skeptical. He wasn't anti-hypnosis; in fact he associated hypnosis with something like Norman Vincent Peale's "Power of Positive Thinking." Dr. Kenney told him a story about a kid that had a stutter that he had helped. Dr. Kenney told Coach Allen that ifhe thought hypnosis might help., to get with the child's parents and let them know so they could make a decision. Coach Allen eventually approached. parents and let them know about Dr. Kenney's offer. Coach Allen explained that it might be something they want to research first, because Coach Allen and. was not familiar with the process, etc. Aronnd the beginning of2010, he thinks. parents got with Dr. Kenney and started the sessions. Coach Allen has never witnessed any individual sessions. On or about January 2010, he did see one type of session that occurred at the Port Charlotte game when Dr. Kenney did a session with.~e bleachers, while his parents were present. • was being very heavily recruit~ was excited and fired up and did really well. This of course got his parents excited. It also was exciting for Coach Allen and Dr. Kenney. • ended up getting a scholarship with one ofthe colleges. Coach Allen also thinks that Dr. Kenney gave a demonstration to the head coach of that college as well. Coach Allen thinks that a lot of athletic students got interested as a result of what they saw. doing on the court. Coach Allen also remembers a demonstration that Dr. Kenney performed in the career lab with the students, parents and some ofthe coaches, so they could see what it was all about. Coach Allen is not sure whether the demo happened before the. session in the Page 66 of 112 Investigative Report bleachers, or if it was the other way around. They both occurred very close to the same time. The only other time he saw any type of session occurred in the beginning of 201 0, at the track. It was two or three of the high jump kids and Dr. Kenney was telling them how to relax. Coach Allen is not sure if permission slips were obtained. He didn't hand any out. Coach Allen stated that Dr. Kenney was very adamant about getting parental permission. That was the number one thing as far as parameters were concerned. He was always open about it. Coach Allen would pass out the permission slips. Coach Allen stated, "My whole thing was you could do it if you want or you don't have to do it. Don't be obligated. To me it was like a resource, so you can look into it and use it if you want, but you have to go through your parents." Coach Allen stated that sometimes he would recommend someone to Dr. Kenney. Dr. Kenney would get with Coach Allen and ask him what terms he would use to teach the ball players, so he (Dr. Kenney) could use the same terms to reinforce their learning. To Coach Allen, it was a good thing. The parents knew it, everybody knew it. It was all positive, there was nothing negative about it and it was no secret. Everything was transparent. In the fall of 201 0, there was a newspaper article that talked about Dr. Kenney hypnotized the softball team. There was never any "blow back" about that. In fact, there has never been any "blow back" about anything. "If you know Dr. Kenney, this is something that he has done ... l don't know if it works, if it is the placebo effect, if it is showing interest in the kids, but the results are all ... the kids are positive ... and it was always a positive experience and it was always a transparent experience, if someone didn't want to do it they didn't have to." Coach knows that the softball team was involved as was the baseball team, the volleyball team and he thinks maybe the football team. Coach Allen has no knowledge of anyone expressing any concerns about what Dr. Kenney was doing. It just seemed that "everybody was doing it. .. and it seemed to work for a lot of the athletic students ... no one was obligated to do it. .. if you didn't want to do it, no one was pressuring anyone, just don't participate." Parents were present, permission slips were obtained and the fact that there was no obligation for anyone to participate was an important factor for Coach Allen. It seemed to be common knowledge in the school and the community that Dr. Kenney was using hypnosis. Coach Allen is unaware of anyone making complaints about Dr. Kenney. He never saw any memo telling him (Curt Allen) not to do something. It was out there and in his mind, everyone knew what was going on. It was all very transparent. Page 67 of 112 Investigative Report Coach Allen also felt that if anyone at the school board had wanted Dr. Kenney to stop, he would have stopped. Nothing was ever said that he was aware of. Coach Allen stated that it doesn't seem to be Dr. Kenney's personality to ignore a direct order from a superior. Coach Allen thinks that this is a "bad thing happening to a good person." Page 68 of 112 Investigative Report BECKY HALBERT GUIDANCE COUNSELOR AND VOLLEYBALL COACH AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Tuesday, May 24,2011, I interviewed Becky Halbert. Ms Halbert is the school guidance counselor as well as the girl's volleyball coach. She has been at North Port High School since 2005. The following information was learned during this interview. Ms. Halbert has known about Dr. Kenney and his use of hypnosis since the 2008-2009 school years when he worked with her volleyball team one time. She had heard about the fact that Dr. Kenney had worked with other coach's teams. She approached Dr. Kenney and asked ifhe would work with her team. He said he would but he would need the parent's permission slips and the volleyball specific talking points that she wanted him to cover. She also asked Dr. Kenney again this year ifhe would work with her volleyball team. He did, three times. He worked with the entire team all at once. Her team consisted of 12 students. Ms. Halbert was present for all of the sessions. One of the sessions occurred in the media center and the others were in a classroom. "Basically he would have them sit in their chairs and he has a music player that would just play soothing nature sounds. He would just talk to them down to relaxation, then he would go through the cues that I gave him that we used in volleyball, you know, confidence, getting you feet to the ball, making your serve ... things like that, volleyball stuff." Confidence was the biggest thing with her team and Dr. Kenney worked a lot on that. The session only lasted about 15 minutes. He would bring them back up telling them they would feel fantastic, they would feel energized and rested, all positive things. Ms. Halbert stated that she saw an improvement; in some people she saw more than others. "It wasn't like they instantly turned into Olympic volleyball players ... but I saw some improvement." He also gave them the signal of squeezing their hands for energy and they did that during the games to give them an energy boost. She saw no harm. As a coach, she believes in visualization. Olympic athletes do that. If the students can see themselves doing that, it has to help them in their performance. None of her team ever had any private one on one session. Ms. Halbert knew of one female student that wanted help with test anxiety. Dr. Kenney said that she would have to have either a parent or someone else with her during a session. The one girl that Ms. Halbert knew was getting help with testing had her sister in the room with her during her session. The student got a permission slip from her parents. Ms. Halbert had heard that some of the secretaries had seen Dr. Kenney to help them quit smoking. Page 69 of 112 Investigative Report She has no knowledge whether the school district knew that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis with the sports teams or the students. He talked about it to anyone that asked. He always talked about the positive results he had gotten. From what she heard, most of the kids that got help from Dr. Kenney had improved test scores. Her volleyball team improved, other teams improved, ROTC improved. She doesn't know specifically if the Landings knew, but it was never a secret. She just assumed that everybody knew. Ms. Halbert never heard anything negative about what Dr. Kenney was doing. In fact, she had only heard really positive things, "otherwise I wouldn't have had my team do it." She doesn't know when Dr. Kenney started doing the hypnosis at North Port High School. She thinks it was in Mr. Konyak's psychology class, but she doesn't know the year that it started. Until the recent newspaper articles, she didn't even know that Dr. Kenney had written a book. Dr. Kenney's intentions were only for good. She thinks it is really sad, because it was such a positive thing and it was for a positive purpose. It is sad that he isn't at the school and the kids are really upset. There are a lot of kids that are saying that they don't want to go to graduation, because he was the one person that really helped them. "I know that he was a very, very big positive role model here, for the kids, especially... he's always had the best intentions for the kids here." In her position as a guidance counselor, she has never heard anything negative about Dr. Kenney or the hypnosis situation. "I think that says a lot. . .in all my dealings with him, I feel like he has always tried to keep the best interest of the students first and he follows the rules, that is why it is kind of surprising that they say he was told not to and he did it .. .it doesn't sound like Dr. Kenney." She hopes that Dr. Kenney can come back. North Port High School is a very unique population, compared to the rest of the county. She thinks it would be a tough job for someone new to come in and take over. The kids especially would have a very difficult time with that change. Page 70 of 112 Investigative Report CHRYSTAL HUNT MATH TEACHER / GIRLS SOFTBALL COACH AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Chrystal Hunt. Ms. Hunt is a math teacher and girls' softball coach at North Port High School. She has been at North Port High School since the 2002-2003 school years. The following was learned during this interview. Ms. Hunt became aware of Dr. Kenney's use of hypnosis when the girls on her softball team approached her, not this past season but the season before. They stated that they were interested in possibly being hypnotized by Dr. Kenney because they knew he had been hypnotizing other players on other sports teams. Ms. Hunt approached Dr. Kenney and asked him about hypnotizing her group before one of their games. She asked Dr. Kenney what he would need from her for his session with the softball team. He told her that she would need to get parental permission slips signed by anybody who wanted to participate. One day after school, they met as a group in the upstairs library room. This meeting took place before practice one day and they played a game the following day. This occurred in the 2009-2010 school year, around February or March 2010. About ten (10) students volunteered; the rest just watched. Only the students who brought back permission slips were allowed to participate in the hypnosis session. Ms. Hunt was present during this session and thought it was quite interesting. Dr. Kenney had them all sit with their backs straight in a chair and he told them what was going to happen. He stated that some of them may become more relaxed than others and he explained what it would feel like. Then he just started talking to them, having them close their eyes. She explained that it was just very relaxing, sort of like meditation. After a while, Dr. Kenney went through and held up their hands to see if they were relaxed or not. Then he started talking about the points that Chrystal Hunt had provided him, such as, "watching the ball, getting your feet to the ball, things like that." Ms. Hunt did not participate in the session but she was sitting beside Dr. Kenney watching what had occurred. She estimates that the session lasted about 30 minutes. This was the only session that her team ever had with Dr. Kenney. Ms. Hunt stated that during practice that day, after the session, all of the girls were very calm and were relaxed. Page 71 of 112 Investigative Report Ms. Hunt did not observe anything negative as a result of this session. She stated that her team did not ask to do it again. They talked about it as a group and didn't feel that they needed it or that it helped them all that much. Ms. Hunt is unaware if Dr. Kenney has hypnotized individual students, there is no student that she is aware of that he has hypnotized. Ms. Hunt talked to Dr. Kenney because she was interested in possibly being hypnotized. He talked to her about it and let her borrow one of the CD's that he had produced. She thinks the CD had to do with relaxation and self confidence. She does remember that many of the things mentioned on the CD was about being positive and staying positive. This occurred in the spring of 20 10, prior to the hypnosis session with her team, but she didn't actually listen to the CD until after he had hypnotized her softball team. Ms. Hunt never had any individual sessions with Dr. Kenney. Ms. Hunt does not know whether the school board or school district had any conversation with Dr. Kenney about his hypnosis nor does she know ifhe was ever told that he could conduct hypnosis or if there were any guidelines established for what he could or could not do. In Ms. Hunt's opinion, Dr. Kenney always tried to do things that would help the students. She feels that he believed that hypnosis was a tool that he could use to do that. She stated "I don't feel he would ever do anything to hurt a student ... ever." She stated that in her observation of the one session she saw, it was all very positive and there was nothing that could be construed as detrimental or negative. Page 72 of 112 Investigative Report MATTHEW PRYER PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER/FOOTBALL COACH AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Matthew Pryer. Mr. Pryer is a physical education teacher, the Head of the P.E. Dept., and the Head Football Coach since January 2010. He has been at North Port High School since the 2003-2003 school years. The following infonnation was learned during this interview. Mr. Pryer stated that regarding his knowledge of Dr. Kenney and his doing hypnosis, he feels that it was pretty well know that Dr. Kenney did hypnosis on campus. Outside of that and other than questions he has asked Dr. Kenney directly, he has no further knowledge. Mr. Pryer's first knowledge about Dr. Kenney doing hypnosis on campus involved psychology class; however, he is not clear of the time. Mr. Pryer was also aware that Dr. Kenney provided one-on-one sessions with students because, thru conversations with Dr. Kenney as well as some of the kids that were reaping benefits from it, they would more or less brag about their accomplishments and about the specific things that Dr. Kenney was doing with them. Mr. Pryer knows of a football player, who also does track that was excited because he was working with Dr. Kenney on test techniques and as a result, the student was really confident about taking tests. Mr. Pryer stated that it was pretty well know that Dr. Kenney was working with students; it wasn't a big deal or a big conversation topic. Kids were excited about some of the things they were doing, this is the perception that Mr. Pryer fonned from his overall view from the kids he talked with. Mr. Pryer stated he has had an individual session with Dr. Kenney on one occasion. It was somewhere near the summer of20l0. He had been asking Dr. Kenney questions on how it works and he had sat in on some sessions and Dr. Kenney was very open and allowed him to sit in on. Mr. Pryor had sleeping problems and wanted to see if Dr. Kenney could help him. He knew everything Dr. Kenney was saying; he was never "knocked out", which had been his initial perception. He was very relaxed, he enjoyed it. He did not have further sessions with Dr. Kenney as their schedules didn't line up, but he doesn't see anything wrong with hypnosis, he thought it was "pretty neat." He is not sure if after one session he experienced great results, he feels that the one session was probably an intro type thing. What he took out of the session is that he remembers everything that Dr. Kenney was saying, everything that was going on, his eyes were open at one point, he engaged in conversation, he was refreshed and relaxed. His experience was totally different than what you see in movies or on TV. Mr. Pryer is nnaware if Dr. Kenney ever had sessions without someone sitting in. He estimates that he sat in on 2 for sure, maybe 3 or 4. The sessions were held in Dr. Page 73 of 112 Investigative Report Kenney's office, after school hours, late in the afternoon. Mr. Pryer was not comfortable providing specific names of the individuals that he sat in on. Mr. Pryer is not aware that Dr. Kenney had ever been told not to perform hypnosis. He did state that on Wednesday (a week ago) when Mr. Cantees came into the school, Mr. Pryer was out of school that particular day because his daughter was sick, but he came in because Mr. Cantees was meeting with teachers so he felt "it was a pretty big deal". He stated there were three other teachers with him (he doesn't know all of their names). Mr. Pryer's concern was that he felt the district was being "reactionary", which he has personal issues with. He feels they should be proactive. Mr. Pryer again stated that "everybody knows that he's been doing it". All of the when's and where's may not be known, but it was not a secret and never has been kept a secret. Mr. Pryer stated that he questioned the "reactionary" approach with Mr. Cantees and was told "I did not know that he was doing this" Mr. Cantees said "I am his direct Supervisor and if anybody should have known he was doing this, it should have been me". Mr. Pryer stated that he agreed with Mr. Cantees about his statement. Mr. Pryer stated that the next day in the newspaper it was stated that the district knew this was going on and that they had told Dr. Kenney to stop. Mr. Pryer stated that either the newspaper got it wrong or Mr. Cantees lied to him that day. Mr. Pryer expressed his concern that Mr. Cantees had told him, during their conversation that "he did not know". In Mr. Pryer's opinion, he feels that Mr. Cantees should have known. Mr. Pryer asked if Mr. Cantees knew about the time when Dr. Kenney took a week off of school two years ago to get certified in hypnosis and Mr. Cantees replied "I did lmow about that." Mr. Pryer found it surprising that they claimed they didn't know, and when he asked Mr. Cantees about Dr. Kenney's books and CD, he was told that since it was under investigation he probably shouldn't talk any more about it. Mr. Pryer believes that Dr. Kenney's books and CDs were also pretty much common knowledge. He had heard that Dr. Kenney had produced them but Mr. Pryer has never seen or heard them, but he knows they exist and are available. Mr. Pryer went to school in Sarasota County, he graduated from a Sarasota County School, his mother taught in Sarasota County for 37 Y. years prior to her retirement. He taught in Iowa for a while and has been back in Sarasota for 8 years now. As a long time Sarasota County resident, he feels strongly that the school board is acting in a reactionary manner. His feeling is that "it's really not a big deal here, people knew." Mr. Pryer said that everyone knew that Dr. Kenney was working with. high profile athlete for the school. • an. was a was seeing benefits and making free throws and feeling good about everything that he is doing. Because ofthat, the word spread. Kids were saying, "hey let me get some of that." Mr. Pryer feels that people just don't understand the whole process and benefits of hypnosis and relaxation . . , Page 74 of 112 Investigative Report After Mr. Pryer's hypnosis session he discussed with his wife that it was crazy because he knew everything that was going on, he told her exactly what Dr. Kenney had said and what he had done and he told her it was awesome and he was totally relaxed. He stated that it was "crazy" because he had the preconceived notion that hypnosis was some different type of thing than what he actually experienced. Mr. Pryer said he carries a radio and that sometimes Steve Cantees would drop in on campus. He stated that he knew Steve Cantees did a good job at getting around to all of the schools. His personal opinion of Dr. Kenney is that "he is not the kind of guy to shuffle all of the papers and hide them in a drawer because somebody showed up .... that is absolutely not George Kenney." Mr. Pryer has known Dr. Kenney for a number of years. He stated that when he sat with Steve Cantees, he told him about the time when he put his resume in to become Head Coach. During that time he had a lot of conversations with Dr. Kenney; and that without his knowing, Dr. Kenney had called Mr. Pryer's wife in to talk to her. Dr. Kenney wanted to ask her if this career move would be healthy move for her and the family. He asked her if "Matt can do this ... this is a bigjob, how do you feel about it?" Mr. Pryer stated ... "for a man to do this, in the middle of the day, to block an hour off; that's the kind of man he is; that's the kind of leader he is." Mr. Pryer has never been around another leader like Dr. Kenney. Mr. Pryer feels that Dr. Kenney cares about Mr. Pryer personally, his wife and his family - before he cares about winning football games. He honestly feels that had Dr. Kenney received negative feelings from the discussion with his wife he probably would have tried to talk Matt out of it. Mr. Pryer feels that Dr. Kenney is a great leader, period. He is not only plugged into the school, the community, the kids, the faculty, the staff and their kids, it is pretty well known now, as to the great job he does with budget, staffing, compliance, taking them to aB school with the FCAT's. Dr. Kenney sits at the top of the pyramid. It takes a lot to make a school like North Port successful and that is what Dr. Kenney has done. Mr. Pryer feels that if Dr. Kenney was told not to do something by somebody, he personally believes that Dr. Kenney would not do it. Mr. Pryer feels that you don't get to be a principal of a school by ignoring things when people ask you to do something. If Dr. Kenney told a subordinate to do something he would expect them to follow his instructions; it has happened during his own evaluation from Dr. Kenney and there were expectations that Dr. Kenney wanted from him. Mr. Pryer has no knowledge of any person from the district telling Dr. Kenney that he could do this, but not that. Mr. Pryer feels that it is clear they need to be proactive, in their classrooms, with their kids and everything they do. He does not feel it is acceptable for him to have a reactionary approach with a student or one of his players. The school district should act in the same proactive way and not be so reactionary. . , Page 75 of 112 Investigative Report Mr. Pryer does not have knowledge of any negative perception of Dr. Kenney's sessions. All of his help with the students has been positive. Mr. Pryer is not aware of any prior complaints that were ever made to the School Board that never got addressed at the school. If Mr. Pryer could fix this situation, his solution would be to wrap up the investigation the next day. He feels there is probably a lot of redundancy in what is being said by people that are being interviewed. He would wrap it up without a big to-do and get Dr. Kenney back in his seat in the office so the school year can be finished with their leader. The school needs him this year to finish them out. Going forward, "North Port High School is George Kenney". If it were Mr. Pryer's decision, he would put Dr. Kenney back in his seat without every news truck being there saying "he's back." Let him do graduation and work out any consequence later, but to remove him is not right. Mr. Pryer feels that "this has been made into a mountain", and Dr. Kenney's whole being is wrapped up in doing good for the kids and wanting to be helpful, even before he started doing hypnosis. Page 76 of 112 Investigative Report RYAN LAVALLEE CRIMINAL mSTICE TEACHER AND ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT NORTH PORT HIGHSCHOOL On Thursday, May 26,2011, I interviewed Mr. Ryan LaVallee. Mr. LaVallee is a criminal justice teacher and Athletic Director at North Port High School. He has been at NPHS for 8 years. The following information was learned during this interview. He can't put a date on when he first learned that Dr. Kenney was using hypnosis at North Port High School. It was connnon knowledge that he was doing hypnosis demonstrations in psychology classes. That information had even been published in the school newspaper. Mr. LaVallee never sat in on any of the demonstrations conducted in the psychology classes. Last school year (2009-2010), when Mr. LaVallee became the Assistant Athletic Director, he became aware that Dr. Kenney was working, after school hours, with certain athletes that needed assistance with their sports performance. Mr. LaVallee never observed any of the sessions conducted with any of the athletes. He does know that there was an article in the Herald Tribune newspaper about Dr. Kenney and his hypnosis of the 2009-2010 softball team. He doesn't recall the specifics of that article. Mr. LaVallee has never heard anything negative about Dr. Kenney and his hypnosis. Other than a few athletes he is aware of, such as a couple of basketball players, a couple of wrestlers, a few softball players. He does know that Dr. Kenney came to him and asked ifhe could work with one of the pole vaulters, who was a good pole vaulter but he was having a hard time progressing. He definitely had a mental block and he thinks Dr. Kenney saw that. Dr. Kenney also told Mr. LaVallee that ifhe did work with the student, he would need to get the student's parental permission. Mr. LaVallee approached the pole vaulter and asked him ifhe was interested, but he was not. Nothing more was ever said about it. It was very connnon knowledge that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis at NPHS. It wasn't hiddeu by any means. Mr. LaVallee couldn't say if the people in the Landings knew or should have known, but they were at the school a lot. There was no cloak of secrecy about it. It was very common knowledge on campus, so he just assumed they knew about it. Everyone talked about it and people were here all the time from the district offices. He has no first hand knowledge if Dr. Kenney was ever told not to do hypnosis at the school. He is unaware of anyone from the school or the school district coming to Dr. Kenney and telling him that he couldn't do hypnosis or spelling out any parameters as far . as what he could or couldn't do . Page 77 of 112 Investigative Report Near the end of February 2011, he knows that Dr. Kenney was conducting individual sessions, with the parent's pennission, of two brothers. This is the last time he has any personal knowledge of Dr. Kenney doing individual hypnosis sessions. Mr. LaVallee felt that there was a positive aspect and an enhancement of performance. "I think it helped some of them, I talked to the wrestling coach and he felt it was helpful, it didn't hurt them, either it worked or they think it worked, which either way was a good thing." As an example, there was. at the free-throw line. He was more relaxed and did better. It could have been a placebo effect, but either way, it helped him. Mr. LaVallee stated that, as far as he observed, there was nothing at all that was a negative aspect. If that had been the case, there would have been red flags raised, and there wasn't anything like that. Mr. LaVallee never sat in on any sessions. "Occasionally, if! was working the afternoon, I might look in his office window and he might have somebody in there, in his office." In Mr. LaVallee's opinion, Dr. Kenney needs to be put back to work. If the district did tell him not to do this anymore and he did it anyway, they need to "slap his wrists and put him back to work." He thinks taking him out of the school the way they have has been very detrimental to the school. "He is definitely the leader ofthis school and you know without him, it would be a struggle for someone to come in here and replicate what he has done ... this school has come a long way with him as the leader." Page 78 of 112 Investigative Report MATTHEW MITCHELL HOPE TEACHER AND SWIM COACH AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Tuesday, May 24,2011, I interviewed Matthew Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell is a Hope Teacher and Swim Coach at North Port High School. He has been at North Port High School for seven years. The following information was learned during this interview. Mr. Mitchell first became aware that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis approximately 3 Y2 years ago, which would have been approximately OctoberlNovember 2008. He cannot recall how he learned about it; perhaps just by hearsay, but he knew it was going on. Mr. Mitchell had heard that Dr. Kenney performed demonstrations in the psychology classes. He never saw any of those demonstrations. Mr. Mitchell is aware of individual sessions, because he experienced first hand hypnosis from Dr. Kenney. This occurred near Mayor June in either 2008 or 2009; Mr. Mitchell was trying to pass the FELE test, which is the Florida Educator Leadership Exam, for his Master's Degree. He had failed it three times and his wife told him to "try anything you can" to pass the test. He sought out Dr. Kenney, had three individual sessions with him over a three week period. He was successful in passing the test. He is not sure if that is the only reason, but it made a difference. He didn't feel that he specifically suffered from test anxiety; but he was not a good test taker. It took him numerous times to pass the P .E. exam and he knew his content like the back of his hand, but he just doesn't test well. Mr. Mitchell said the session was nothing like he expected. His perception was that he would have been completely under and not know what was going on, and that was completely opposite of what occurred. He remained totally aware of what was going on. "It was different from what I expected because I didn't really know what it was about; I had not done research on it. I had heard that he helped other people so I went to him and asked for his help. It was basically going over the test and some study guides to say when you highlight it you'll see things, you'll be able to focus on the computer screen, you'll hear clicking around you and you won't be able to turn your head, you will only be able to focus on the exam, and that is exactly what happened." He had not planned on seeing Dr. Kenney, but in speaking to him they decided to try it. His sessions were all after school hours and took place in Dr. Kenney's office at the conference table. Dr. Kenney played background music. It was nothing like you see on TV. Mr. Mitchell has heard of other individuals that have met with Dr. Kenney for help, but he does not have first hand knowledge of anyone coming to him and discussing their experience. He did have one student. that was preparing for one of the Dr. Kenney's demonstrations and the student asked Mr. Mitchell to sit in because the students' parents were unable to attend that day. The student had a permission slip from his parents. This occurred after Mr. Mitchell's second session. What Mr. Mitchell witnessed was the same thing that occurred in his personal session. Dr. Kenney had • "go to a football game" and explain what he saw, etc. He had him do three things, one was the football game, and the second was they flew on a magic carpet. Mr. Mitchell could not recall the third thing, but it was nothing embarrassing. Page 79 of 112 Investigative Report Mr. Mitchell stated that he was aware that Dr. Kenney had worked with some of the basketball team and with some of baseball players in the past, but he cannot say individual names, his knowledge is only second hand. He recalls that this was going on during the same time frame as when he had his sessions with Dr. Kenney, which would have been around 2008 or 2009. Mr. Mitchell only heard about Dr. Kenney's book(s) and You Tube video after reading about them in the recent newspaper articles. Prior to that, he had no knowledge. He never saw or had first hand knowledge of this, it was never part of any discussion that he had with Dr. Kenney. Mr. Mitchell had no idea if anybody at the school board was aware of Dr. Kenney doing this. Mr. Mitchell has no knowledge of anybody who said anything to Dr. Kenney or if there was ever anything in writing given to Dr. Kenney. In Mr. Mitchell's opinion, he really believes that if somebody would have told Dr. Kenney to stop, that he would have stopped; especially if it was a directive from a superior. Mr. Mitchell said "the kind of guy Dr. Kenney is and the way he leads is he might tell you that 'this is not a good idea but that doesn't necessarily mean stop, it means you need to go a different avenue. But if he tells you to "stop" he expects you to "stop". Dr. Kenney is a professional; not a dictator, but when he says something he really means it" and that is why Mr. Mitchell feels that if Dr. Kenney had been told he would have followed the instruction. Mr. Mitchell stated that, as the Swim Coach, Dr. Kenney never approached him to offer sessions to any of his students. Dr. Kenney did not "advertise" his services. It appeared to him that Dr. Kenney felt that when others heard of him and asked for his help he would help them. Mr. Mitchell feels that Dr. Kenney had no intention for his services to get out of hand. Mr. Mitchell feels that Dr. Kenney personally has not hurt anybody, so he would love to see Dr. Kenney come back; he is a great person to work for. Although Dr. Kenney and the district are Mr. Mitchell's bosses, he will respect their decision. If Dr. Kenney violated what he was told to do, then he should be disciplined, just like Mr. Mitchell would expect to be disciplined ifhe didn't follow his boss's orders. He feels that Dr. Kenney could come back to North Port and be just fine, or as fine as he can be after being on administrative leave for two weeks. Page 80 of 112 Investigative Report TRAVIS SLANGER ESE ENGLISH AND SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER AND BASKETBALL COACH AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Mr. Travis Slanger. Mr. Slanger is the ESE English teacher, Social Studies teacher and Basketball Coach at North Port High School. The following information was learned during this interview. Mr. Slanger learned, first hand, about Dr. Kenney's use of hypnosis during the 2010- o. 2011 basketball season. The prior year, he had heard about Dr. Kenney using hypnosis to help students with their sports performance. • was one of the students Dr. Kenney worked with during that year. Mr. Slanger witnessed one sessions from a distance. This session occurred on the side of the bleachers prior to a Port Charlotte game. • was sitting in a chair during the session. Mr. Slanger was not close enough to hear what was being said. Mr. Slanger has never sat in on one of Dr. Kenney's hypnosis seSSIOns. He was aware that some of the individual athletes would have sessions with Dr. Kenney during practice or prior to games. Mr. Slanger estimates that six to ten basketball players participated in Dr. Kenney's hypnosis sessions. He doesn't know anything about parental permission, explaining that the head coach would be involved in that. He has heard that some staff members may have had sessions with Dr. Kenney, but he has no first hand knowledge of that. Mr. Slanger does remember one group session that occurred. During one of their games, everyone was outside the gym. Two or three kids went on the bus with Dr. Kenney. Mr. Slanger couldn't hear or see what was going on. Mr. Slanger didn't see any sort of improvement that looked any different than normal practice would produce. "I didn't see anything negative either, I didn't hear any kids say that this isn't working, it's messing me up or I can't focus because of it." There were sometimes where he felt that the kids were a little too "laid back" and not quite assertive enough. He's not sure if it was just the student's personality or if the relaxation techniques were causing them to have their edge taken away and causing slow starts. From Mr. Slanger's perspective, the fact that Dr. Kenney was doing this hypnosis was very open. "He never came out and addressed it via email or saying in a meeting 'Hey, this is what I am doing' .. .it just kind of filtered out .. .it was pretty open and most people knew what was going on." Page 81 of 112 Investigative Report Mr. Slanger has no knowledge of anyone complaining to the district offices about Dr. Kenney and his practice of hypnosis. He did know that there were questions and conversations amongst colleagues, wondering what it was all about and what was going on. There was some concern that it could possibly have a negative effect on the school. Mr. Slanger stated that he personally doesn't know that much about hypnosis and from what he saw, he didn't see it as an effective tool, but he assumed Dr. Kenney and some of the other coaches knew more about it than he did. Mr. Slanger heard about Dr. Kenney having written some books and produced some CD's. Other than what he heard in passing, he doesn't have a lot of knowledge about that. During the last year's season, Dr. Kenney was at their practices frequently. Mr. Slanger does not remember Dr. Kenney being at as many practices the previous year's season. He did say that Coach Allen and Dr. Kenney had a pretty close relationship over the last year or so. Mr. Slanger has no knowledge whether anyone at the district offices ever told Dr. Kenney to stop doing his hypnosis or restrict it to certain parameters. To him, it did seem a little unusual that the district offices didn't know what Dr. Kenney was doing with hypnosis and the students. From Mr. Slanger's perspective, Dr. Kenney's interest and involvement in the use of hypnosis for sports performance seemed to intensify at the start of this school year. ''I'm not saying they were hiding it before, but it was very much out in the open on campus this school year." Mr. Slanger stated that he thinks Dr. Kenney is a great guy and his heart is in the right place and he genuinely wants to help kids and he is a great administrator. Mr. Slanger stated that "On the other hand, there is a part of me that is extremely embarrassed that this is in the paper and to be working in a place this is happening ... for that I am kind of angry and upset that he has put all of us in that position .. .if this is something he was doing at school and ifhe knew he wasn't suppose to be doing it and this is the backlash that we're in the paper and we have all of these distractions now we are dealing with the students at the end ofthe year, that is kind of a tough pill to swallow." ., Page 82 of 112 Investigative Report DONNA BATTIATA SECURITY MONITOR AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, I interviewed Donna Battiata. Ms. Battiata is the Security Monitor at North Port High School and has been since November of 2009. The following was learned from this interview. Ms. Battiata was aware that Dr. Kenney had been having hypnosis sessions with a student named., a basketball player. She asked someone if they knew of Dr. Kenney doing it for other individuals. She approached Dr. Kenney, stating that she was having a problem with her son and would he be willing to talk to him and help him out. Her son was having self-confidence issues, self-control issues; he needed to know how to cahn down when he got frustrated and angry. He also had anxiety issues regarding school work. Dr. Kenney agreed to assist. Ms. Battiata checked with her son to make sure that he was okay with it. Dr. Kenney also had a conversation with her son to make sure that this is what he wanted to do. Her son agreed that it was o.k., so they started having a session about once every two weeks. These hypnosis sessions started in January of 20 11. Ms. Battiata stated that she estimates that Dr. Kenney met with her son approximately ten (10) times since January 2011. Not all of those were hypnosis sessions. Some of them were just conversations because Dr. Kenney was very good with helping her son. Ms. Battiata did not sit in on any of her son's sessions. Dr. Kenney asked her if she wanted to sit in on any of the sessions. She spoke to her son and her son said that he would rather not because he wanted to do this on his own. Ms. Battiata stated that Dr. Kenney would tell her anything she wanted to know and that he was "very good with her child." The sessions just consisted of her son and Dr. Kenney. She does not recall signing any permission slip but she did give Dr. Kenney verbal permission to work with her son. Ms. Battiata stated that she did note that her son stayed a little bit more focused and was somewhat better with his behavior issues, but she did not observe any significant improvement. She did state that her son developed a very good connection with Dr. Kenney and any topics that she wanted Dr. Kenney to discuss with her son, he would. Her son was aware that she and Dr. Kenney were talking about his issues. Ms. Battiata stated that Dr. Kenney always talked to her after the session and "filled her in, nothing was ever a secret, everything was out in the open" and she had a very good rapport with Dr. Kenney every time. Ms. Battiata naturally assumed the school board/district offices new that Dr. Kenney was hypnotizing students. Before she even approached Dr. Kenney, she checked things out Page 83 of 112 Investigative Report and knew that a lot of athletes were seeing Dr. Kenney to help them with their athletic performance. Ms. Battiata never noticed anything negative or problematic as a result of the various sessions Dr. Kenney had with her son. Ms. Battiata was unaware of any teachers or adults that may have had sessions with Dr. Kenney. She has never heard anything as to whether the school board instructed Dr. Kenney not to do any hypnosis or if he was given any guidelines as to what he could or could not do. Ms. Battiata stated that she can "only say good things about Dr. Kenney" and she can't talk too much about it because she gets emotional due to the fact that he was one of the few people that helped her with her son when he needed somebody. "He treats everyone the same, he's a great guy." According to Ms. Battiata, she would love to see Dr. Kenney come back to the school. She says this not only from an employee standpoint but from that as a parent. She stated that he treats the kids excellent, he's always cahn with everybody, he's very nice and the kids respond to him. She's never heard a bad thing about him, and she's in security, so she hears everything. The only thing that she has heard of a negative nature is from other adults saying that he is not strict enough . ., Page 84 of 112 Investigative Report KATHLEEN MORAN REGISTRAR AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Wednesday, May 25,2011, I interviewed Ms. Kathy Moran. Ms. Moran is the registrar at North Port High School and has been for 9 years. The following information was leamed during this interview. In the 2009-2010 school year, she and some of her co-workers approached Dr. Kenney to see if he could use hypnosis to help them stop smoking. She had two, possible three sessions. These sessions were held in his office after they were done with work. Her son. had hypnosis sessions with Dr. Kenney during the school year of 2009-2010. His sessions were held later in the year after those of his mother. She thinks he had one and no more than two sessions to help him with concentrating for ACT's. His sessions were also held in Dr. Kenney's office after school hours. She gave Dr. Kenney written permission to hypnotize her son. Her son's test scores did improve. Another student named. also had some sessions with Dr. Kenney, but she doesn't know how many. She knows that _ mother sat in on his sessions. She has no knowledge of anyone expressing any concern about Dr. Kenney and his use of hypnotism to anyone at North Port High School or to the district offices at the Landings. She has no knowledge if anyone from the Landings ever told Dr. Kenney to stop doing anything or spelled out any parameters for him to follow. Her experience was very calming and very relaxing. "It was sort of like a meditating kind of thing ... very calming." It was different from what she expected. She thought you wouldn't be aware of what was being said or what you were doing, but she knew exactly what was going on and she heard everything. All of Dr. Kenney's suggestions were of a very positive nature. "You just had your eyes closed and you were just relaxed, like meditation. " As far as she knows, the office staff was aware of Dr. Kenney's use of hypnosis. She doesn't know ifthe assistant principals were aware. They had a meeting every morning, but she doesn't know if they talked about that in those meeting. In her opinion, Dr. Kenney really cares about the kids at the schooL They are his main concern. He also goes by the book. She thinks that if Dr. Kenney had been told by his bosses not to do something, he would follow that directive. She would like to see Dr. Kenney back at school and if that means he needs to stop doing hypnosis, then he should stop that, but the school needs him back. Page 85 of 112 Investigative Report THERESE MATIS LONG TERM SUBSTITUTE TEACHER AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26,2011, I interviewed Therese Matis. Ms. Matis is a Long Term Substitute Teacher and has been with the Sarasota County School system for 8 years. These last four years she has been substitute teaching at North Port High School. She teaches english and intensive reading. The following information was learned during this interview. Ms. Matis has knowledge of Dr. Kenny's hypnotizing students because she has seen the permission slip that he gives out. She has had several of her students tell her that they have been hypnotized by Dr. Kenney. One of them. was alone with Dr. Kenney during his sessions on two separate occasions. He has also been hypnotized in groups through the ROTC. Another one of her students,., has been hypnotized twice. He had fellow students with him both times. "On one occasion he was on his way to soccer practice and they went into see Dr. Kenney and Dr. Kenney asked him if he wanted to get hypnotized." Ms. Matis did not hear or see that conversation; it was "just what was told to me," The two boys. and. that came forward in the paper and claimed they did not have permission slips, "both those boys are no longer here, which makes me kind of weird because they came forth and said they didn't have permission slips, I found that very strange, they no longer go to school here." Ms. Matis said ... "what I'm seeing here is a common denominator in all of that is I have not heard one girl tell me she has been hypnotized, I see all boys, all sport teams and ROTC. I have had other teachers tell me that he hypnotizes on buses going to the sporting games .. .I have another student of mine., who is an amazing baseball player, an. and he has been hypnotized by Dr. Kenney ... uhm, I think there is a big tie to that whole . ' like those two boys. were best friends with. and that whole thing is very strange why they are not coming here and one of my students _ who is a straight "A" student is not in school in the last week and a half, because she is now dating. and it is very strange and she told me that because the whole school is being really mean to them because of the hypnosis thing. I just find it very strange .. .it is so black and white to me." None of the students expressed anything negative or uncomfortable about their sessions with Dr. Kenney to her ... "But they are 16, ifI was 16 and my friends asked me to get hypnotized ... they are 15, 16, they are impressionable, it is just. .. " Ms. Matis would contact every parent of every sporting team, from baseball, soccer, basketball, football, and ROTC and ask the parents if their child got hypnotized. She just feels that male sporting is the common denominator and she finds it very strange. To her it is so black and white . .' Page 86 of 112 Investigative Report Ms. Matis was not really aware of the hypnotizing until last year (2009-2010). "I was very like "wow". She saw the permission slip, and "couldn't believe it". She states that she never sat in on any group or individual sessions. She is aware that the basketball coach, Mr. Titner, has been on the bus when Dr. Kenney has been on the bus and he told Ms. Matis about Dr. Kenney doing hypnosis on the bus before the basketball game, while the bus was en-route. Ms. Matis does not know if the whole team was hypnotized. Ms. Matis found out about the hypnosis at the same time as another teacher, Mrs. Gordon. There was a permission slip left on Mrs. Gordon's desk for hypnosis "and that was shocking to us." This year, Ms. Matis went into Tanya Pryer's room and found out that she was allowing Dr. Kenney to perform hypnosis demonstrations in her psychology class; "so that is when I started questioning things .. .I was like, really?!" Ms. Matis said the kids "didn't come to tell me, they have no clue," they were just talking about how cool hypnosis is, "they were just talking and I picked up on it." Ms. Matis is not aware of any teacher or anyone else ever going to Dr. Kenney or any school administrator to express any concern as far as what Dr. Kenney was doing with the hypnosis of students. When Ms. Matis started looking into this, she "heard" that there was a lady (who was a teacher there) that is now in Manatee County, who took it all the way to the top, but she got fired. She is not aware of the name. Ms. Matis leamed of this information from another teacher, Ms. Gernert, who teaches AP English. Ms. Matis is not aware ofthe time period of this event. Ms. Matis has no knowledge of who did or didn't have permission slips. She expressed that if she were investigating this matter, she would "contact every parent of sporting team members and talk to their parents directly; it is sporting teams, and ROTC and boys. It is very narrow; I have never heard a girl tell me she has been hypnotized. Boys, sporting, ROTC." Ms. Matis has only seen one permission slip; she is unaware of any other type of permission slips. The one she saw was involving athletics. I showed her a copy ofthe permission slip I had and she confirmed it was the same. Ms. Matis stated that to the extent of what she is aware, Dr. Kenney has never provided a group of teachers and/or students with any kind of explanation or offer education as to what hypnosis is. Ms. Matis has no knowledge of ever seeing any CD's or DVD's of Dr. Kenney's. She did go on line when she first leamed of this and found out he had books on Amazon. Ms. Matis stated that she had no knowledge of Dr. Kenney showing up when students were injur.ed at sporting event or in the weight room when he heard something on the radio. But in Ms. Matis' opinion "I found it very weird that Dr. Kenney was in the •• Page 87 of 112 Investigative Report dugout at a baseball game, I don't understand why he was in a dugout at a baseball game, and I just find that odd." Ms. Matis has an opinion of this "common denominator" between Dr. Kenney and boys. She said she is a sports person herself; and to her it is quite obvious that this is sports related. She has athletes in her classroom and has never heard of his participating with the girls' sports teams. Ms. Matis has no knowledge if anyone at the Landing knew of what Dr. Kenney was doing, or what they knew, or when they knew. She "thought" he was told "like two years ago" not to do hypnosis at the school, but "I don't know that for a fact, someone just told me that ... J heard that he was told not to do any individual sessions, but I can't say that with like positive .. .it is strictly hearsay." Ms. Matis has no specific knowledge if Dr. Kenney was permitted to do group sessions. She knows that he did go into several of the psychology classrooms taught by Ms. Pryer, Ms. Brandenberger, and the one that is retiring, as well as the ROTC ... "he does a lot of ROTC." Ms. Matis said that her one student. told her about his individual session with Dr. Kenney. He told Ms. Matis that Dr. Kenney took me into his office, turned off the light, put on some music and "I just relaxed and I fell asleep and then I just woke up." The student said he was "out" for 15-20 minutes. She did not witness this session. Ms. Matis feels the school needs more discipline. It starts from the top. She feels that kids get away with a lot there, she feels that kids "run the show" she thinks they look at Dr. Keuneyas their father. The kids love Dr. Kenney. They have 2300 students there and when you walk around campus you can see the dress code, nothing is really enforced, and kids make out around the campus. She doesn't feel there is strict enough discipline at the schooL She feels that Dr. Kenn~y is a "friendly guy" but she thinks ... "it is so black and white to me, why would anybody be doing this? These teachers that are standing up for Dr. Kenney are doing so because they are frightened for their jobs ... b1ack and white, would you let your child go into a room and turn the lights off? I think it is easy to prove, it is all sporting teams." Ms. Matis stated that she has never had a problem with Dr. Kenney, she has learned a lot through SUbbing. She has been in every school, most of her time has been spent there in North Port; she knows a lot of kids on campus. The kids are young and impressionable. Ms. Matis would like to see justice done. She feels it is not right, it is definitely wrong. To her it is "black and white, it is so wrong." She doesn't care how nice you are. She questions this curricu1mn, did the Landings give this as curricu1mn, and is it part of their mission statement? Is it in the book? She just wants justice done for the kids. She feels the kids don't know anything about hypnotizing and that it is black and white that hypnotizing is "nothing but controlling someone's mind ... taking control over someone's Page 88 of 112 Investigative Report mind." She is looking for justice and does not feel it is a wise decision for Dr. Kenney to come back. Page 89 of 112 Investigative Report • STUDENT AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26, 2011, I interviewed• • is in ROTC at North Port High School. The following infonnation was learned during this interview. • became knowledgeable about Dr. Kenney doing hypnosis in March 5, 2010 during the State championships for ROTC. They were on their way to Orlando, FL and everybody on the bus was talking about "go to Dr. Kenney's room tonight you know there's going to be some kind offnn thing". After arriving at the hotel and getting some food a bunch of students went to Dr. Kenney's room around 8:30 p.m. "It was packed with people; they were all bumping shoulders ... there was about 15-20 kids in there." There were 45 to 50 ROTC students on the trip. Dr. Kenney told them to find a seat so everyone was sitting. Then he played some music and told them to relax, let things go, if you feel like falling over you fall over. Then he told them something like "imagine you're going into a dark tunnel, you are going deeper, and deeper, and deeper." At that point. got up and walked out; he thought it was kind of dumb. He didn't feel like anything was happening, he just heard the music and Dr. Kenney talking . • friend. walked out a little after he did. • said that Dr. Kenney did not discuss anything about what he was going to do or why he was going to do it or what to expect, he just said to be relaxed. • was sharing a room with. and he said that. "was missing for like an hour after the session had ended and that when he came back in the room he had lipstick on him and a dollar bill in his pocket and he didn't know where he got it from. He said he never remembered where he got it and he couldn't find the room because all of the letters were in Japanese and he couldn't read anything and he said that he didn't know where he was nntil he finally just got out of it." He later found out that he got the dollar bill because he won a dance contest. • thinks that this occurred in Dr. Kenney's room. From wha. "heard", Dr. Kenney had told them that they were going to be out in the sun all day and they needed lip balm, but it was lipstick they used instead. • did not see this event and was not in Dr. Kenney's room when that happened. • said that Dr. Kenney did not give them permission slips at anytime and that "most of us did not have pennission slips ... a couple of the seniors did." He said that Dr. Kenney probably gave pennissions slips the year before. • mother~her said they were unaware of this hypnosis session being conducted. _ said "I didn't know nothin about what had happened to him until recently when everything started coming out in the and then he told us and I was totally shocked and got very upset." have ever sat in on any hypnosis sessions nor do they have first is all about. Page 90 of 112 Investigative Report • stated that around the beginning of 2011, he knew of a group session that was being held in Ms. Pryer's Health Science Class, next door to the English class he was in. His class was told to not go in there and not to disrupt them "because of the session going on." • said his frien. told him he broke the 100m record because he did a hypnosis session with Dr. Kenney. • said it's "kinda weird, you know, you get hypnotized and then you break a record .. .it's just yonr mindset, I guess". • is not aware of how many sessions. had with Dr. Kenney or where they were held. Other than the partial group sessio. witnessed in the Orlando hotel in March 2010, he has never seen any other sessions. He saw Dr. Kenney going into Ms. Pryer's class the day he heard that her class was having a session, and that Dr. Kenney had a mini-boom- box with him. • stated that Dr. Kenney also held a demonstration that took place in the school library dnring the July 2010 ROTC boot camp. About 5 or 6 ROTC students participated in that. • doesn't know if there was permission slips obtained from anyone. ~ stated that "I don't like it at all, you never know what could be going on in them kids' heads .. .It could mess with the mind, could, don't know for sure but could mess with their heads, put some kind of thoughts in their heads." • states "of course I am going to say that I don't like it because my friend, you know committed suicide the day after. But I think when you get hypnotized, it is the subconscious mind, and maybe ... you know he went to Dr. Kenney saying I need to be more out going. When does that not trigger something saying, 'I don't feel right with myself or I need to be a better person', right there is your point right there saying I don't feel good about myself, I am not feeling right. .. he (Dr. Kenney) said, oh he didn't come to me saying he was depressed and if I knew he was depressed, I would never have done it, well right there is yonr ... " • had two or three sessions with Dr. Kenney, but he never talked to. about them. • said that the day. killed himself, he wasn't acting himself He wasn't texting in class like normal, he was just slouched in his chair and he left class early chair. According to., he was told that. asked two of his friends to "beat the crap out of him" after the bus left. No one (either. or his parents) had any knowledge of any complaints or concerns that had been made about Dr. Kenney to any administrator or anyone at the Landings. They were unaware if anyone at the Landings or the district office of having prior knowledge that this was going on, but~ stated that "yea they should have .. known." _ said "they shouldn't be doing it period; not at all". He stated "you Page 91 of 112 Investigative Report know everybody's got their opinions but I disagree about it 100%, they don't need to hypnotize kids at all." _ would like to see Dr. Kenney transferred out of there and not be allowed to do hypnosis. Page 92 of 112 Investigative Report • SOPHOMORE AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26,2011, I interviewed• . • is a 10th grade student and in the ROTC program at North Port High School. The following information was learned during this interview. _ to. stated that he was aware of an activity that took place in March 2010 during an ROTC state event in Orlando, FL The night before the event, people came up told him that Dr. Kenney was doing a hypnosis thing in his room. There were about 20 and students that showed up in Dr. Kenney's room and approximately 15 participants volunteered. There were about 50 total people on the trip; they had the whole floor of the hotel all to themselves. Dr. Kenney started by saying, "close your eyes, relax, just let your body sit there, you're gonna do good at states tomorrow, but I want you to pretend you are going down into a dark tunnel, going deeper, deeper, and deeper." He played music and had them put on what he said was sun block, for protection from the sun because they were going to be out in the sun all day, but it was actually lipstick, so everybody went around putting lipstick on. • said he doesn't remember anything much after that, because he got tired of sitting in there. • said he "tried it" and then he just got up and watched. There were some people that seemed to be more affected than others. Dr. Kenney told the kids that were doing the session that they couldn't recognize their room numbers because they were all written in Chinese and when the kids were disbursed, one of the kids was by himself and actually went missing for about an hour. The boy wasn't in his room or on their floor; they had no idea where he went. When they found him and he finally snapped out of it, he still had lipstick on his face. When he went to take his pants off he found money in his pocket and didn't know where he got the money or the lipstick. "He had no clue." • stated that there was a parental permission slip to go on the trip, but in the consent form there was nothing about hypnosis. There was no mention about Dr. Kenney being there. Dr. Kenney rode with the ROTC on the bus. _ has been in ROTC for two years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011. It was the first (and only) time that. knew of Dr. Kenney participating with the ROTC. Dr. Kenney did not go this year. • felt that the session was "kinda awkward that he had us put lipstick on, and make us forget room numbers". He said it didn't make any sense to him; and he said that he did not forget any room numbers; he gave up halfway through. He said he usually doesn't go through with something if it doesn't make sense. • said that he does not recall anything during the session that seemed to be negative or would cause alarm or make him question anything that Dr. Kermey was saying. He said the session lasted approximately 30 minutes. There were both students and teachers in the room during the hypnosis session; some were standing; some were sitting. Neither of Page 93 of 112 Investigative Report the teachers said anything about the session. • does not recall any other adults or parents in the room; just the students, Sergeant Major and Commander Bartek were present. _ mother stated that her son told her last year that they did hypnosis up at the hotel in Orlando, and at the time, she said "something went off in my head that just didn't seem right" and she asked her son ifhe had participated. He told her no, but he was in the room, and after talking with him she asked him if "anybody could do this?" and he told her that you're supposed to have a parent consent form, but anybody can go in and do it. She thought that it was just a "one time thing" so she didn't think it was anything she needed to be concerned with. She later leamed from her son's friends that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis sessions this year. • mother said that she absolutely did not provide parental permission for this; she reads everything. She stated that she did not go to Dr. Kenney to express any concerns after learning of this. She further stated that she has not had any interactions with Dr. Kenney, so she really has no opinion of him other than what she has heard of how this ROTC session had been conducted. • said the only permission slip he received was for the trip. • mother said that they are unaware if there had been consent forms signed previously for hypnosis, but no one presented them with any consent forms for hypnosis. • said he is aware that his friend,., did hypnosis in group sessions and he also had private sessions with Dr. Kenney. He stated that_ sessions were after school hours; however he is not aware of where they were held. • did not speak with. about the reason he was having sessions with Dr. Kenney. All he knows is what he read in the newspaper.. said that. never talked with him about the sessions "because, after I saw him after the sessions, he was, you know, he didn't remember anything, he was still under it, he wasn't fully emerged." • said that "One day,. attended a group session during school hours and he got on the bus afterwards and started sitting there and he's never quiet, he is always the loudmouth on the bus and he gets on and sits by hitnself away from everybody and just sits there and he starts looking at his hands and starts going one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, nine, ten, eleven ..... no wait I thought you're supposed to have ten fingers. He was not really even talking to anybody; he was talking to himself and I knew he wasn't faking it cause I said ... what are you doing? I called his name a couple of times and he said my name i s . , sorry .... so he didn't even know his name. Then I knew he wasn't faking it because it is a 15 minute bus ride back to my house and he did it the whole way there, he kept doing the same thing the whole way there, he couldn't come up with ten fingers; he kept coming up with eleven. He wasn't smiling or laughing or talking to anybody, he was just talking to himself..... my name's., one, two, three, four, five, six, eight, nine, ten, eleven .... and just kept doing it over, and over, and over, and over, and over again." ., Page 94 of 112 Investigative Report • believes this event took place about a month before his death, which would have been mid-March 2011 . • is not aware of what group class he had attended; it is unknown ·which class or group he was in; nobody has been told if even he was in any class or group. _ • said that Dr. Kenney did not approach _ parents. • approached Dr. Kenney and his parents gave their permission for~ be hypnotized. . _ is not aware of any other students that have had individual sessions with Dr. Kenney. Other than the session t h a t _ saw in Orlando he has never seen any other sessions either group or individual that Dr. Kenney every had; but he does know a lot of people that have done it. The softball team, football team, sports teams; he believes that it was done on the whole team; however he is not sure about parental consent forms. • mother would like to see hypnosis not be allowed in a school setting. She does not know Dr. Kenney and has no opinion as to whether he should be allowed back into the school; it should be dependent upon the results of the investigation. ., Page 95 of 112 Investigative Report • SENIOR AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26,2011, I interviewed• . • is a senior at North Port High School and has been at North Port High School all four years. The following information was learned from this interview. Dr. Kenney put on some demonstrations in Ms. Brandenberger's Advance Placement psychology classes. Anyone that wanted to volnnteer had to get their parent's permission. He estimates that only five or six kids would participate. • did not participate in that, he only watched. • mother approached Dr. Kenney and wanted him to help. overcome his test taking anxiety. He had two individual sessions with Dr. Kenney in November 2010 the week before he took his SAT's. The sessions were in Dr. Kenney's office after school and before track practice. The sessions were very relaxing. Dr. Kenney had relaxing music playing and. was totally aware of what was being said and what was going on around him. In. He knows that there were some athletes who had hypnosis sessions with Dr. Kenney. opinion, there was nothing negative about what he experienced in those hypnosis seSSIons . • ould like to see Dr. Kenney at the graduation ceremony. He thinks he is a good principal and deserves to come back. Page 96 of 112 Investigative Report • SENIOR AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26,2011, I interviewed• . • is a senior at North Port High School. The following information was learned during the interview. • stated that he initially learned of Dr. Kenney's hypnosis sessions thm a referral from Coach Allen last school year 2009-2010. • stated that "I am not a great free throw shooter or a good test taker" and it was about district time, when free throws are important, and Coach Allen suggested for him to give it a try. The coach told him, "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work but at least that way you can develop a relationship with Dr. Kenney." • stated that because it is such a big school, not everyone can know Dr. Kenney the way he does now. Dr. Kenney agreed to help., and. believes that "it really worked out, it helped me, I believe mentally". • stated that the power of suggestion helped him out, his test scores went up; his free throw percentage went up. • o. estimated that his first session with Dr. Kenney was December 2009 or January 2010 and he probably had five sessions prior to the ACT and throughout basketball season he estimates he had three sessions a week, at the request because he felt it helped him out. All in all he has probably had around 30-40 sessions with Dr. Kenney. Most of the sessions were in Dr. Kenney's office, sometimes there were other basketball players present. • stated that he personally felt uncomfortable with other people being present, and he requested Dr. Kenney to allow for his sessions to be only one-on-one. • stated that his sessions with Dr. Kenney would start out by Dr. Kenney having him do breathing in and out, counting to 10, shut his eyes, breath in and out and relax. Dr. Kenney would just talk and say "if your head wants to drop down; just let it, relax all the muscles in your body, you'll fee1like warm relaxation go through your body", and then Dr. Kenney would just talk and tell him things like "now tonight when you're at the free- throw line you are going to focus and he would just drill it into your head so when you are up there you remember what to do and you are not worried about the crowd, you are just worried about what he said and that makes you think more about what you are doing." Whether people believe it or not,. stated that "I thought it helped me focus more". • stated that his parents were behind it 100% and had given their permission to Dr. Kenney to work with him. Dr. Kenney also helped him with some summer tutoring for an on-line class. • came to the school and used the computer there because he didn't have a computer at home at that time. _ father would come with him sometimes and he would sit in on the sessions. • stated that he never had any negative experiences at all and said, "I don't see how you could, to me it was a really relaxing thing that made you feel good, and you like, when you came back to like realization you just felt more relaxed and you felt comfortable". Page 97 of 112 Investigative Report • stated that you always knew what you were doing when you were under. You were not sleeping, you were so relaxed and you were so focused on what Dr. Kenney was saying; and you know what's going on. "I know where I'm at; I know what I'm doing". • said that Dr. Kenney would put some relaxing music. "There was nothing negative or bad about the sessions ... you would know if something would be wrong or right; you can tell the difference." • stated that "they have gone through a lot and to lose the guy who cares for us the most, and cares for every student would be unfortunate." He said they have gone through way to much this year to have him taken away from them. • stated that he speaks as a senior and probably for the whole class that a lot of them (as a school, and the senior class) are not happy and "walking won't be the same". He said that Dr. Kenney has a tough job and he doesn't see a lot of other people that could do it like he does. • said that Dr. Kenney has been there for everybody. Every student that ever comes to him, he will talk to. Dr. Kenney means a lot to the student body; and the student body means a lot to him. • thinks with all of the tragic events that have occurred, without Dr. Kenney that is just "adding on to the pile." Everyone is hurt by losing Dr. Kenney. • felt that it was unfortunate about what happened t o . , but for the leader of the school to not be there is making everything worse; they just want Dr. Kenney back. • has read a lot of stuff on a Facebook link that Dr. Kenney wasn't allowed to do sessions; then they changed what they said. He can't recall what they said. There are students on Facebook that graduated six years ago that say what a great guy Dr. Kenney is. "Dr. Kenney is the type of guy that ifhe's told not to do something, for any reason, he wouldn't do it. Because he just knows a lot is at stake; he is a popular guy; everyone loves him." • doesn't know too many people that don't like Dr. Kenney, because "he is just there for everyone. To be there for every student and maintain the school, it is amazing and he is a really good guy." • feels that there is absolutely nothing negative associated with hypnosis; either in his own sessions or those of others he has spoken with. • feels this is something to help kids; not hurt kids and that Dr. Kenney would not do anything to put kids in danger; or do anything to hurt kids, he just wants to help every kid. He feels that it is wrong to penalize Dr. Kenney; he doesn't agree with it. at. The last session he had with Dr. Kenney was in January 2011 right before the regional game; there was another teammate there as well,. That session took place house. • stated that Dr. Kenney and his parents are friends; but he doesn't like to flaunt that in front of other people. From. knowledge, Dr. Kenney received permission to do sessions; he was not doing it behind anyone's back; parents knew about it. Page 98 of 112 Investigative Report In regard to the statements in the news from the ROTC kids that said it didn't work on them and that they did it without parental permission,. stated that "you were not forced to stay in the room when they do group sessions and if it didn't work then you didn't get hypnotized, what is the big deal. Secondly, you had the right to leave. Why were they doing things their parents didn't know about?" • stated that this whole thing is being blown out of proportion and it just brings negativity to the school, which is the last thing that they want because all of the attention that has been generated at the school this year has been negative. They have had a teacher get killed and three fellow students die, and now their leader of the school is gone, it is just hard on everybody. • stated that he would stop by Dr. Kenney's office daily just to say hi to him and that Dr. Kenney would always take time out of his day to talk to students. After every class Dr. Kenney would stand outside his door greeting students. • appreciates that Dr. Kenney always makes time for them. He attends away garnes, regional games, he would ride the bus with them, he goes to all of the baseball garnes, he attends track meets that sometimes go as late as 11:00 p.m. and he gets to school at 6:00 in the morning. • stated that he knows Dr. Kenney has a life too, but he puts his students first which is appreciated by everybody. • stated that it would mean a lot to the seniors who want to shake his hand and get a picture with Dr. Kenney. He has helped a lot of students become better people including him. Page 99 of112 Investigative Report • SOPHOMORE AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26,2011, I interviewed• . • is a sophomore at North Port High School. The following information was learned from this interview. He first learned about Dr. Kenney hypnotizing people from his fellow basketball teammates talking about how Dr. Kenney helped them overcome their mental barriers on the court. He wanted to talk to Dr. Kenney because. had been having problems with contact on the court. He had a couple of sessions with Dr. Kenney. Those sessions helped him with not only his contact issues in basketball, but Dr. Kenney also helped him with his fear of heights. "It helped a lot." His first contact with Dr. Kenney would have been around January of2011 . • approached Dr. Kenney. • had to get a permission slip signed by his parent's before Dr. Kenney would work with him. • estimates that he had about nine sessions with Dr. Kenney in Dr. Kenney's office, after school. Sometimes he would have a meeting with Dr. Kenney during basketball practice, but the coach knew about it and was O.K. with that because he knew it would help. He had one session over the telephone, a few weeks ago, before all of the newspaper articles. • stated that during the sessions, Dr. Kenney talks to you and you get relaxed. He was totally aware of what was being said and what was going on around him. "It is not like what you see on television with the guy with a watch." • stated that everything about the hypnosis sessions is all positive. Everybody he has talked to that has been hypnotized by Dr. Kenney has had a good experience and it has helped them a lot. ., Page 100 of 112 Investigative Report • JUNIOR AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26, I interviewed., who is a junior at North Port High School. The following information was learned during this interview. Dr. Kenney has hypnotized. about seven or eight times. His last session occurred in March before ACT's. • said that he just wanted to be relaxed for the test. All of the sessions were held in Dr. Kenney's office after school. Dr. Kenney got a signed release from. mother. He started seein&!?r. Kenney during the 2009·2010 school year. • has test anxiety and plays sports, s o . uses the hypnosis to help relieve stress and for relaxing purposes. Whenever. gets stressed out due to sports or school, he goes to Dr. Kenney to help him relieve the stress. "It works, it just relieves stress, and I use it mainly for stress relief." Prior to starting the session Dr. Kenney goes over all of the things that. wanted to to. work on... "like I just want to relax at the plate and keep my hands quiet." Dr. Kenney will write all ofthat down so he can talk once he is in a relaxed state. • stated he is always aware of what is being said and what is going on around him. • remembers one time during playoffs; Dr. Kenney talked to the whole team while they were sitting on the bench. This conversation lasted for about five minutes, and all Dr. Kenney did was get them to relax. Dr. Kenney works a lot with the school's sports players and students who want to do better in tests. • stated that he has never experienced anything negative concerning his hypnosis sessions. "It just calms you down ... 1 have always felt amazing, like I had an eight hour nap after I got out of there, like it felt good ... your eyes are closed, but you can hear every word he says and you know where you are, it is not like you are knocked out, it is nothing like that." Page 101 of 112 Investigative Report • SOPHOMORE AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26, I interviewed., who is a sophomore at North Port High School. The following information was learned during this interview. • mother approached Dr. Kenney during the beginning of this year. She sought out Dr. Kenney because. was experiencing stress and anxie~about tests. She signed a permission slip before Dr. Kenney held any sessions with • . and. • and Dr. Kenney tried to get together once a week, but many weeks, due to Dr. Kenney's schedule schedule, they were unable to meet. • estimates he has had approximately 15 sessions with Dr. Kenney. These sessions took place in Dr. Kenney's office, after school, around 3:00 or 3:30 p.m. These sessions were to help. with his test anxiety and his sports performance in basketball. The m~ty of the sessions consisted of just Dr. Kenney and • . On one occasion, a friend ot_ wanted to watch, so he did. • stated that the sessions were very relaxing and very positive. He was aware of everything Dr. Kenney was saying and he was aware of where he was and his surroundings. "You were still awake, you knew everything that was going, and you just listened to the music and what Dr. Kenney was telling you ... you were just relaxed." • thinks the sessions were very helpful and he felt much better when taking his FCAT's. At the end of the interview,. stated that he thought Dr. Kenney should be back at school. "He helped kids ... kids came first. .. he's a pretty good Principal and everybody likes him." Page 102 of 112 Investigative Report • FRESHMAN AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26, I interviewed., who is a freshman at North Port High School. The following information was learned during this interview. At the end of April or the beginning of May, 2011, Coach Allen recommended that. far. talk to Dr. Kenney to see ifhe would work with. on some of his "confidence on the court" issues. So has had two sessions with Dr. Kenney. Both sessions were held in Dr. Kenney's office around 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. His parents signed a permission slip so Dr. Kenney could work with him. • mother was present at both sessions. an. • stated that both sessions were very cahning and very relaxing. "It was a good experience." Prior to going under hypnosis, Dr. Kenney discussed the issues. wanted to improve upon in his basketball performance. During the sessions, Dr. Kenney addressed those points in a positive way. • was aware of what Dr. Kenney was saying the entire time. • did get a little confused on the time; he thought it was 9:00 o'clock at night when it was actually only 4:00 p.m. • ~s unaware of anyone having a negative experience with Dr. Kenney and the hypnosis In. sessIOns. In. opinion, he doesn't think what is happening to Dr. Kenney is right. "I think it is like the game, pin the tail on the donkey ... trying to come up with a reason for what happened with the kids who died." opinion there is absolutely no correlation between the two. -' Page 103 of 112 Investigative Report • JUNIOR AT NORTH PORT HIGH SCHOOL On Thursday, May 26,2011, Iinterviewe., ajunior at North Port High School. The following information was learned during this interview. He learned that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis when he spoke with a few of his basketball team members who were having Dr. Kenney help them better themselves and relax and improve their sports performance. Becaus. sometimes gets anxious on the basketball court, his coach (Coach Allen) thought it would be a good idea to see if Dr. Kenney could help. relax and get more focused on the court. • had only one session on May 2, 2011 with Dr. Kenney. _ parents signed a release allowing Dr. Kenney to have the hypnosis session with their son. The session was held in Dr. Kenney's office around 4:30 p.m. Also present was~other and step father. After the session,. felt more relaxed and more confident in game type situations. • also thinks it was helpful with his asthma. Prior to being hypnotized, Dr. Kenney explained what hypnosis is and how it is basically a relaxation technique. Dr. Kenney showed him a clip of Tiger Woods and how he calms himself down in pressure situations and how it helped Tiger during his matches by allowing himself to relax his mind and not over think the shot and that would let his muscle memory take over and it would help him get in the zone. Dr. Kenney explained how by just breathing and relaxing you can get in a mode, where you can filter out distractions, override the pressure and become more calm and focused. Everyone he has spoken with have all had very positive feelings and results from their sessions with Dr. Kenney. According to., there was nothing negative or uncomfortable about the session. He remembered everything that was being said and was totally aware of his surroundings. There was music playing in the background that sounded like the beach with waves. "It was just very relaxing, peaceful and serene .. .it was all very positive." During the session, Dr. Kenney would say positive phrases like ... "you're a good teanunate; you're a good leader; people on the team like you." He also gave. a relaxation trigger telling him he could take a deep breath, drop his shoulders and that would help him relax and cahn down. Dr. Kenney told him he could use that whenever he needs to relax in a game or in class or whenever. Becaus. feels he had such good results from just one session he would like to have more sessions with Dr. Kenney. _ stepdad stated that before they agreed to have. hypnotized, they met wi~ parents to fmd out more about what the hypnosis sessions were all about. They explained that Dr. Kenney was working with. to help block out the noise and negativity from the crowds so he could concentrate on the game and not be distracted by the crowds. Page 104 of 112 Investigative Report When. was asked what he would like to see happen with Dr. Kenney, he stated "I just wish he could come back to school, since everybody misses the guy and so many kids want to see him at graduation." Page 105 of 112 Investigative Report CONCLUSION There is no question that Dr. Kenney was using hypnosis with students at North Port High School. In fact, it was connnon knowledge not only on the school campus but in the connnunity, as far back as at least 2007. In the February 5, 2007 edition of the Bobcat Sentinel, on page 6 there was an article that said "students in Dan Konyak's Psychology class recently had the chance to see the colorful side of Kenney when Kenney took time out of his busy schedule to hypnotize a few select student volunteers for the class 'state of consciousness' chapter" (see Exhibit 6). In the December 2007 issue of the Bobcat Sentinel, on page 5 there is an article and photograph showing junior_ _ who "awoke to lipstick on his face after being hypnotized by Principal Dr. George Kenney during Daniel Konyak's Psychology I class. Students who were successfully hypnotized talked to their angry mothers using a phone (that was actually their right shoe), participated in a dance contest and could not remember the number 6" (see Exhibit 6). Also, in the same December 2007 issue of the Bobcat Sentinel, on page 14 is another article about the NJROTC stating ''what may become a new ritual for the NJROTC is having Dr. George Kenney tag along this year to hypnotize and watch the cadets perform at Boca Grande High School" (see Exhibit 6). In addition to the local school newspaper, several teachers, coaches, and administrators also were aware of a newspaper article published some time last year that was posted on the school bulletin board about Dr. Kenney hypnotizing the softball team before a game. Dr. Kenney also had books and CD's that he had written and produced available for sale on Amazon.com. According to the majority of the people interviewed, Dr. Kenney's use of hypnosis for entertainment, enhanced sports performance and to aide in relaxation and overcoming test anxiety was not being done under a cloak of secrecy. It was all very open and a much discussed topic of conversation with Dr. Kenney. As many said "it was public knowledge". Dr. Kenney stated that it was in the winter of 2006 that he first worked individually with a student. This student had a lot of trouble concentrating and was very anxiety ridden about the FCAT test. The student came to Dr. Kenney at the request ofthe student's mother, Kathy Wilks, who was an Assistant Principal at North Port High School at that time. Dr. Kenney worked with the student at Dr. Kenney's house. Kathy Wilks was present during those sessions. Page 106 of 112 Investigative Report The FCAT was given in the school gym. According to Dr. Kenney, even though there was noise and the air conditioner banging overhead, Dr. Kenney observed that the student appeared to be totally focused on the test and actually did a great job. After the student had done so well on the FCAT, Dr. Kenney spoke with Barbara Chompko, who was then the Executive Director of High Schools for Sarasota County. He informed her that he had been using hypnosis with a student who suffered from test anxiety and what good results they had. According to Dr. Kenney, Barbara Chompko looked at him a little funny and said something along the lines of "I don't want this to be the next FCAT strategy ... or something like that". According to Dr. Kenney, she did not express any specific concerns nor did she ever say for him not to do anything along those lines again. Kathy Wilks stated that she also had a conversation with Barbara Chompko discussing how Dr. Kenney's hypnosis of her son had really been beneficial in helping him avoid his test anxiety and improving his scores with the FCAT. Ms. Chompko never expressed any concern to her either. According to Dr. Kenney, between the years 2006 and 2009 he did not do anything with students individually. He did continue with the psychology class demonstrations and at least a couple of ROTC trips during that time frame. He admitted that during that time frame, there were no permission slips that were required. In speaking with the psychology class teachers, the general consensus was that permission slips were first used in those classes during the 2009-20 I 0 school year when Dr. Kenney told Ann Brandenberger and the other psychology teachers that the district wanted him to get permission slips from the student's parents prior to conducting any hypnosis demonstrations. According to Ann Brandenberger, that is when they started getting the permission slips. The year before that, the district had not requested them. The instruction to obtain parental permission slips around the year 2009 seems to correspond with both Dr. Kenney's recollection and that of Steve Cantees, even though the specific month is uncertain. The major difference is in the recollection of Mr. Cantees and Dr. Kenney as to what specific instructions were given at that time. Mr. Cantees stated that the first time he became aware of Dr. Kenney doing any hypnosis was in May or June of2009. It came to his attention when one of the NorthPort High School Assistant Principals, Mark Gilliland, came to Mr. Cantees with a concern after seeing Dr. Kenney hypnotize students at the Project Graduation Lock In at the YMCA. Mr. Gilliland stated that he thought this occurred during his first year at North Port High School, which would have been in the 2006-2007 school year. Mr. Gilliland stated "that's where I'm getting into ... Mr. Cantees stated it was June 2008 so I guess that is what I recollect." Page 107 of 112 Investigative Report In any event, Mr. Cantees stated that he told Dr. Kenney "in a very direct manner" that his expectation would be that Dr. Kenney limit his hypnosis to the psychology classes and only after he had obtained parental permission and only if a teacher was present. Dr. Kenney's recollection is somewhat different. He recalls a telephone conversation with Mr. Cantees in the winter of 2009 that lasted no more than five minutes. This conversation was precipitated by a parent of a female student who was in a psychology class. This parent called Steve Cantees and explained that his daughter was a competitive bowler. During Dr. Kenney's psychology class demonstration, Dr. Kenney used the visualization of a heavy bowling ball in one hand and balloons tied to the wrist of the other hand. Dr. Kenney would observe which of the students lowered the hand with the imaginary bowling ball and raised the hand with the imaginary balloons. Dr. Kenney stated that even though this female student didn't participate in the hypnosis demonstration, her father was concerned that this could affect her competitive bowling. As a result, Dr. Kenney recalls Mr. Cantees suggesting that Dr. Kenney get permission slips from the student's parents prior to any participation in the psychology class demonstrations. Dr. Kenney stated that he agreed that it was a good idea and from that point forward he did get permission slips from the parents before doing any demonstrations in the psychology class. Dr. Kenney does not recall any other discussion, at that time, directing him not to perform hypnosis in any other group or individual settings, only the request to get permission slips from parents. According to Mr. Cantees, the next time he became aware of anything concerning Dr. Kenney and hypnosis was on October 12, 2010 when Mr. Cantees was contacted by Sherri Reynolds, the District Supervisor of Nurses. There had been a weight lifting injury in the weight room that involved a student. The school nurse, Denise Brislin, was trying to perform an evaluation of the student prior to EMS arrivaL Dr. Kenney showed up in the weight room and attempted to get the student to focus on him in an effort to relieve the pain. Even though the nurse had a great deal of respect for Dr. Kenney, she felt his actions were interfering with her ability to care for her patient. When Sherri Reynolds passed this information on to Mr. Cantees, he claimed he was very surprised and his comment was "are you kidding me?" Mr. Cantees stated that this was the first time he had heard about Dr. Kenney performing hypnosis on an individual on school grounds. Sherri Reynolds also told Mr. Cantees that the same nurse had informed her that Dr. Kenney had been doing hypnosis sessions with individuals in his office, with the door closed and the lights turned off. Mr. Cantees called Dr. Kenney to discuss the situation with him and he relayed to Dr. Kenney what the nurse had said. Mr. Cantees cannot recall if Dr. Kenney stated that he was trying to perform hypnosis or was just trying to relax the student who was injured in the weight room. Page 108 of 112 Investigative Report Mr. Cantees asked Dr. Kenney ifhe remembered their earlier conversation about only doing hypnosis in psychology class and according to Mr. Cantees, Dr. Kenney stated that he did recall that conversation. Mr. Cantees then told Dr. Kenney that his actions were inappropriate and referenced him back to the previous conversation regarding the psychology class room and the discussion that the hypnosis sessions were only to take place in psychology class with parental permission and the teacher present. Mr. Cantees also asked Dr. Kenney ifhe was doing hypnosis with other students. Dr. Kenney admitted that he was and he indicated that it was for things like anxiety and test relaxation. It was at this time that Mr. Cantees told Dr. Kenney that it was inappropriate and that he needed to stop doing individual sessions with students. Mr. Cantees also discussed with Dr. Kenney that ifhe was interested in doing this type of counseling with students the expectation would be that he would do it off campus, in a controlled setting with parental support and permission. Mr. Cantees even suggested that Dr. Kenney open an office somewhere, but reiterated that hypnosis with students could not take place on school grounds. Sherri Reynolds confirmed, in her interview, that when she told Mr. Cantees about the weight room incident and the situation of nurse Brislin becoming aware that Dr. Kenney was treating students in his office with the door closed and the lights turned off, Mr. Cantees told her that he would speak to Dr. Kenney about the situation and that he had had a previous conversation with Dr. Kenney in which he told him that he could only do hypnosis in psychology classes and that is all he thought he was doing. Dr. Kenney's recollection of this telephone conversation with Mr. Cantees, after the weight room incident, was that Mr. Cantees told him that ifthere was a similar situation, he wanted Dr. Kenney to wait until somebody asked him for help. Dr. Kenney agreed. Dr. Kenney also stated that about this same time, Mr. Cantees had received a telephone call from a parent who was concerned that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis in his office and that the office was dimly lit. Dr. Kenney explained that his office has two light switches, one for each set of fluorescent lights in the ceiling. When both switches are on, all of the lights are on, when he would have a session with a student, he would tum off one of the switches, meaning only half of the lights were on. He also stated that he would close the outside window blind but the window in the door leading to his administrative assistant's office was uncovered, so people could always look in and see what was going on. Dr. Kenney stated that when Steve Cantees called him on the telephone and asked Dr. Kenney ifhe was working with students individually in his office, Dr. Kenney stated that he was. Mr. Cantees stated that he was concerned that the office was dimly lit and was worried that Dr. Kenney was alone in the office with a student who was not fully conscIOUS. Mr. Cantees told Dr. Kenney he was uncomfortable with that. Mr. Cantees Page 109 of 112 Investigative Report stated that if Dr. Kenney wanted to work with students individually he would feel better if Dr. Kenney would do it off campus. Mr. Cantees suggest that Dr. Kenney go to a library or rent an office. Mr. Cantees stated he would feel much more comfortable if Dr. Kenney would work with students off of campus. According to Dr. Kenney, he did not think it had as much to do with the hypnosis as it did with being alone with a student in his office. The way Dr. Kenney took the comment about the dimly lit office was he thought they were talking about the fear of an accusation concerning sexual impropriety. Dr. Kennedy did admit however that he felt that Mr. Cantees had some concerns and definitely wanted him to move his individual sessions off of campus. For a period of a few weeks, he stopped his individual sessions and was trying to reevaluate where he could hold his sessions. He visited the North Port Library and Jacaranda Library, however those were inappropriate settings to conduct his sessions. Dr. Kenney stated that since it was coming around the time for the SAT's, students were coming to him asking if he would work with them to help them with their test anxiety and help them concentrate. He eventually agreed and said yes he would work with them and he again started to work with individual students. He held these sessions in his office on campus, knowing that Mr. Cantees had told him he felt is was inappropriate. According to Mr. Cantees, the next time he became aware of the fact that Dr. Kenney was doing hypnosis on school grounds, outside of psychology class, occurred sometime between September 2010 and February 2011. Mr. Cantees had stopped in to North Port High School and just happened to observe an adult walking out of Dr. Kenney's office. Mr. Cantees first thought that it was a student's parent and when he asked Dr. Kenney about it Dr. Kenney told him that it was a student's parent, who was trying to pass his firefighters exam and Dr. Kenney was working with him on relaxation techniques. At this time, Mr. Cantees stated that he asked Dr. Kenney why he was doing this after being told it was inappropriate and had been told to stop. After some discussion, Mr. Cantees stated that he reiterated that Dr. Kenney was not to hypnotize any adults, any students and any hypnosis that was going to be done by Dr. Kenney would only take place in psychology class with parental permission and a teacher present. According to Mr. Cantees, Dr. Kenney agreed to that. Dr. Kenney disagrees with Mr. Cantees' time frame as far as the adult firefighter coming out of his office sometime between September 2010 and February 2011. Dr. Kenney stated that the firefighter's individual session occurred at least one and one half years ago and he doesn't recall any incident that occurred between September 2010 and February 2011 involving an adult firefighter. The only individual Dr. Kenney remembers treating, that was an adult firefighter, was Rick Jones, and that would have been around June of 2009. Dr. Kenney said there are very few adults that he worked with and Rick Jones was the only firefighter. Page 110 of 112 Investigative Report In addition to these particular incidents, it was learned that Dr. Kenney held a hypnosis demonstration with the ROTC as recently as March 2010, when the ROTC went to Orlando for the State Championships. There were several ROTC students who participated in the hypnosis demonstrations. There were no permission slips obtained from those student's parents. According to Mr. Cantees, he explained that Dr. Kenney is a professional and an administrator and when he tells him to stop doing something, even though it was verbal and not in writing, the anticipation is that he would follow the instruction and stop. There was no doubt in Mr. Cantees' mind that Dr. Kenney nnderstood exactly what he was being instructed not to do. Dr. Kenney never questioned whether Mr. Cantees was being unfair or inappropriate in his request. Mr. Cantees stated that in hindsight, he should have prepared a written expectation after the first incident; but again, when you are dealing with a very high performing principal like Dr. Kenney, who really cares about his kids and his school, it's usually a pretty simple matter to give him a verbal instruction and have him follow it. Mr. Cantees stated that he was treating Dr. Kenney like he would like to be treated. According to Mr. Cantees, hypnosis is not illegal or against the law but it is not something he or the district expects an administrator to practice. Mr. Cantees is certain that he was very clear on what his instructions were to Dr. Kenney. Dr. Kenney, on the other hand is saying that he came away from those conversations with a different perspective and it wasn't "stop doing this, or - you know what. ... we need to meet about this." There was however, a consensus of the majority ofthe people interviewed that if Dr. Kenney received clear instructions not to do something he would not have violated those instructions. Unfortunately, because there are no notes, calendar entries or other forms of written documentation, it is difficult to state, with any reasonable degree of certainty, exactly what was said by Mr. Cantees to Dr. Kenney, exactly when it was said and exactly how it was said or how those conversations were interpreted differently by each individual. One thing that is fairly certain is that after the October 2010 conversation Mr. Cantees had with Dr. Kenney, he knew that Steve Cantees felt it was inappropriate to have individual hypnosis sessions on the school campus and Dr. Kenney did it anyway. Another incident that has caused Mr. Cantees some concern occurred after the newspaper article written suicide and the fact that he had a hypnosis session with Dr. Kenney death. At that time Mr. Cantees asked Dr. Kenney ifhe had hypnosis sessions with any of the other students who had recently died and Dr. Kenney told him "no". Later, Dr. Kenney admitted that he lied to Mr. Cantees and he admitted that he did have sessions with both of the other deceased students. Page 111 of 112 Investigative Report Dr. Kenney stated that he feels terrible about the situation that he put the school district in. He feels awful about putting his school and his students through something that they didn't need or deserve or have to endure on top of all of the tragedy that they have already experienced. Dr. Kenney admits that his passion has overstepped his good judgment and he admits that he used poor judgment several times. He stated that he wants to be at North Port High School next year and he is willing to take responsibility for what he has done and do everything he needs to do to set the record straight. CASE STATUS At this time we are concluding our investigation into this matter. If other issues have arisen that you feel need to be investigated, please let us know. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to be of service. Keith R. Steele, CLI, CFE, CCDI, FCI STEELE INVESTIGATION AGENCY Page 112 of 112 Investigative Report Exhibit 1 18111 the parent o! ___.______ ~ ____ ._._. __.___'" ,_,,_,,_""_~ __ ~., .___ and J give pcnuisslon for Dr. KCI'u1(;Y ro \\10rl-: Willi fny child using hypnnsi;:; ;mJ hypnoLhernpy to imp(()v(; ldsfher c1thk(ic pcrt"orm;HjCt~, stllnd8rdi::~cd testing skills ;inJ 3cadcrnic perform.1!1ce. [undCiSW.nd LlI<1l Dr .Krmney L\~:1 (:r:(tifiC",d hypn()!h(~nlru;t nnrl the hYIlnosis sessions iife witb \lUI' consent and strictly voluntary. Contact rhone f1ufnber _ _ _ _ __ ., .,'" Exhibit 2 ., I am the parent of ~. ~. and I give permission for my son/daughter to volunteer to participate in a hypnosis demonstration by Dr. Kenney in psychology class. I understand that my student will be supervised by Dr, Kenney and the classroom teacher during the demonstration and s/he will not be dismissed from the classroom until fully emerged ii-om the activity, I understand that Dr. Kenney has certiflcation as a professional hypnotist. Parent Signature __________~ _____ Parent Name (Please print) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ Contact phone number I am the parent of and I give permission for my son/daughter to volunteer to participate in a hypnosis demonstration by Dr. Kenney in psychology class. r understand that my student will be supervised by Dr. Kenney and the classroom teacher during the demonstratioll and 8/he will not be dismissed from the classroom until fully emerged from the activity. I understand that Dr, Kellllcy has certiflcation as a profcssional hypnotist. Parent Signature _____________~ Parent Name (Please print) _ _ _ _ __ Contact phone number ______________ Exhibit 3 \ TO: Keith Steele, Investigator FROM: George Kenney, principal RE: Investigation Date: May 25, 2011 Timeline: 1977 a friend and I began to explore hypnosis and how it works. I have been very interested in how hypnosis works and how it could be used to improve concentration and performance. 19971 attended an Interact conference where Dr. Wand performed for 2,000 high school students. Upon return from conference I began to study hypnosis in earnest- books, articles, through the internet, YouTube, CDs and DVDs. I had purchased some hypnosis tapes at the convention for public speaking and stress reliefthat I used multiple times. 2005 I began to guest speak in psychology classes as an amateur who was interested in hypnosis- what it is and what it is used for. I have continued lecturing and demonstrating hypnosis through the spring of this year. 2006 I began to do hypnosis demonstrations during ROTC weekend trips. These demonstrations and focusing exercises continued until the winter of 2009. Demonstrations were large group with all parent chaperones and instructors present. I would ask that all volunteers call home first and explain to parents and to get their permission before participating. The goal was to get members of the unit focused and relaxed for competition. 2006 {Winter} I worked with the first student_ the son of a colleague, at my home to address FCAT and concentration issues. A few days later I discussed the session with Barbara Chomko, the Executive Director for high schools. Barbara expressed some reservations and concern that hypnosis not become the next FCAT strategy. 2009 {Summer} I worked w i t h _ privately at school to address testing- per parent request with permission slip. I also worked with graduate_ to address anxiety about going into the Marines and attending boot camp. _ is currently serving with the Marines in Afghanistan. 2009 {Fall} I felt that I wanted to pursue hypnosis on a more formal basis and I attended training, testing and certification at Omni Hypnosis Center in Deland, Florida. I began to work with students individually on a regular basis- test anxiety, anger management and athletic performance. 2009 {Winter} Mr. Cantees called with a concern from a parent regarding a demonstration I had done in psychology class using hypnosis and, although his daughter did not volunteer for the demonstration, he . felt I should be using permission slips. Mr. Cantees and I had a brief conversation in which he suggested that I get parent permission whenever I perform hypnosis with students. I agreed with what he said and began to get permission from parents, either in writing or, in some cases, verbally. 2009 I developed 5 hypnosis Cds and began to market them through Amazon. 2010 (Spring) I developed a web site and YouTube clips geared to working with athletes to improve their performance under game conditions. 2010 (October) Mr. Cantees called with two concerns. The first was that I had assisted the nurse in the weight room when a student had dislocated both shoulders and I made quiet suggestions regarding relaxation while the school nurse was assessing his condition. Later the nurse said that, although my intentions were good, my efforts made her responsibility more difficult. I had been the first person on the scene and was attending to the student when she got there, but if I had waited a few minutes it would have been easier to perform her duties. Mr. Cantees suggested that in the future I not become involved unless my assistance was requested- I agreed. The second concern in the October 2010 conversation was that someone had mentioned to Mr. Cantees that I was doing hypnosis with students in a "dimly lit office". He asked me if that was true and I said that it was. I told him I was working with students individually by student and parent request. He said he was not comfortable with me working individually with students. My understanding was he was concerned about accusations students may make (sexually) because I was alone in an office with students who may not be fully alert. He suggested that, If I wanted to work with students on a private basis, I should do so off campus. He suggested either the library or an office. I said I understood. Following the October conversation I stopped working with students individually while I investigated alternative settings. I had already left a resume at Patten Consultants in Venice, but had not been contacted. Follow-up phone calls to the office were not returned. Additionally, I visited the North Port and Jacaranda libraries to look at the facilities, but the setting is not appropriate for what I needed. Within a few weeks of our second conversation students began to ask again if I would work with them for SAT and ACT tests and sports. I began working with students again, but I invited them to bring friends or parents with them to the sessions so there would be a witness in the room (and I would be more protected from the possibility of sexual accusations). In the case of females I required another person to be present in the room. In further attempts to move my work with individual students away from the school, I began to use other methods. I worked with students to be able to perform hypnosis over the phone and I have moved several students to that method whereby they could be at home on the couch or on their bed. I had made arrangements to work with several athletes at a private home, with parent supervision, on th Saturday, May 2S along with a cookout afterward. I was in negotiation to work with the Pro Sports Academy in Punta Gorda beginning on June lSth. As time unfolded, since my second conversation with Mr. Cantees, my goal became to completely stop working with students on an individual basis at the school and to use the methods described above in order to continue to work with them. I am including, for your information, the permission slips I have for students who can verify that I did continue to work individually after my second conversation with Mr. Cantees. However_can attest to phone hypnosis a n d _ and_ can verify that plans were made to work with a group of students on 5/28 at a private home. Shawn French, at Pro Sports Academy can verify that plans were being made to work at that location beginning June 18th- I have also included an e-mail and other documentation. Contrary to district statements made to the press, I never had a directive, memo, e mail, or meeting in which I was told to stop working with students. My efforts to help students using hypnosis were well know at the school and in the community. Many parents, including the parents of students-' _ _ have observed my individual sessions. I have the appropriate certification and parent consent for the work I did with students both individually and in groups since the fall of 2009. Why do I work with students using hypnosis? I have had significant success in enabling students to relax, concentrate more effectively and to manage frustration in order to improve their performance academically and athletically. Throughout my career I have always encouraged students to set goals for themselves and to strive to achieve those goals. However, many students become exceptionally nervous and have a hard time performing on tests or intense athletic competition. Many times the issues are related to self-confidence. By using guided relaxation, positive imagery and direct suggestion, students have demonstrated consistently an improved ability to perform. I have never done anything that I thought was not in the best interests of my students and I have always tried to give them the tools to be successful and to reach their goals. Hypnosis has been a very effective tool for the vast majority of students with whom I have worked. I have frequently discussed hypnosis with teachers, coaches, fellow administrators and professional hypnotists regarding its use to improve student performance. Although some have questions and concerns, the vast majority of the professionals support my efforts to enable students to feel better, more relaxed and more focused in order to achieve at a higher level. I have always had a love of learning and I have shared my interests with my students- standup comedy, stained glass, and travel, in addition to hypnosis. I have always talked about life-long learning and I have emphasized that learning goes far beyond what is required in school. My desire is that they exercise their minds and be creative. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. Exhibit 4 ., .- g~ ~.dILe<.~ 1. t. LtJdL . . , , ; , - " - 4-~ l~..~..~- ..-...-....-.. _ - - ' . . ' .. -:. -,'& ~A~ v r/ .... . j· . .' ........ ' ~ -/-... ..... . ...... .- - - - = - , . - - - - - ' - ,-..,.---- , . . , .. .. - - -==t~=====,==========.====- " , .' - . . ---,------- - - c - - - - - - - Exhibit 5 FLORIDA STATUT~S AND RULES _ FOR FURTHER '- , xNFORMATIqN: Flol'laa Statutes s. 1006.061 states all employees and agents of the district CONTACT: school board, charter schools and Florida Department of Education private schools that accept scholarship Office of Professional Practices Services students, have an obligation to Turlington Building report misconduct by an instructional 325 West Gaines Street personnel member or school (850)245-0438 administrator www.myfloridateacher.com Florida Statutes s. 1012.33 outlines disciplinary procedures regarding district employment contracts with instructional personnel staff, supervisors and school principals School Board of Sarasota County Dept. of Human Resources Florida Statutes s. 1012.795 provides 1960 Landings Blvd. the Education Practices Commission Sarasota, FL 34231 the authority to issue disciplinary action against an individual's Florida 941-927-9000, Ext. 31200 Educator certificate Florida Statutes s. 1012.796 provides Contact: authority for the Department of Principal/Cost Center Head or Education to investigate and prosecute Director of Human Resources allegations of educator misconduct Florida Statutes s. 1012.01 defines public school instructional personnel, administrative personnel, school volunteers, education support employees and managers State Board of Education Rule 6B- 1.001 defines the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in Florida State Board of Education Rule 6B-1.006 defines the Principals of ProfeSSional Conduct of the Education Profession in Florida HOW TO REPORT If someone tells you MISCONDUCT about misconduct, be • Report allegations or suspicion of a LEADER: misconduct by an instructional personnel member to your school administrator or • being alone with a student in dark or Listen closed room or secluded area district contact • behaving in an overly friendly or familiar Evaluate • Report allegations or suspicion of way or failing to maintain an appropriate misconduct by your school administrator professional boundary with a student Act immediately to your district contact • using forceful or unnecessary physical contact with a student Document • administering discipline not compliant with • Document the activities or details of the district policy event Encourage • accepting or offering of gifts for return • Secure evidence (if applicable) of a favor or privilege from students or Report colleagues • badgering or habitually teasing a student • mocking or belittling a student WHO SHOULD REPORT • chronically embarrassing a student MISCONDUCT? FAILURE TO REPORT • displaying prejudice or bigotry against a MISCONDUCT student All employees and agents of a district school • suspicion of being under the influence of board, charter school or private school have Possible penalties for instructional drugs or alcohol a duty to report misconduct personnel or site administrators who fail to • failing to properly supervise students or to report misconduct may include: ensure student safety If you are aware of or observe misconduct • cheating, falsifying information or testing • Written Reprimand violations • retaliating against a student or colleague REPORT IT • • Suspension with or without pay Termination of employment for reporting misconduct • bantering or engaging in colloquial or IMMEDIATELY! • Discipline/Sanctions on an educator's certificate slang communications with a student • directing or using profane, offenSive, or explosive language in the presence of students WHO SHOULD YOU REPORT? • making lewd or suggestive comments or "A teacher affects • Classroom teachers overtures toward a student or colleague eternity... he can never tell • Paraprofessionals • Substitute teachers where his influence srops." Apply the litmus test • Librarians, guidance counselors and social workers ~Henry B. Adams 1. If you feel uncomfortable • Career speCialists and school psychologists 2. If you question the person's • Principals, Assistant Principals and Deans motives or actions 3. If you are unsure Protect the students and yourself and report. Exhibit 6 .' North THE BOBDAT SENTINEL Port High School Volume 6, No.4", "",', """"",, " ""'""",, ,North Port, Floridu 34286 • www.• arJwt ... k12.fl.us/nph:;jnpncw. December 20, 2007 Reports conflict on Florida's drop out rate One shows 50%, the other shows 3% Edward DeJesus Bobcat Sentinel New research says that over 50 percent of Florida high schools are drop out factories. Research was conducted by Bob Balfanz of John Hopkins University. His research showed that 51.5 percent of Florida high schools are dropout factories, in which no more than 60 percent of freshmen make it to graduation. Florida is only 0.8 percent away from being the national leader of high school dropouts. However, as of November 30, a new press release from the Florida Department of Education was released. This new research contradicted what Balfanz's research bad stated, showing that Florida's annual dropout mte for high schools is 3.3 percent. How can such contradicting data come from reli- able sources? Possible Reasons In the state of Florida, a student wbo transfers schools in the middle of the high school year is some- times considered a dropout. This may be one of the main factors of why Bal- I i and Sasha Casey present Jerry Mitchell with his prize won from the ROTC fanz research has labeled half of Florida's schools as raffle' A Dinner for a Week.' ROTC collecled donations from four local restaurants, raising up to dropout factories. $200. Princess Ramirez photo. However, an article published in the Chnriotte Sun on October 30, about dropout factories based off of Balfanz recent report states, "While some of the missing New attendance policy students trnnsferred, most dropped out." If these students dropped out, then how is it that the state says only 3.3 percent of students dropped out? For a~'dlOol to be labeled a dropout factory, it needs at least 40 percent of students to drop Ollt and 40 percent affects senior privileges is definitely nowhere near 3.3 percent. The only other possible reason for the statistics to be so different is time. Balfanz report is bllsed on school years 2004-06. Six unexcused absences taking many by surprise. Originally students were only going to be allowed The Department of Education report is based on school will result in loss of prom, to miss six class periods (less than two days of school) but it has been recently revised to six full days of school years 2006-07. Is it possible that Florida could have made such Grad Night & graduation per quarter. The policy was proposed by Assistant Principal a turn around in education in one school year? The answer is no. Jessica Vaughan Mark Gilliland who has bad experience with it during The Department of Education report says that Flori- Bobcat Sentinel his previous occupation at Booker High School. da's dropout rate has decreased by 0.2 percent since the Six strikes and you're out. "Other schools have been using this attendance 2005-06 school years. That means the 2005-06 school Beginning second semester, itl2DOS, NPHS ~eniors policy and haVe seen a lot of improvement in atten- year had an annual dropout rate of 3.5 percent. will he required to follow a new attendance policy in dance," said Kenney. So far both reports severely contradict each other order to go to certain senior events. However, many students feel the new policy is and there doesn't seem to be an explanation. Those who have accumulated six or more unexcused unfair. Different Methods absences per quarter will not be allowed to go to Prom, These new rules are restricted to seniors only and As explained previously, both reports, when com- Grad Nile in Disney, or the graduation ceremony. threaten to take away many of the privileges that make pared to each other do not make sense. Perhaps the As the absentee frequency of seniors increases one's senior year memorable. method of which both research teams received their in the spring, the policy will only start in the second "We are going to be holding students accounh\ble information will give the reason on why the statistics semester each year. for coming to school," said Kenney, "if students are are so different. "We are t'r,ing to combat senioritis," said Principal not coming to school, they should not be able to reap Balfanz and his resenrch team had looked at com- Dr. George Kenney. the benefits." bined classes of the 2004-{J6 school years of Florida 'fhe policy was only introduced to students recently, Please lice attendance policy page 2 Please see Drop outs page 2 Teen texting obsessionpage 8 Bobcat 1 o.;,.g_ _ _ _ _ _I SeSntinel Spirit • _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ..... 1 DeCarlo and Lozada set for finals in Teen Idol Alexa Teebo II reason to be nervous; I should have fun," Bobcat Sentinel Thccontcslantssaid Ihlll thccompelitOl'S in the next Two of the six finalists in Sarasota County's High round were sTcpping up their gltme lind Ihey all have a School Idol nre from NPHS. lot of (alen! to show for il. Senior Li ndslI)' DeCarlo lind jun ior Joshua LoUldn "There's this girl Petlll," Lol.lldu explained, "she will represen t NPHS on Jan. 3, 2008, at Sarllsota High knows holY to sing. The other conle~IIIHl5 nre nice. It's School for Ihe final rOllnd of High School Idol. going [0 be hnrd to com pete ngll insl them," The scmifi- DeCnrlo added, "No matter what nal rount! wos happens, weeM be proudofwhal we've "It was really incredible; the other done, win or 1 000e." held on Mon- day, Dec. 3, competitors were talented so it was a big Lozada anti DeCarlo have different 2007 lit Play- honor to etJetl be put into a group with views aboul whal IhiK experience hIlS ers Theliler in the other finalists ." brought 10 Ihem. '''''''''''. DeCarlo Senior Lindsay Decarlo "All much u 1 love 10 ling, I some- tiIT\eli get nervous and shy llbout sing- sling Some· ing in front of my peers anti so Ihis has whe~ Oll't:r the Rail/bow written by E. Y. Harburg anti Idnd of he lped me overcome the apprehen~ion," said Loz.ada 5Mg {ivery/MlIg by Michael Buble for their DeCarlo. performance pieces. "Also, beclluse it'son TV, ii'S he lped me to introduce 8 0th cootcstanLS were excited and surprised to one of my passions be heading on into the next round and had ml1I1y ''The other contestants are that my friends don't positive things to sly about the competitioo. nice. It's going to be hard to often get to see." " It was reilly exciting because it was unex- L..oz.ada had a dif· pected," laid DeCarlo. "It was really incredible; compete against them. " ferent effect. Hypnotized the other competitors were talented so it was II Junior Joshua Lozada Junior Kyle Taaffe awoke to lipstick on his big honor to even be put into a group with the face, after being hypnotized by Principal Other tinllti.ts." coming up and saying they saw me on TV." Dr. George Kenney during Daniel Konyak's Both were a linle nervous about lheirperfonnances Both ure excited to be able 10 get to back and the other competitors. compete !tgain. They I Psychology I class, Students who were "There are some girls who kn ow how to belt, you other lind trying one more time. successfull y hypnotized talked to their co uld say they're intimidating, but I think the judges " Li fe equals do what you mnke of it." II angry mothers using a phone (that was liked me," ~aid Lozndu. wit h his Inspiring quote Hbout I i actually thei r right shoe), participated in a "I 'm a liule nervous," DeCarlo commented, "but by Semifinlll! "ired Dec. 10 on the f:.ducHtion I. dance contest, and could not remember the thi~ round I IVas excited. I have a lot of work nheud of rinals will be held on Jun. 3, 2007, lit Sarasota High me. I know if I dedicate my time lhcn I shouldn' t hllve School. number six, Princess Ramirez photo, THIE Nutritional Lifestyle Centers' 14869 Tamlami Trail N, North Port, FL (94 1 ) 423-9992 Smoothies Snacks Buy a 32 Oz. $1.00 OFF Vitamins • Energy Drinks Smoothie any 20 Oz. ' Get a 20 Oz. 32 Oz. or 40 Supplements • Diet Products Smoothie Oz. Muscle Milk _- --- Nitrix FREEl Smoothie .. Gladiator NO Explode Cytosport Muscletech ...... -. .............. .,---_.......,""'. ......... ,,~ ... . "' .... , ... "\'1.......,.,.. ...... _ , ~-,.- ....'.~, ... ..... _ r".'...... .. _ " ,----"" ,-.~ .'- ...... , .. , .... ~ ...,. c.., . .~ __ - "- ..... " ,_, 1!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIOt"fii§!§gm!!mil;Lii~E"imi'ij'E6~iillll1111111111111111111111. Pride Bobcat ]1[;(1 N]ROTC trains vigorously and comes in seventh at Boca Raton Mati Gunter Bobcat Sentinel Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJRarC) spend months training and preparing for competitions. Their intensive: training paid off Saturday, Dec;:em- her 8, when they phtced seventh out of 20 schools at Boca Raton High School. The NJROTC pTlIctices drills nearly every period and have hours upon hours of aftcr school training. The cadels usually s tay after school fronl 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. or later, Monday-Thursday. Being on ilcompelition team involves a 101 of work. Team members have much ground to cover in order to be in shape for u competition, "II's all about teamwork," said Cadet Commanding Oflicer and senior Brian Love. Nearly all of the events involve some form of teamwork IIml withoul iI, roulincs ilnd demonslmtions falter. Gelling 10 the compelitions are not cheap. Over- night trips cost up to $4,500. Yearly averages for _uch trips top the $24,000 mark. Most of the money is made through fund raiscrs and Booster Dub members. When students see the cadets in the parking 101 '~~~~n~~~:~::~E:i,~~~f~~~f~~~r:~~~~i;Mc<'O.'.II, duringjpol:baI l-glimes, Ihey arc waichlng-. make moneyfor competitions. Sophie Rice, sophomore from Members 01 the NJROTC, David ,! Before such eve nt s take place, members enjo freshman Raul Colon, senior Bryan Alderman, ritual~ like taking long runs to get pumped. What and Adrian Sawyers. Princess Ramirez Photo. may become a new rilual for The NJROTC js h"ving Principal Dr. George Kenney tag along this year to Usually the first event, the academic 10 usi ng rifles, they usc hand movement to represent hypnotize and walch the cadets perform at Boca Grande competition.,consists of a 100 question test of genernl lclleTll lind words in a rhythmic movement for dem- High School. military knowledge. onstmtion. Just before competi ti ons. everyone is scramb ' g Platoon inspection is based on how well the cadets Color gUlird demonstrates how 10 present the to ge . There is no time to waste. ming present their unifonm and answer questions. This is United States flag and theNJROTC nag. Each isjudgC'd is fast paced WI preparations. usually the second event ou t of live. on their presentation and overall performance. Everyone hQS something 10 do before and during Anned dril1leRm involves the tmined cadels who After the events have been completed the judges competitions. perform various move. involving rine spins, Hips and have a troph y pruentation. In thi. tinal event, the During competitions, five events take place; positioning. They are judged on a baliic drill and an schools who performed well receive trophic.~ for their academic competition, platoon inspection, armed drill exhibition drill. In a basic drill the drill instructor yells high score.~. team, unanned drill team, and color guard. The time o ut drill commands forthe parlicipanlll tocomplete. ln To end the day, cadets return to North Port a ll Sat- it takes to complele these events is with in the six to un exhibition drill participnnts create their own drills. uruay nighl, worn out, bul relldy to starl pl1lcticing for seven hour range from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Unarmed drill team also h~s II routine. In contrnst the next compelition. Community raises money for Bobcat important cause with Relay for Life Thadeus Wander Bobcat Sentinel promote acceptance and inclusion of people who have Down Syndrom, to raise funds both locally and nation- BrIefs Studenl$ and other membcn of the community ully for education, re.~earch and auvocacy progrnms worked together on December I, 2007 to raise u total about Down Syndrome, to e nh ance the position of the We have a winner! of $3,200 at North Por!'. third annual Buddy Walk that Dow n Syndrome community, and to enabl e everyone The first period class that brought In the most was held at the NPHS trac k. to positively infl uence local and national policy and canned Items for the Interact and Key Club Th e walk raised $2,200 from participants and then practice. sponsored food drive was Tony Miller's class. received a $1,000 grant from Wal-Mart. The Buddy Walk organi7.ation was first established The class collected 229 items. Honorable men- Th e money that was raised will be donated to fami- in 1995 by the National Down Syndrome Society and tion went to: Melina Frederick's class who col- lies who have children with Down Syndrome and are had just 17 walks its first year. lected 185 items, Katie Rogers-Giuffre's class in need of help supportin g them. The walk had about Since then the Buddy Walk has grown and II.li of who collected 156 items, and Amy Nash's class 75 participants, which was about the same number of 2007, more than 275 walks have occuncd across the who raised 113 Ilems. people that participated last year. country.The Buddy Walk is not the only Inoney and To lD.ke part in the Buddy Walk, participallll had awareness raising event this school year that is going Buddy Walk 10 register in advance. Participants could have been on in North Port. The Buddy Walk was held at NPHS on Satur- companies, businesses, fumily, friends, or even have Relay for Life is an even t that was started by the day Dec. 1. Volunteers brought In over $3,000. themselves sponsor and donated money for their American Cancer Society, held lhroughoUlthe nation, Freshman Jessica Guzman won a $200 Circuit walking. with the purpose of raising IIwnreness about cancer,to City giftcard after participating In a rallle. Sarah There was not II minimum or maximum for how celebrate the lives of those who huve had cancer and Gentry will be se1ling shirts and bracelets for $1 much could lie donated. Those who had $15 o r more are still living, and 10 not only mourn bUlllIso celebrate for the next few weeks In room 5-20 1. in sponsors received a Buddy Walk T-shirt promoting the Jives of those who weren't fortunate enough. the event. Rel ay for [jfe in North Port is lin overnighl event Bobcat Book Club Regi stration for the Buddy Walk slarkd at 10 a.m. held at Butler Field, beginning at noon on May 3, 2008 The Bobcat Book Club meets on Fridays and The actual walking portion of the event lasted from and endi ng 8t 8 a.m. on May 4, 2008. new members are welcome. Students interested 10:30 11.m. to I I a.m. Anyone wi shing to participate in Relay fOf Lirecan In readIng and disscussing ideas whould con- The entire event lasted until I p. m . with the resl or creale or join an existing team, can voluntccr at the sIder joIning, Meetings are In room 4-213 and the time after the wa lk consisting of various aclivitiCll, event itself, or can make donation~ to a team. start at 2:45 p,m. and end around 4:00 p.m, such as face painting, T-shirt decorating, a cake walk, A fee of $100 is required to c reate a tealn. pi:ua, and ",orafne. There is not a limit o n however many members are Math lab The Buddy Walk in North Pori was sponsored and on Uleam, howev er a team must have a minimum of Get extra help In math for upcoming midterms organized by the Manasota BUDS, who are an all-vol- six adults. and exams. Math Lab is available every Mon- unteer, non-profit organization that assists families in To participate in Relay for Life ~tUdents should Sarasota and MAnatee County who need help supporting get involved as soon as possible because tea ms have day and Thursday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m, their children wilh Down Syndrome. already been started and money is already heing raised In room 4 - 211. Teachers and sludents are According to buddywalk.OI'g the three goals are: to for Relay for Life. available to help. Can You Hear Me Now?- Pages 8-9 North THE Port High School VOLUME 5 NO.5 BOBCAT SENTINEL NORTH PDRT. FLORIDA 34286. WWW.SARASDTA.K12.FLusINPHSINPNEWS FEBRUARY 5. 2007 District Decides On Teacher Performance STAR Pay Plan Lauren Baeringer Bobcat Sentinel Teachers in Sarasuta County have the power [0 ap- prove or disapprovc the county's teacher pert'onmmce pay plan. or STAR Plan. The plan will he used to give a liVe percent pay bonus to the top 25 perccnt or teachers within the district. Tenchers will be rewarded based on student improvement I1nd teacher performance. Tcachers and School Boards alikc have concerns with this program. especially whcn it comes to judging ,tudent improvement. Euglish, muth llntl sdene.: teuch- ers will be evaluated using thdrstudcnts' rcxr ,core~. but the dis-· trict must d:- ClO ur approach as a union '~i'::: ··~6~""- "'", velop a fall' way to assess 1__ . • flUS been to negotIate the =~~,"-'~,,- stndent im- best 1)lan we can and let flur IJro\'cment -members decide to vote it up Bealing Ihe Buzzer for teachers or down," said Dubin. Junior Courtney Treubert and sophomore Tyler Litvin compete in an Academic Olympics match. that do not have stan- dardized testing for their subject. Academies Change Again "Il'~ ,iLlst like you're in college." ~aid Kellney. In Sarasotu County, the school board was divided between thc lJ1<.!mbers that IClt that participating would cause fighting over higher ranked teachers and those that believe the penalties of Hot participating were too New State Major System So far, the stnte has createdMO nlajors. 20 of which harsh to ignore. will he <1vailable next year at NPHS. Thc school bOi!rd vott!d in mid-De~emher to decide Is Causing Repercussions Since classes vary at each schooL each indiviuual if lhey w(lnted to purtidpatc illlhc ST,\R program. Ac- Stefanie Scott schoolillust create their own major~. While this could cording (0 the Herald Tribune, the \"ote was 3-2 against Bobcat Sentinel [lose a problem for students whlltransfer schools. Ken- submining u plan to the ~tale. Tho: Florida Depal1ll1ent of Education is f.;:volmioll- ney believes that since similar majors will be available Some believed that omitting the submission of a izing the high .;chool credit system. which has Jed (0 at el1c11 school. this prohlem can he avoided. STAR progmm would cause unneces.,\ary trouble. If it a myriad of changes at NPHS. When August ~ln"i\·es. \Vhile itlllay seem owrwhelming for aji'eshm(lll to district did not turn in a plan by Dec. 31 they would be expect new <:ia,s"",, new academies. and new re(luire- choose a m:\ior. slLldents will hllVe the option to change lurced to create a plan anyway. but the district would ll1enls. majors throughout high school. have to fund it with local dollars, "That'~ a henhhy thing." said Kenney, The thrct! members that opposed sending the stnte Beginning ill August. freshmen w!!l be required to ,'\s of now. students mllst complete 28 credits in nil (l pl(ln relt thaI any plan would be unfair luI' teacher~, choose a IlUUOI and a minor. High s(;hool, across lhe slate were asked to cre- to graduate high school. Ihost! members want to ,tand Llp to the ~tate and stand ate 'Illajor~' sHullar to what you find in a college These 28 credits include four of Langllage Arts, up for what they believe in. atmosphere, Al"conling to NPHS Prinelpal Dr. George four of math. thret of scicnce. one of world hi~tory. Though divided, Samsota County district admin- one of Americnn history. one half of ecunomics. one istl'Utor~ sent their proposal to Ihe state to avoid the Kenney, tilis will mltke ~tudents more focused in their area of intercst half of Amcricun goyernmcnt. Olle of fille ;IriS. nne of penulties. The phm has yet to be approved by the statc Kenney de~~ribes this system as "a physicnl cducation, four in a Ilmjol', and and the di~l[icr~ te,tehers. The te(lehers will be voting to l1pprove ordisappro\'e \\'orf; in plngn.-:,:,:' "It's just like you're in eight of electil'es, the plan in n few weeks. In order to bc funded by the Clirrently. ;chools are creating InU- college," said Kenney. \"hile the total of 28 credit~ hasn'r jars ba~ed upon ,tvailable da~se~. Ac- changed, incoming ,tudents will be re- state the teacher's union must approve the STAR Plan ljuired to complete four credits of math. by M:1L'ch l. Before I'oting, teachers will be nble to cortling to Kenney. in onler to create u a~ opposed (0 the previous 3 credit reljllirement. as well view a presentntioll on the plnn and wil! have access to maior, four silnilHrclas~e;; (each wortll one credit eadl) Il1L;SI be grouped tugdher. This is because completing as.J- credits in u chosen major. a question and answer section on the SanLsota County a m:ljor requires foul' completed credit~ in that m'~lor. Ho\\,ewr, this new system affects morc thall jll~t School Board's IVcb.';itc. Similarly, students mList complete two credits to cam fre~hl1len. In order to l1ccommodate luI' this nell' state The Sara,ota COLinty School Board's STAR Plan a minor. However. a student may also double-major if law. NPHS is forced to r<!lIlllne, fe-label, antiacid morc for 2006-2007 is a complicawd plan thm tries to be fair that student takes eight total credjt~ in two majors. Please see Academies /Xlge 5 Please see STAR /Xl,fi<' 3 Bobcat Pride Mr. Multi, Talented NPHS Principal Dr. George Kenney Has Many Hobbies Casses King Kenney even im;or- Bobcat Sentinel porateu hi, hobby on his Tu must stlltients ;1j NPHS. Dr. George Kenney i, own front Jour. Tugether. just the prin<.:ipaL Huwo;!l'a, underneath the surface Bill MOUSSO;:;llI and Ken- of this mall. is a I'ery interesting character with some ner knod:cd-ot(( the ex- of the mo~[ Ji.l\r.:inali!lg, t121~l~_alld a very colorful isting glass 111lU n:ptaced hackgruyulldm:lIfdiiii the flld tllmlfis-home.g)\vll is it with sltlined glass that A!H;bofllgc. Alaska. -~''-,."._ Kenney !l1ll(k himself. //Sfudcm> in Dan KonYilk's P~ycl:olog~' ~lass recently" \The compl?lc process /had Ih.: chance to :;ee rhe colortul slue of Kenney when took about ~(I\ months of Kenney lOok tillle out or his busy schcdulc to hyilllotizc fpirly steady \York. a fcw seleci studellt volunteers for the class' "stules of ; According to Kenney, consciousness" chapter. About a yell[ and a half ago. aftcr ~f1iadn't gone /' although i { us l" ;~aN;jl~~~~P~~~~~~:~I~:;-- dlecked out hooks from 1111: locallihl'llrr into education, ~vould have gOlle I ~:::Zll:;\~~~ NPHS Principal Dr. George Kenney sorts through stacks of papers on a {a {hree busy afternoon. During his free time, I(enney likes to create stained glass, Oil hypnosis. It lI'a.'; thcn that hc self- into architecture. I IV e e k s , practice hypnosis, and make people laugh. Danielle Corzetto Photo. t.llIght himselrholl" {o hypnotize. had a lot of interest the lime it Hypl10sis is n~t th~ only hob?y tl.lat in architectw'e and takes (o conlplete the stained glass pro- He feels thn! comic relier Clm hril1!! somclhill!.! new Kenney takes partlll. HIS real passIOn Ile~ . I' . d I cess depends on the alllOllll{ of time he and unexpected 10 ~ludents :lIld udul!; ulike. - in swined glass. Accordillg tI) Kenney. he g1 aplIC m ts an ~oo,: pill., il{to it. "Whcn you ~tnrt out with a couple ofjokcs, it relaxes hns been intere,ted in stained !!Iass for of a lot classes nl "1 usually spend more till1e design- them. People likc it because it sels a positive moou." abou{ seven or ei);!h{ yenrs. Hi; intere~! high school and in ing il than I do adually making iI," said said Kenney. sparked while he WiI, watching"lhis Olel colleue because I 'WClS Kellney. Although Kenney majored in music at the Univcr- House" on the PBS nellVork. ve;)' interested." Ifany students have recently attended "it)' of Ma~sachl1,etts, playing the French hoi'll, and lI'a~ The IeI'm ""mined glnss" can be a bil all a,semblyofKenney's. then {hey h.\I'e a Bami Din:ctor for twelve years. he has alwny:-; been mi,leading, hOI\'e\·er. hceause no staining probably been humored by one of his clear of his dream to be an mlministrator. of glass actually takes ph:.:e. jokes. Comedy is yel another hobby Ihal Kenney has When (Isked what job he lI'ould have ifhc weren't u "You buy [he glass in sheels (hal eomc in differenl managed to find lime 10 delve into. !\oom n year agO. high school administmtor, he replied, "1fT hadn't gone colors and sizes. Then you cui Ihe gluss \0 per.'\olml- he st\lfWJ taking lv!cCurdy comedy classes inSaf'dSO!\L into education, i would hm'e gone into architecture. I ize it." said Kenney. "There ,Ire mall)' differcnt styles. Aside from school assemhlics, he also speaks at public had a lot of interest in archi(edUre ami gmphic arts so you have to combine ~ly1cs that compliment cilch events such as the "Sellson of the SIal'S" pcrformance, and look a lot of classes in high school <lnd in college other." at NPHS. beenllse i II':lS very interested." Frenz Finesse, Inc. Hairstyling & More Best hair cuts in town! You'll never look bei'teJ"! 1471 Sumter Blvd. • North Port Located in the Heron Creek Town Ctr. near Publix & Subway. Get your new looks and up-dos for any special occasion.