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Scamanda
BONUS: Nobody believed me: pushed out co-worker on Amanda the painful Principal
00:42:15
Before she was indicted, Amanda became the Principal of Pacific Point Elementary School.
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- [00:01]
Alex
Wow. What's up?
- [00:02]
Bailey
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- [00:16]
Alex
Didn't even have to do any paperwork.
- [00:17]
Bailey
Wow.
- [00:18]
Charlie
Mm. Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet.
- [00:21]
Bailey
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- [01:27]
Alex
Customers on first 3 month plan only.
- [01:28]
Bailey
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- [01:31]
Freddie
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- [02:23]
Charlie
Hey Scamander fans. Charlie here. I've got something big you won't want to miss. If you loved the podcast, then mark your calendars because comes the docu series starting tonight at 9:00pm 8 Central Time on ABC and then also streaming on Hulu. Watch for yourself as every step plays out and see firsthand how Amanda Riley's world spirals down and out of control. The lies, the betrayals, the investigation, the police and some of the people closest to Amanda Riley share their stunning and emotional stories tonight at 9:00pm 8 Central on ABC. This amazing new series will be taking an even deeper dive into the notorious con artist and I promise you, you will be on the edge of your seat with jaw dropping twists, turns and shocking revelations. Trust me, you won't be able to look away. So make sure to watch the shocking and incredible new docu series on ABC and Hulu. If you love the podcast, you are just going to love this. Grab your popcorn, set that reminder and tune in starting tonight, January 30th to what will sure be pure primetime drama. Believe me, you don't want to be the only one not talking about this show. Scamander on ABC and streaming on Hulu. And it all starts tonight, January 30th at 9pm 8 Central. Watch this, people. It's too good. You ready for the ride? Let's go. Hey Scamander listeners, it's Charlie back with you again for our last bonus episode. To finish up, we're going to take a bit of a look into Amanda's time as principal at Pacific Point elementary. And to help us get a better understanding, we have one of the teachers who was actually working there at the time who knew Amanda. Now, I'm not actually going to identify or say this person's name because she wants to remain anonymous, but I'd like to welcome her now. Thank you so much for joining us and for sharing your story with us. I. You know, the first thing I want to ask you if it's okay, why do you not want your name mentioned? Especially given the fact that we now know that Amanda is in prison.
- [05:17]
Alex
It's because of the administration that's still there at Pack Point. There's still kind of a protection around Amanda that still continues to this day, even with a podcast. I don't want there to be any retaliation or anything like that. I wanted to share my story because I want the truth to come to light about my time when I was there and what happened and the events that unfolded. However, I just wanted to remain Anonymous. So that there just wasn't any. Anything that could come back on me afterwards.
- [05:47]
Charlie
You know, it's interesting because this has been the case with a few people when we were making the podcast, but also since a lot of people have got in contact, but that was a concern from quite a lot of people. I just wonder why do you think she. There is this protection still despite the conviction, the sentencing, and the story we've told?
- [06:09]
Alex
No. It's very strange to me. I think even when Amanda was sentenced, there were still people that were protecting her, that were coming out and saying there's two sides to every story. When all the allegations were brought up against her, there were people immediately that believed it, but yet the administration was still backing her up, saying that we need to have Amanda's back, that we need to keep an open mind, things like that. And I don't quite understand it because there's so much evidence now. There's been so many things, especially through the podcast, that have showed that this was going on before her time at Pack Point as well as during her time at Pack Point and continuing when she left Pack Point. And it's sad to me that the manipulation ran so deep and people still choose not to believe that what she was doing was wrong.
- [06:58]
Charlie
So you were at Pack Point as a teacher.
- [07:01]
Alex
Mm.
- [07:02]
Charlie
And you were there. I mean, you'd been part of the community for quite a while, but you were there a year before Amanda became principal. What was the school like? Maybe you could paint a picture for us before Amanda became principal.
- [07:17]
Alex
Yes. So I was a parent there first, and so I had known the school for a really long time. I actually did some of my student teaching there where I got to go and observe in a classroom. So I'd been a part of that community for a very long time. And it's this homey, loving, tiny school that it's just. You walk on and instantly feel like you're child, if you have a child there, is loved and taken care of. You felt like the administration was going to have your best interest at heart. You just walked on and you felt like it was different, unlike any school you had ever been at. It was great. It was the best job I had ever had prior to Amanda's arrival.
- [08:01]
Charlie
So then, I mean, it sounds like an amazing school. So when Amanda arrives, what did you know about her? And do you know how she got the job? Because she went for the job as a teacher, right?
- [08:13]
Alex
Yes, at the end of the school year. So my second year teaching at the end of that year, they Introduced Amanda to the staff that she walked into the interview. She was from a very prestigious school, another Christian school that was in San Jose. She was walking in to get a job as a middle school teacher, and they found out that she worked at this prestigious school, and they offered her the position of the elementary principal. They said because of her experience at that school, that it made her a perfect candidate. And they told us all. They said, you know, she nailed the interview. When she walked out, we were high fiving and said, that's our new elementary principal, and they're telling our entire staff this. And I thought, wow, that's so weird, because when I got the job, they. Even though it's a tiny school, I mean, it's a lengthy process to get a job as a teacher there. And they're telling the staff that it's like, oh, we're high. You know, administration's high fiving. As Amanda comes in and nails her interview where she came in as a teacher and got an elementary principal job. So we were kind of all a little bit shocked, to say the least. But she seemed really sweet at first, super bubbly. She was younger. She was a young mom. I remember the very first time we went over and talked to her. There's a group of teachers and I. And we had asked her, like, oh, so what grades have you taught? And she started naming all these grades. They were a bunch of grades in lower elementary, upper elementary, and as well as middle school. And then she also said she had her master's. And at first I got excited because I thought, wow, I mean, she has so much experience. She's going to be so knowledgeable about, you know, what it feels like to be a teacher in a classroom, as well as bringing that knowledge into administration. And then I walked away and I thought. I started doing the math, and I started thinking, well, wait, she's only, you know, like, 30 years old. How in the world could she teach all of those grades as well as get her master's? And, like, none of this really makes sense. So that was kind of the first thing that didn't make sense to me, and it was the very first time I had met her.
- [10:14]
Charlie
And did she have cancer at the time, or did you know anything about her cancer when you first met her?
- [10:20]
Alex
So we did not. There were a couple people who knew her from her church that said that she had health issues, and I had had some health issues as well. So I thought, oh, you know, this actually might be something that she and I can connect on. I was there all summer Because I was moving classrooms. And so she was there setting up her office and decorating, and she was painting her walls purple, and I was painting my classroom. And so I kind of got to know her a little bit during the summer. And there was just something from my initial reaction with her. And I'm not somebody. I always look at people like I see the best in them. I'm not somebody that's like a skeptical person that, you know, immediately looks at someone with, like, an eyebrow raise. But there was just something about every time I interacted with her. It didn't feel right. And I couldn't put my finger on it. Even to this day, I could not explain. There wasn't something that she did exactly, that I could say, oh, this is why I felt uncomfortable around her. It was just every time I was around her, there was just this feeling like something wasn't right. Like I needed to give myself space with her. And I didn't feel that way with anybody at the school. And the only time it ever got worse was when I was introduced to her husband, Corey. He came to the school, I think, to pick up their oldest son. That day. He was at the school for a little bit with Amanda. And immediately when I met him, I had this overwhelming feeling. I needed to get away. Like, it was just this feeling that something was off, something was wrong, and I got very uncomfortable. It was like the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. And again, I'd never met this person before. I didn't even know who he was. And I literally introduced myself. And I walked out of the office as fast as I could because I felt so uncomfortable. I was like, I need to get out of here. And after that point, I always distanced myself from him because I just didn't feel comfortable being around him.
- [12:19]
Charlie
Yeah, I mean, sometimes you get those feelings about people, don't you? And you can't quite put your finger on it, but you just have this intuition or sixth sense, you know? We've spoken to a few people that were involved in the school during the series, and from all reports, Amanda was wonderful with the kids. You know, made them feel loved. Did these, like, hug high five things when they first walked in. But what was she like as a principal? And how did she treat the teachers? You know, she's now principal of the school. She set herself in. What was the environment like? How did things change?
- [12:57]
Alex
It was weird. Cause right off the bat, she kind of came in very strong. It was always this sense, like, she was putting you down, like you weren't doing things the right way or you weren't doing things good enough. But it was very hard because pretty much right off the bat, Amanda wasn't there very often. So we started school in August and she would come into work late, she would leave early, she would be gone during the days. So we didn't really get to know her because she wasn't at school. So people started asking questions all the time about, where's Amanda? Where's Amanda? You know, if you had issues in your classroom or you needed help, she wasn't there. Her door was always closed. We would get emails. Basically, we were micromanaged. From wherever she was, we would just get emails. But then again, she wouldn't be there for us to address it, you know, in person. And so when people started asking questions, we got called into a staff meeting. She basically told us that she did have cancer, that she was taking medication. The medication basically would paralyze her body. And so she wasn't able to move in the morning. So that's why she wasn't able to be at school until about, you know, anytime between 10, 10:30, 11:00 during the day, because she was physically paralyzed in the morning. So, I mean, everybody felt horrible.
- [14:20]
Charlie
Yeah, I was going to say, how was it received?
- [14:22]
Alex
Yeah, I mean, we also, also, I mean, this is like a very loving school. Everybody felt terrible. I mean, immediately our hearts went out to her. And so it just continued to get worse. With how many absences she had at school. She wasn't there very often. We would get these emails and the tones of the emails were usually very, like, harsh. We were being micromanaged and so it was hard because we didn't get to establish these relationships with her to begin with. And then she's not there and she's, you know, kind of belittling people. It was very, just very harsh. The tone of it, you need to do this, you need to do that. People aren't doing this correctly, you're not doing that correctly. So it was just very like. Nothing ever felt like it came from, like, a loving place at all. It was just very much, you're not doing this, you're not doing that. It was just always this harsh kind of tone that you felt like you weren't doing a good job as a teacher.
- [15:21]
Charlie
It sounds like it created a shift in an environment from what you described to us of what the score was like. And then were there any suspicions around her that started to creep in or was it just about the toxicity?
- [15:36]
Alex
No, there definitely were. So I Remember one day, pretty early into the school year, I had gone into the office after school, and I was asking a question, and the phone rang. And, you know, one of the secretaries had answered and said, no comment. And, like, put the phone down pretty harshly. And then I see Amanda coming around the corner, and they go, amanda. They're calling again. And I looked over at Amanda, like, right in her face, and I said, wait, who called? I don't understand. Like, wow, that must have been really bad for you to, like, slam the phone down. And Amanda goes, oh, it's Corey's ex wife. She's so jealous of me. She thinks I'm faking cancer. And so she's trying to get people to, like, look into me. And she just started going into how Corey's ex wife was horrible and just all of these things. And she was starting to get emotional about it, and she was crying. And my first initial reaction was, oh, my goodness, I feel so bad for her. And then as I walked out of the office, I started thinking, why would someone call a school? And that was, like, another thing that just didn't sit right with me. We could never get a straight answer about her cancer. Like, some people were told she had blood cancer still. Some people were told she was in remission. Some people, you know, were told that she was still on medication. Like, nobody's stories matched up. The environment, like you said, of the school completely shifted in such a short amount of time where it just didn't feel like this happy, loving place that it was prior to Amanda's arrival.
- [17:11]
Charlie
And did anybody or yourself report that behavior as this went on?
- [17:17]
Alex
Yes. So some teachers started coming to me and voicing their opinion about Amanda. People were still loving towards her because everybody thought she was sick. Most teachers weren't bringing up that her cancer wasn't real. They were saying things of, we're being torn down. We're not feeling like we're good enough. Teachers, teachers that had been there for, I mean, 15 years were saying things, and teaching's a really hard profession, and you put a lot into it. And so when somebody's constantly making you feel like you're not doing your job the right way or that you're not doing it good enough, it just tears you down.
- [17:58]
Charlie
Yeah, you start to question it yourself.
- [18:00]
Alex
Exactly.
- [18:01]
Charlie
You can't help but internalize that when people say that to you repeatedly.
- [18:07]
Bailey
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- [18:22]
Alex
Didn't even have to do any paperwork.
- [18:24]
Bailey
Wow.
- [18:26]
Charlie
Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet.
- [18:28]
Bailey
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- [19:37]
Freddie
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- [20:40]
Alex
Yes, I gave it some time. There was another person on the administration team that I had approached to tell her my concerns, to tell her how many teachers were going forward, that how toxic the environment was getting at the school. I even had parents coming up to me for my class saying, what's the difference this year? Like, I don't understand why the teachers just look like they're, you know, sad or down, and it's just a different feel. So I decided to talk to her. She suggested that we go and speak to a school board member. So she went with me to speak with a school board member. And this was in October of Amanda's first year. We met with a school board member, and we had to meet at night, kind of. We had a sneak around. So the administration didn't know. When we met with a school board member, there were other administration issues taking place. And so the conversation kind of went as well. Amanda, yes, we understand there's concern, but there's someone above her that basically needed to be out first before we could address the Amanda issue. But during that conversation, he proceeded to tell both of us that he had an anonymous note put on his car a couple days prior to our meeting that said that Amanda was faking cancer and that he needed to look into her past before he continues to allow her being the principal at her school.
- [22:09]
Charlie
What did you think of that?
- [22:11]
Alex
I was shocked. It was like, this is what I've been saying. Like, there's so many things that aren't adding up. And then you have some anonymous person. I'm like, it took somebody a lot of courage to go and put an anonymous note on your car. You need to look into it. So I questioned him and said, well, what did you do with that? He said, well, I gave it back to the administration to look into and check into her past. Which I was like, no, they're the ones supporting her. They're backing her. You guys need to. That's why we're coming to you and not going to them, because they have her back. What started was that they spoke with Amanda is what they told the staff. We spoke with Amanda. We told her she needed to be there, that the environment at the school needs to change. So we gave it a few more months, and things continued to be the same as they were before.
- [23:02]
Charlie
Did anything change? Did she say anything to any of the teachers? Surely she knew. She must have known somebody complained about her.
- [23:10]
Alex
Exactly. I mean, it changed that she was more watchful of us. She became More harsh with us. The administration was definitely watching us more. It just continued to become this downward spiral at the school. And there were teachers continued to come to us. We decided to go meet with more board members because we gave it a few months. We went to the board. It was very emotional. There were teachers. There was a teacher crying, everybody. It was the same thing of. At this point, we all kind of suspected that maybe Amanda's cancer wasn't real, maybe her sickness wasn't, but she's definitely pushing it so that she doesn't have to be there. The treatment of us is poor. We just went into all of that and laid it all out for hours to them. After that meeting, they said they were going to meet with Amanda and let us know if she would be back. All the teachers are nervous because they don't know if she's coming back or not. And we're basically. I sought out the board member that we went to see last, and he said, you know, all of the board members voted no for Amanda to come back, but I think that she deserves another shot to come back. And my mouth just dropped. I think I started crying because I felt like I had let the teachers down because they entrusted me. And it all kind of felt like it was for nothing. And then now we all had giant targets on our backs.
- [24:48]
Charlie
Yeah, I can imagine it must have felt really daunting because you knew that you didn't have that protection. But why was she given a second chance back no matter what she's done? But even if she hadn't done anything, the fact that the majority of the teachers said no, then normally that decision would be okay. Then for the harmony of the school, we have to change principal.
- [25:12]
Alex
Why exactly? It was because one of the administrators that was still there was fighting to keep her. My suspicion is that right after we found this out, we were called into our last staff meeting before the end of the school year. Amanda walked in very kind of angry and upset. So everybody, you know, is quiet. We're nervous about what's going to happen. And then she sat down and basically told us, my cancer is back. I'm going to be gone all summer long. I'm going to be in treatment. I don't know what's going to happen to me. Just basically laid it out to the staff that, you know, her cancer had returned. So, of course, then people feel horrible that they had gone to school board members, and now she has her cancer. So we just all left for this summer just completely defeated. Because regardless of if she had cancer or not the way that we were all being treated by her was so poorly. It was an awful way to end the school year. Everybody was very nervous to come back the following year. But we didn't even know if Amanda would come back because her cancer had returned. So we didn't really know what to expect at the beginning of the next school year.
- [26:25]
Charlie
So it sounds like she was given a second chance because her cancer had come back. I actually have a few of the notes from those pages that the teachers gave. I just want to read very quickly a few of them out. But some of the points, you know, one of them was, our new principal is absent all the time. Our new principal speaks to us very disrespectfully. She has a my way or the highway attitude. She said. And in an exact direct quote, I can't give my staff a choice. They just need to be told what to do. Lunches and snack breaks have been taken away and teachers were exhausted without having breaks. No time to recharge. Lying. Lots of little lies. You mentioned gossiping. Amanda's constantly heard gossiping about staff members, parents and even students. Double standards about absences, leaving school. Amanda is often not present, as you spoke about. But also she wouldn't let people have any time off. Right?
- [27:25]
Alex
Right.
- [27:26]
Charlie
It says here unless she was given. They were given 14 days in advance notice. It just carries on and on about some of those details and then what happened when she came back for this second year.
- [27:42]
Alex
So we started our teacher training in August again of that year. We didn't know if Amanda was going to be there. But the funny thing is she tells us that she's going through treatment. But we can all see those of us that are friends with her on Instagram that there's pictures of her traveling. Looks like she's having this wonderful summer and she's going on vacations and all of these things. Not somebody who just said they relapsed and had cancer again. She comes back at the start of the school year. We're all thinking this is going to be addressed, and it's never spoken about. There's not a word uttered about her cancer. Just kind of confused as to what's going on. But administration will never address what's going on.
- [28:26]
Charlie
And when we did the series, we talked about someone called Ms. Cindy. Were you there when Ms. Cindy, who sadly passed away now, was raising money for her cancer?
- [28:40]
Alex
So that was that school year.
- [28:41]
Charlie
So it was the second school year as her principal.
- [28:45]
Alex
Yes. So in the fall, Ms. Cindy, she was at the school forever. So Loved. I mean, the school was her family. She didn't have her own children. I mean, she treated the kids like they were her own children. I think that's probably the hardest part about the entire thing with Amanda is not only was it how she treated all of us, but what happened with Ms. Cindy. She was diagnosed that fall. It was awful. Amanda immediately said that she would take the reins because she knew what Ms. Cindy was going through. We donated money. Amanda, of course, wasn't at school when we tried to give her the money. So I had asked Amanda, how do we get you the money? She said, oh, just put it in an envelope under my door. So I remember putting cash in an envelope, putting it underneath Amanda's door, hoping that it was going to get to Ms. Cindy. And then she said she was going to put a basket together because she knew exactly what she would need for chemo and everything. And so we didn't really get to see Ms. Cindy very much at all, because you can't be at a school with a bunch of children that have multiple viruses and things like that.
- [29:59]
Charlie
Yeah, your immune system's really low.
- [30:01]
Alex
Exactly. And so Ms. Cindy wasn't there very often. She did come. We all had a Christmas party at Amanda's house, and Ms. Cindy showed up. The whole entire time, you just felt like Amanda was trying to be the center of attention over Miss Cindy. And that kept rubbing me the wrong way, because this was our time to love on her and show her how much we love her and support her and had been praying for her and. And it was just about Amanda.
- [30:30]
Charlie
Did Ms. Cindy get the money?
- [30:32]
Alex
So we did donations. We don't know for sure what money she did get. The school ended up doing a 5050 raffle. But because Amanda had children and a husband where Ms. Cindy didn't, she was allocated more money than Ms. Cindy was.
- [30:48]
Charlie
You'd think it'd be the way around because she didn't have the support.
- [30:52]
Alex
Exactly.
- [30:53]
Charlie
And then how did things progress from there? Because I know that you're no longer at that school. So then how did things progress there? Did Amanda leave before you did, and how did that happen?
- [31:09]
Alex
Yeah, so I left first. I left a year before Amanda left that year. It just got really toxic because of everything that had happened with the board. Amanda knew that we went forward, so she was constantly watching us when she was there. I remember one time walking out of my classroom to pick up my students from lunch, and Amanda's standing at the top of the stairs. And at first I kind of was like, I'm surprised to see Amanda because, again, you didn't see Amanda very often at school, let alone on the playground. I go back to my classroom. My children had a special class. They went to pe And I got on my email and had an email from Amanda that basically said that the head yard duty teacher wrote an email that basically said that I pick up my student slate all the time and that she's been complaining to her multiple times and that I need to be there and I'm going to be written up if I'm not out there. And kind of went into this whole lengthy email. First thing is, my heart broke not thinking that this was something that wasn't truthful. I went straight to that yard duty teacher, and I told her, I said, I am so sorry if I've ever been late to pick up my students. I would never want to take advantage of your time. And she's looking at me with, like, this blank stare on her face, like, what are you talking about? So I told her the story. I just said, I just got an email. You know, Amanda told me that you've been coming to her multiple times. And she was like, I've never complained about you. You always pick up your students on time. She was sitting there like, you're being crazy right now. Like this. I've never done this. I said, I'm gonna confront Amanda. And so I went to her and I told her after school, amanda, I'd like to discuss the email with you. So she told me she'd be down in my classroom. She sat down. She was very cold when she walked in. I told her that I spoke with a yard duty teacher and that she was very adamant that this never happened. Amanda told me she. That the yard duty teacher was lying, that it had nothing to do with her. And, you know, she kept going on and on. I said, amanda, I know that she didn't do it. I don't understand why. Like, it was the first time I had ever, like, called her out and said, I don't understand why you're doing this. Like, why would you try to make me look bad if it's not true? And then she completely flips it around and says, well, I hear you're leaving and not coming back next year. I heard you're upset at the school and you don't want to be here anymore. I said, amanda, I've never said that. I said I had told a couple teachers that I might not come back next year because of health issues. I said, but if I leave the school, it's Going to be the hardest thing I ever do because I love this school, but I have to put my own family first. I can't be here if my health keeps going, continuing to deteriorate. And then she puts her hand on my knee, and she starts getting closer to me and starts saying, I know exactly how you're feeling. I try to ask Shanda all the time, you know, and tell her that I should leave, but she tells me, no, that I can do this. And so I feel like I have to stay. But I totally understand what you're going through. I have never been so outraged. Like, when she was touching me, I just was like, you're lying. You're lying to me right now. And now you're using what I'm going through to try to make it seem like what you're going through. And you first got caught in something, and you flipped it around, and now you're trying to act like, oh, no, I know what you're going through. Let me be here to, you know, have your back, and, you know, let's have a Kumbaya moment. And it's like, no, this is not what happened. So then she ended up getting up and saying that great love for you to stay, but if you have to go, I totally understand. Like, I knew that she wanted me out of the school. I knew that she didn't want me to be there anymore because I was continually bringing up this stuff. But, yeah, so it just got to this point that the toxicity on the campus, I couldn't. I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't see my friends that I loved be upset. I couldn't see the. The lies on a daily basis because it just ate me up. And I knew that there was nothing I could do because we went through every avenue we had. I just felt like everybody had to be silenced. And it was really, really tough because administration made it very, very difficult to work there. If you were not going to fall in line with Amanda. And how administration was doing it, it was like, there's the door. And it was like, you take Amanda's sickness out of it. The way that everybody was being treated on that campus was just awful. It was horrendous. I mean, like you had said the 14 days getting to be asked to get any time off. I mean, we. We had a teacher whose daughter, you know, was having headaches and went in, and she was told she needed to have an emergency mri. And the teacher went to Amanda in front of all of us and said, I need to take tomorrow off. I need to be with my daughter. And Amanda said, It's not 14 days. You didn't give me 14 days notice. And we just sat there like, when did we start working for a school that didn't prioritize family and people above being there? It was just heart wrenching. It was so heart wrenching. And it just, you felt like you were crazy. And then on top of all of that too, the conversation was, Amanda had told me that I would have her son in my class, that she wanted me to be her son's daughter teacher. And I, that was like the final straw for me. I was like, there's no way that I can be his teacher. I can't have him coming into class every day late between 10 and 10:30 with Starbucks in his hand saying that my mom, you know, one of my friends was his teacher in first grade. And he would walk in with Starbucks, he'd walk in late. He was falling behind in school. And she couldn't do anything because Amanda would just say, I'm sorry, I can't be at school. School. I knew having him and the fact that he was being kind of groomed to tell lies with his mom, it would be really, really difficult for me as a teacher because my heart as a teacher is wanting to always lift up my students, help them, protect them. And when I know this is going on and I can't do anything about it, I just, I knew it would be too much to continue. So I decided not to come back for the following school year.
- [37:46]
Bailey
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- [39:19]
Charlie
What impact did that have on you?
- [39:22]
Alex
It was a huge impact. There were actually about seven to eight teachers that left. We were all deemed troublemakers. They were telling parents that, which was crushing to my spirit because I loved this school. I poured so much into the kids and families and I loved them like they were my own. And then to literally be told that I'm this troublemaker teacher and that I needed to leave and all of this when I'm protecting you by not going out and saying all these things about administration. I just put it on my health and said I needed to go. I went through such a depression that first year and I didn't even talk about it to people. I felt like I had let down my friends, the people I loved, that I couldn't do anything to protect them. I felt like this career that I had that I wanted since I was in kindergarten was taken from me. I still to this day don't think I could ever go back into teaching ever again. Because just being in a school environment, the trauma and what happened, being torn down and the way I was made to feel was so hard. It was really, really tough. It still is tough. But I honestly feel like the podcast, hearing all of the other people that were victims too, and that she made to feel horribly. And I know there's people that were treated way worse than me. And when I think of Corey's daughter and everything and just it's heart wrenching to me. But yeah, I'm so grateful for this podcast because honestly, like, I feel like the first time I can move forward in a long time where I've been kind of stuck for many years since I've left.
- [41:16]
Charlie
I'm just sorry that, you know, I'm supposed to sit here and ask the questions, but I'm going to comment. You left the job, and I think, understandably, it's very hard to be in that kind of environment, never mind whether somebody's lying or not. But the fact that this is a career that you dreamt of since you were a child, you worked really hard. It's not easy being a teacher at all. And you've not been able to continue your career because of what she's done. Yeah, it's really. I'm sorry for that.
- [41:51]
Alex
Thank you. I just. You saying that, I don't want to get choked up. Like, it's, like, validating. Like, when I left, I was made to feel like I did something so wrong and that I had been doing something wrong for those years that I was there. But I knew it with such conviction that what I was doing was right. But the way that I was treated by that administration, that's still there to this day, and how they made me feel like I was this horrible person. It was tough. It's super, super tough. And it's like every school year, when the school year begins, it's like my heart just drops because I'm getting my kids ready for school. And it's like, I want to be in my classroom. I want to be teaching. I want to be loving on these kids and these scars. I have to learn how to work through them if I'm ever gonna figure out a way to get back in the classroom.
- [42:51]
Charlie
Well, again, I don't want to speak out of turn. On a side note, I've got quite a lot of experience in trauma, and I think it's something you should definitely grow through and teach because, well, from, you know, we've met you, and yes, I think education deserves teachers like you. So maybe, hopefully, this is something that you can, you know, now that you know what's happened, it's something that you can maybe think about trying again. What do you think about Amanda now and the fact that she has been sentenced for this?
- [43:31]
Alex
That's the funny thing, is that even through all of it, when I looked at Amanda, all I wanted was for her to get help. I know that it didn't end with Pac Point.
- [43:43]
Charlie
So, hang on. Did she leave Pac Point as principal or did she get pushed?
- [43:47]
Alex
Yeah, so they said that she resigned due to health issues. Probably more like they said that she needed to leave is my guess. But what they told all the parents and everything was that. And the staff was that she resigned due to health issues. And that still painted that story. There's two sides to every story. You can't believe what you read. You need to remember who Amanda is, like, all of these things. And so it was really, really tough when all of that came out because she was still heavily being backed by the school. It makes me sad because my sister got diagnosed with cancer right at the beginning of the pandemic in February, and she passed away six months later. And she had lung cancer, stage four. It had metastasized through her whole entire body when they had found out, like, she had 20 plus tumors in her brain. It was all through her body, her bones, muscles, everywhere by the time that they had found it. And she had just went in one day feeling like she was having heart palpitations, and they found everything. By August, she had passed away. And so I saw firsthand what cancer does to somebody. And when I hear that Amanda was like, saying that she had lung cancer and it was stage four, like, I saw that firsthand. I saw what somebody just crying and screaming in pain because the cancer's all over their body and can't do anything about it. You know, I. My sister, like, got down to like 70 something pounds and passed away. I mean, it was horrendous. And even through all of that, it was like the administration, like, still wouldn't reach out, wouldn't say anything. Like, it's just. It's just hard because it's like, I feel like the administration has put such a target to make me and my family and all those other teachers look so bad that it's like when it comes down to real life, like, you're willing to back somebody that faked cancer, but then people that are really going through cancer, like Ms. Cindy, and there were other teachers that had other health issues at that campus, and guys didn't do anything. You know, you guys didn't have their backs. I feel like Ms. Cindy, the entire time, the school barely was there to support her because, again, it was more about Amanda, because Amanda loved the showiness and loved to be in the limelight. And Ms. Cindy was the type of person that was like, I will give you the shirt off my back. I'm the person that will do anything for anybody. And she got this back road help where Amanda was, you know, front and center through the whole entire thing with hers. And it just. It's so heartbreaking to me because it's like there are some of the best people I've ever met in my life that work at that school. I've grown so much from those people and how selfless they are. What the administration did was not okay to those teachers and to the parents, even, but the way that those teachers are treated is so wrong. And it still continues in this protection mode of Amanda, and it's. It's not okay. It's not okay.
- [47:15]
Charlie
I'm sorry, firstly, about your sister.
- [47:17]
Alex
Thank you.
- [47:18]
Charlie
That's really upsetting and I can imagine extremely painful for you and your family. And I appreciate even more that you're sharing it because of your own experience.
- [47:30]
Alex
Yeah.
- [47:30]
Charlie
But, yeah, just I want to say thank you so much for sharing with us, and I hope in some way it gives you a little bit of closure with everything that you've been through.
- [47:42]
Alex
Definitely. No, thank you. I appreciate, like, that's been my hope and prayer through all of this, is just getting to speak about it and to you guys who actually believe me, is so therapeutic and I think also helps me to move on. I feel like I've been taking breasts that I haven't taken in years, and I feel like for the first time, I'm, like, actually hopeful for the future where I kind of felt like I've been stuck for a really, really long time. And I never wanted to, like, I want to be the joyful mom to my kids and stuff. And so I've, like, put on a good face. But I feel like I've been really, really stuck since leaving, and I felt like I lost a lot of people in my life that I loved. And being on here and just getting to share, and in a way that I feel like it's being received in love, it means a lot to my heart, and I thank you for that.
- [48:44]
Charlie
Well, thank you. And I just want to assure you that you're not the only one. There's a lot of people, and, you know, you are part of that community, and so what you're feeling, don't feel it in isolation because there's a big community that are with you and have been treated the same. And, you know, I'm sure we'll support you moving forward. So hopefully, you know, this is, like I said, a bit of healing to move forward now.
- [49:12]
Alex
Definitely.
- [49:13]
Charlie
Thank you.
- [49:14]
Alex
Thank you, guys very much.
- [49:16]
Charlie
Thanks to our guests today and, you know, really hope you enjoyed our last bonus episode. Episode and getting, you know, a real. A real deeper understanding into who Amanda is and. And how this was all done. And thank you for listening and for making this show what it is. We really do appreciate it, and we hope you stay tuned for more from Liarsgate Sound. Thank you again. During the production of this podcast, we reached out several times to the superintendent at Pacific Point Christian Schools for comment. We are yet to get a response. Scamander is hosted and produced by me, Charlie Webster and produced by Jackson McLennan. Edit and theme music by Nico Palella Assistant Producer Casey Hertz Assistant Editor Seema Greywall Additional production support from Stephen Sletton, Will Hagel and Nicole Urban executive produced by me, Charlie Webster and Nancy Moscatello. Scamander is a Lionsgate Sound production engineered by Pilgrim Media Group.
- [50:39]
Bailey
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Freddie
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