Pushback was beginning to happen again, and it had to do with who I hired as school tutors. It seemed that every time a new assistant deputy warden was hired (ADW) I had to explain who I was, what was I doing, and who was working for me. Specifically, who were my tutors, what were they being paid, how did I select them? I wasn’t well liked when I informed them to read DOC policy because that’s what I use to manage my work load with inmates. As far as my students were concerned they could speak with my school principal because frankly, not wanting to show any disrespect, “you are not in my chain of command. However, the principal would be more than willing to enlighten them.” I got some really weird looks after that. Needless to say, I would find myself using this logic: “I don’t report to you please call my school principal. I am doing what is expected of a teacher running a Horticulture class. Please don’t continue to interrupt my class, thank you.”
From that point on I would draw the ire of some of the most vocal critics this side of the Mississippi River. Fortunately, God had blessed me with a continued hearing loss, (which I didn’t find out about until I had my first executive physical in my late 20’s. Seems an early life ear infection had taken some of my hearing and I did not hear what the Doctor described as the female decibel level. When I think about all the times I heard my poor mother say” boy are you deaf?” I could at least have answered, “yes I am!” ) and if my detractors didn’t have bass in their voices I didn’t hear them. If they did have bass in their voices I ignored them. A blessing still. However, that didn’t stop the constant barrage of memorandums I would have to respond to in the early phases of the program. We didn’t have email yet and the DOC practiced “memo management.” Decrees would be issued by the “memocrats” and I was constantly being pulled to the wardens’ office to explain my noncompliance. “Didn’t you read the memo?!” became the mantra of the memocrats, and to that question I would always respond, ” what memo?”
It seemed prisoner movement, specifically my students and tutors, became a bone of contention for the memocrats. They would cite various DOC policies and facility procedures that they claimed I was in violation of by running this program. The memocrats’ movement brought out many detractors who believed that prisoners just needed to be locked down and the DOC school should be shut down. Our school principal was a strong voice for the school and he would say on many occasions that we are outnumbered. The last thing we need is more prisoner idleness. I could also find policy directives that backed what I was trying to accomplish with horticulture, and used them to disarm the naysayers. However, the pressure and stress would eventually work on my innards. Something I didn’t even realize was happening until later in life.
It became a game for me in the beginning stages of implementation. I would have to have written details for my tutors to maintain the greenhouse even in my absence. The warden and school principal understood this and made sure I wasn’t hindered in securing those details. I received help by the warden assigning the school officer to also check on me, the greenhouse , and gardens on a regular basis. The yard officers also helped supervise the projects in the level two yard, and I appreciated that. The officers let me know they were happy to help when they could. For me it was a challenge of logistics. Who was working were, with what tool, and what was being accomplished, all had to be tracked. My students were making flower beds and garden beds through out the level two and school yards. I had to have a plan on how I would secure the tools if an emergency arose. Fights in the big yard, school, housing units, that could escalate into large confrontations were always a possibility, as well as assaults’ on staff by prisoners. When the siren was blown the prisoners were instructed to return to their housing units immediately for count.
TO BE CONTINUED…
MJ-Way 