Story Archive

The New Normal

To teach swimming in Michigan schools, a teacher has to be a certified lifeguard. Johnathan Lamonte Sails, 24, a “long-time” substitute teacher at East Detroit High School, didn’t have that certification, but the school assigned him to teach swimming anyway. When a teenaged student sank to the bottom, other students informed Sails — but he was too far away to actually see what was going on and said the 15-year-old was “just fooling around.” When he finally saw the boy really was in trouble, he headed to the locker room to change his clothes. An assistant principal in suit and tie dove into the water to save the boy, but it was too late: he had drowned. “This is tragic but more importantly it certainly could have been prevented,” said Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith. “The inaction by Mr. Sails rises above normal negligence. It is a case of gross negligence.” And that is what he has charged Sails with. Smith thinks the school district is culpable too, for assigning Sales to a job he was not qualified to hold. “We tried to put together a case against East Detroit schools,” Smith said, “but we could not.” (RC/Macomb Daily) ...I guess their actions could only be proven to be normal negligence.
Story Update: After several years of legal maneuvering, Sails eventually pleaded no contest in a plea bargain to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He faced up to 15 years in prison, but instead was sentenced to a day in jail — with credit for time served — plus two years on probation and 60 hours of community service. “Given his background, I believe that society is better served with him in it,” declared Macomb County Circuit Judge James M. Maceroni. By then the family of KeAir Swift, 14, had filed a lawsuit against Sails. Another tidbit that came out in trial: Sails was a competitive swimmer in high school, and lied to police when questioned, claiming he did have a valid lifeguard certification. “There’s plenty of fault to go around,” shrugged Sails’ attorney, Robert Leonetti. “It’s not like he wanted the job,” he said. “They just came in one day and said ‘you’re assigned to the pool.’” I was not able to find details of the lawsuit, which probably means it was settled and sealed, even though the settlement was probably paid with taxpayer money.
Original Publication Date: 09 March 2014
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 20.

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