APPEAL of the LAUSD’s 5-PERSON COMMITTEE’s ' 1/20/11 NOTICE of ‘| DECISION to “SEPARATE” ME, Mr. (John) Philip A. (Vander) Kok from EMPLOYMENT asa SUBSTITUTE TEACHER for the LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTHOW I LEARNED ABOUT THE DECISION TO “SEPARATE” This is my appeal of the de ion of the LAUSD 5-person-committee. On January 20, 2011 (my 44" birthday, thank you very much) as I was leaving an assignment at Belmont High School I was handed a message by a secretary at the office who curtly almost “ordered” me| to call this person (whose name was on the paper) immediately, as if it was an emergency. My first thought was about FAMILY. Was somebody hurt ? A death ? And if so, why was being told by the office? And for that matter does the LAUSD even have “emergency contact” information on file at the district office ? I recall being at Westchester High on the! day that a beloved member of my family’s church, the Crystal Cathedral, commit suicide , and simply hearing on the news (from my cell phone in the classroom) that a gunman was “holed up” at the church, and I had NO IDEA what had happened or to whom, if anything yet at the time (but since my dad works there it was a matter of concern for me; although it was a relief to discover none of my immediate family members were hurt, the fact that it turned out to be a suicide of Johnny Carl, the long-time beloved Hour of Power orchestra director, did NOT make it any easier). Anyways, to my RELIEF, on January 20, 2011, it was NOT about a family member but from somebody at “employee relation.” I wondered, “employee relations” at where ? It did NOT say LAUSD and since I had recently filed a complaint with PERB (Public Employment Relations Board) in December of 2010 I saw “employee” & “relations” and thought it was a message from PERB. Before I turned and walked out of the office the secretary once again ORDERED me to call the number “NOW.” It felt as if she was speaking to me as a bad person or an inferior, and I wondered WHAT RIGHT she has to ORDER ME to call anybody immediately after my assignment is over . Anyways, I had my phone in my hand and intended to call the number as I was walking down the hallway to my car. I did NOT need to be ORDERED by a secretary to call anybody immediately.2 || down the hallway and out of the building. A man by the name of John Braadsfield (2) answered the phone, and it was at that time that [ REALIZED this was LAUSD. I did not 4 || know the name John Braadsfield, nor had I ever had any contact with employee relations, 5 || but Mr. Braadsfield introduced himself as a “deputy” of some sort (“deputy director”?). about the conversation. There was NO “HOW ARE YOU > || TODAY?” The only indication that Mr. Braadsfield had any “feelings” about what he was 6 || There were NO NICETH « || doing & saying was that he prefaced the bad news by saying, “I HATE TO BE THE » || BEARER of BAD NEWS, but the SCHOOL DISTRICT has DECIDED to SEPARATE YOU o || FROM EMPLOYMENT with THEM” or something to that effect. Having been with the 21 || school district for thirteen years now, ha’ g begun substitute teaching in January of 1998, 22 || [was STUNNED (o say the least, especially because [had NO PREMONITION of any suct 1s || coming action or decision ag t me. as || In fact, at first I thought this was a BAD PRANK, an early April Fool’s joke, but Mr. ae || Braadsfield kept assuring me this was NO JOKE. Then we lost connection. By that time I a7 ||had arrived at my ear and I called the number again and spoke with Mr. Braadsfield for a ae || few further moments with the intent of determi ig if this wasa LEGITIMATE 19 |) representative of the LAUSD . I asked to speak to his supervisor, and I asked, “If you are 20 ||legitimate, then tell me on WHAT BASIS I am being separated ?” Mr. Brandsfield 21 || first said a “background check”, but then said, “I mean THREE ISR’s in your file?” At that time I didn’t even know what the letters “ISR” represented and found out it is in regards t 23 || “Insufficient Service Report” by schools where a substitute was on assignment. I’m NOT 24 || sure what the slip-up was all about (i.e. why he first said “background check” and then 2s ||said “ISR's” , but being informed of THREE ISR’s, LET ALONE ANY ISR’s in my file 26 || was NEWS to me. I thought at that time I had ZERO ISR’s.