New evidence surfaces in St. Regis principal case

After reading about why Tammy Demien was placed on administrative leave from her duties as St. Regis principal Kassandra Perkins, a substitute teacher at the school, contacted Demien’s attorney Lance Jasper. 

Perkins provided Jasper with a sworn affidavit stating that she was aware of an inappropriate relationship between a student and a teacher at the school and told her immediate supervisor, Teresa Wilson, of that relationship “half way through the third quarter of the 2011-2012 school year.” 

“Teresa Wilson instructed me not to take this any further and that I was not to address my concerns with Tammy Demien because I had no proof,” Perkins said in her affidavit. “There is no way that Tammy Demien could have known about the relationship between the teacher’s aide and the student because Teresa Wilson instructed me not to tell her.” 

The affidavit continues by stating that Perkins did not bring the information to Demien because “I believed if I had, Teresa Wilson would have retaliated against me or my child.” 

Perkins said that she felt she “had an obligation to Tammy Demien and the community” to share her story and then goes on to state that she feels it was “misleading” of Wilson to instruct her not to say anything during the previous school year.

“…now she has brought it up after all this time to cause professional and personal harm to Tammy Demien,” Perkins said. “I believe Teresa Wilson concealed this information and disclosed it only when it would benefit her. I am worried about disclosing this information for fear of retaliation by Teresea Wilson to me or my son, who is currently a student at St. Regis School.” 

On Sept. 5, Jasper attached Perkin’s sworn affidavit to a letter he sent to Kris Goss of the Montana School Board Association in Helena. The MTSBA was hired by St. Regis schools to investigate the allegations Demien was aware of an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher. 

Jasper’s letter first addresses his concerns with the MTSBA not responding to any of his previous letters and his belief that the entity is not an impartial party and therefore should not be investigating the matter. 

“It (the MTSBA) is a paid representative of the St. Regis School District and can have only one interest, which is to protect the St. Regis School District,” Jasper said. 

The letter continues, stating that primarily because of Perkin’s affidavit it is “evident” that the MTSBA is not an independent investigator or advisor in the matter.

“The complaining teacher, Teresa Wilson, has been assigned the role of acting principal during Tammy’s suspension,” Jasper said. “How is this appropriate, given that Wilson is not a certified principal or even a tenured teacher?”

Jasper added that “certainly” the allegations against Demien would need to be investigated but that it is important to know when Wilson received the information regarding the alleged misconduct between a teacher and student. 

“This failure on the part of Ms. Wilson to report this allegation to the superintendent and principal at the time Ms. Wilson received it is disturbing and clearly a violation of her duties as a teacher and a violation of Montana law.”  

The letter concludes by stating that it is “even more curious” Wilson waited until the summer and the hiring of a new superintendent to divulge the information about the inappropriate relationship. 

“It would be a terrible thing if it was discovered that Ms. Wilson and board members conspired to have Tammy Demien removed from her position on false allegations which we now know were disclosed to Ms. Wilson during the previous year.” 

Finally, the letter states that there are allegations by “former and current teachers” that Wislon “is a bully.” It warns that if there is any retaliation against Perkins for giving her statement “will not be tolerated” and calls for the immediate suspension and investigation of Wilson. 

“It’s ironic to me that they can put Tammy on leave but here’s a documented violation that is going unchecked,” Jasper said in an interview.  

Two days after the letter was sent to the MTSBA, Jasper once again wrote a letter to the entity, this time on behalf of Perkins. 

According to the letter, Jasper had a conversation with Superintendent Janet Hanson during which he found out that Perkins was being “disciplined, removed as a substitute teacher and her keys to the building confiscated as a result of Ms. Perkin’s affidavit.” 

Jasper calls the action “unacceptable and outrageous” and advised the MTSBA that his letter is a “formal complaint” to the St. Regis School Board. 

“This action requires that Teresa Wilson and Janet Hanson be placed on administrative leave,” Jasper said. “Ms. Wilson’s bullying is a threat to everyone in the school, including the students and teachers alike. Janet Hanson’s complete disregard for the legal rights of School District employees cannot be tolerated.” 

As of publication, calls to Hanson by the Mineral Independent have not been returned and Jasper said that he plans on attending today’s meeting of the school board to discuss these matters.