Submitted Stories & Statements

"The recent news reporting of Mr. Johnson threatening a parent was unfortunately not surprising, as that seems to be par for the course for him.

Mr. Johnson is more chief-of-bullying than he is chief of anything. He attacks, demeans, intimidates, and threatens anyone who he perceives to be in his way. He has consolidated power under the auspices of Chief of Staff, which is a title he did nothing to earn and a position for which he possesses no qualification or endorsement.

The district and this Board must hold themselves to the standards that Dr. Roby preaches, but appears unwilling to enforce."

- GRPS Teacher

"I have read drunk, late night rants from Larry that are hostile and aggressive. I have seen the power grabs. Everyone quits because of Larry.

If you cross King Larry, you are gone. His wife and son both work under him, and they don't report it on the nepotism report. FOIA conversations with Ms. Lusk. Look at the raises after CARES money. They couldn't wait to give raises to admin."

- Former HR Staff

"I was retaliated against by Larry because I made a complaint about the poor behavior and disrespect of one of his security guards. Rather than hear me out, he made it his personal mission to retaliate against me."

- GRPS Teacher

"Our school does not have a secure entrance and anyone can just come in as they are buzzed in from the Secretary in the hidden office. I have brought this up multiple times to leadership including Larry Johnson. He said they would 'look into it' and still it is insecure. This is not a new building so this has been an issue for the entire tenure of his job. I feel that he does not care about our safety at all, but if anything ever happens, I want him held personally responsible."

- GRPS Teacher

"Larry fired one of his staff members after an event at houseman field. With multiple witnesses, he fired the security officer on the spot, because the officer questioned Larry about him yelling at the staff after a long shift.

When the staff member went to HR to talk and ask if he really was fired, someone informed him that he allegedly used 'racial slurs' to Larry. There were multiple witnesses and statements taken from each. Talking to some of the witnesses, they stated that the security officer was simply telling Larry he was wrong, nothing more."

- Anonymous Staff

"(Relayed to me by a staff member would never share this due to fear.) About 15 or so years ago, they witnessed this man pick up a student by the neck, slam him against a house, and say 'you better stop or I’ll rip your fucking head off.' This was outside GRPS University where a fight had broken out. He grabbed the kid he thought was the 'ring leader.' They never told anyone about this.

- Anonymous Staff

"Last year when there were multiple weapons incidents at Burton, there was never any formal follow up with students that was provided as part of the district’s safety and security protocol. The morning after a gun was found in the building, it was business as usual. The students were given no education, no collective conversation to process what had happened or to discuss how to prevent the same thing from happening again.

Thankfully the leadership at Burton put something together to address the impact the previous day’s events had on their students. Not only are the district's safety and security protocols outdated (written in 2010 with no revisions), they also give staff no direction for follow up after an event. Staff are left to handle the impact in whatever way they see fit.

Staff need very clear guidance on how to handle the collective trauma after these types of incidences occur."

- Anonymous Staff

"It’s utterly ridiculous to simply encourage clear backpacks. The few families in the district who opt in are certainly not the families who actually need that level of transparency (pun slightly intended). We need action, not further weakly-supported suggestions. If it’s a backpack solution, allocate some funds and make them available for the families who can’t afford them. I think it’s time for change."

- GRPS Parent

"The first and only time I’ve been around this person he told a woman (staff) not to cut her hair short and presented the statement with a face of disgust. To note: he was not part of the conversation and wasn’t asked for this opinion. How rude and frankly inappropriate for him to comment and demand something of a woman’s body."

- Anonymous Staff

"Larry Johnson brought an embezzlement investigation to me and my two secretary coworkers for working over time. (Overtime that is mandatory in his department BTW.) after the investigation and us being brought down to Franklin Campus to be questioned, nothing else was said. No apology letter, no email declaring the results of the investigation, no mea culpa on the district's behalf. I am still waiting on my apology from the district but more specifically him."

- Anonymous Staff

"I worked with Mr. Johnson for many years. When his son was hired, it was not clear what his job was supposed to be. Another employee told me that they had expressed concerns to Mr. Johnson about his son’s work performance. His response was to relocate his son to GRPS University. As an employee, we always had to fill out nepotism forms but I’m not sure that Mr. Johnson got the memo."

- Retired Employee

"I worked in a school that had an asbestos problem and we were all moved to GRPS University for the remainder of the year. Larry Johnson was a menace while we were there - he consistently was rude to the staff and yelled at students.

I remember walking a 1st grader through the hallway and the child touched one of the TVs on the wall and Larry started hollering at the child, yelling "Can't you read?!" while pointing to the sign asking that no one touch the monitors. I had to comfort and quickly move the very confused child away from this grown man having a temper tantrum. He hated that he had to share the building with us and made sure we all felt it."

- Former Parapro

"After an asbestos breach during a construction project, our school was relocated to GRPS University for the duration of the school year. During the months we were there, staff were written up for the smallest infractions that never would have been an issue had we been in our own building (such as using a toaster with students), students were written up and suspended at an alarming rate and disproportionate lengths of time (one student was suspended for 5 weeks), and teachers and staff were instructed that we were not allowed to speak directly to Mr. Johnson."

- GRPS Teacher

"I taught at a school that was shut down due to an asbestos breach during construction. Our staff and students were moved to GRPS University, also the home of the GRPS security office.

While in that building, Larry Johnson treated us like second class citizens. He insisted our students not be in the hall without escorts, even just to the bathroom. He also insisted we only use the front entrance to enter and exit the build but would not allow us to park in the front parking lot like the security staff was able to. I was not given a space to store the equipment I used for PE but was chastised for having a messy gym.

He made the last 4 months of that school year miserable for many, if not all, of our staff, students, and families."

- Former Faculty

"During the pandemic, when schools were shut down and staff were working remotely, Larry Johnson knew that one of his subordinates had moved out of state and accepted another full-time position with a software company and was double-dipping.

When we started coming back to the office, Larry relocated this staff member’s office to GRPS University so that the staff member’s absence would not be as conspicuous as it would be if the staff member was not at the BOE building with everyone else."

- Anonymous Staff

"When contacting Mr. Larry Johnson on the phone he would answer and say he was busy. We called a few times for an urgent matter and one day he relented and then consistently addressed my husband with the incorrect pronunciation of his name. When my husband told him the correct pronunciation Mr. Johnson aggressively replied 'I am reading your name right here, it says Mr. …," once again refusing to correctly say his name.

He was condescending, rude, and disagreeable from the beginning. It makes us so sad that this man is in anyway in charge of anything to do with our children when he has so little respect for us as parents."

- Anonymous Parent

"Larry Johnson threatened a parent after bullets were found on a school bus and in the bathroom at Coit School. (2015-2016) The mother questioned Larry Johnson and he threatened her. The parent pulled the children from the school system... GRPS is run by vindictive and incompetent people."

- Retired Teacher