On October 24, Chris Pryor the Matanzas High School principal, posted a few announcements on his school’s website, among them this note: “I want to welcome our newest Faculty member, Mr. David Morden. Mr. Morden is our new Band Director and is taking over for Mr. Steve Knob who stepped down due to family medical issues. We wish Mr. Knob well and thank Mr. Morden for stepping in so quickly.”
Knob, who’d been teaching band at Matanzas since 2006, had this year also picked up teaching band at Indian Trails Middle School, and has a distinguished, 25-year career behind him, had abruptly resigned on Oct. 7, a Friday. “Family medical issues” were not the reason. That day, Pryor and two other school officials caught him downloading porn on his school-issued laptop, at school, before class. Knob, who was confronted by Pryor in the act, didn’t deny what he was doing. The computer was seized.
School officials had been suspecting that porn sites were being accessed since September, Kristy Gavin, the school board’s attorney, said, but it wasn’t until early October that hard evidence led to the discovery. “It was happening during the school day, but not during class time,” Gavin said, and as far as the district knows, none of the material downloaded is illegal, though the computer remains in Gavin’s custody and may be turned over to the Department of Education in Tallahassee. The department is conducting its own investigation to determine whether to pull Knob’s teaching license.
The School District’s Veiled Announcement
Knob didn’t break the law. But he broke school policy and breached school ethics, both of which, depending on the severity of the offense, are potential ground for firing. Pryor said he was not forthright about the reason for Knob’s resignation because he went by what Knob had written in his resignation document, though he was clearly aware of the real reason. Pryor said he would leave it to Superintendent Janet Valentine to explain the district’s position. “I’m still only going to put down what he put in his resignation,” Pryor said, declining to go further.
Valentine defended the district going along with Knob’s description of his resignation, saying it wouldn’t have served any purpose to explain further why he had resigned. “Our purpose was for him not to teach at Matanzas High School,” Valentine said. That was achieved the moment he stepped down of his own accord, she said, though she did not dispute the severity of the policy breach. “I realize he violated a policy, yes, and enough so that we did what we needed to do and we submitted that to the Department of Education.”
The resignation took place near the culmination of marching season for Matanzas’s 90 students. Knob had another 60-some students at Indian Trails. The Matanzas band was due to perform in a competition in Melbourne the following week, and was set to go despite the resignation, but was essentially saved from the trip by the storms that broke over the region, cancelling the event. Marching season is now over. “My main concern is for the kids,” Pryor said, citing the disruption in the students’ semester, and rumors that had been swirling. “It’s an awful thing for our kids.” Morden, Knob’s replacement at Matanzas and Indian Trails, was teaching band at Deltona Middle School before taking the Flagler job.
Knob himself, whose one-page annual evaluations have rated him on various criteria as either outstanding or very effective year after year, said: “I made an extremely poor personal choice.” He added: “This is completely a private matter. No one else was involved or anything. That’s all I can tell you.”
The Investigation
Knob had been under the impression that the school district would not reveal why he had resigned. The district did not, in fact, volunteer the information, and its official story was Pryor’s. But questions have been raised in the community about Knob’s abrupt departure, and rumors were circulating, some of them false, such as a claim that the computer had been seized by the FBI. When asked directly about the reason for Knob’s resignation and any investigation that may have led to it, Gavin explained that what investigation took place was conducted by the district’s information technology department, and that the teacher’s resignation pre-empted the district from going further, essentially closing the case at this end—but not at DOE’s end. The district prepared affidavits for DOE, which are not public record until the case is closed in Tallahassee, too.
Knob’s employee file does contain emails from two district employees involved in the discovery. One, an “incident report,” was written just hours after Knob was confronted, at 11:50 a.m. on Oct. 7, by Mike Pinto to Ryan Deising, the IT director in the district.
“I’ve been in the process of installing/recovering needed applications due to a crash the previous week,” Pinto wrote. “Thursday October 6th I was adding all the faculty machines by site in Apple Remote Desktop. I noticed one computer from Matanzas in particular was logged in as Administrator, which I found odd. Upon further inspection the user logged on the machine was looking at inappropriate content.” The district’s internet access is controlled, for most employees, by a filter that prevents most—but not necessarily all—pornographic content from getting through. It’s not clear how Knob acquired an “administrator”‘s sign-on, usually reserved for IT personnel–a sign-on that even Pryor doesn’t have.
“Shortly after the user logged out the account ‘knobst’ was logged in to the same machine,” Pinto, a senior network technician, continues. “I brought it up to my superiors attention and was told to gather as much information as possible through further monitoring/logging. When I arrived to work the following morning the user was logged in as Administrator, looking at inappropriate content. I took multiple screen captures of the content along with the use of the built-in camera on the computer to identify the end user. From this juncture my superior informed school administrators of the situation and was further handled by them and the tech on site.”
On Oct. 11, Justin Brush, another senior network technician in the district, provided the following statement to Deising: “On Thursday October 6th, I was informed by Mike Pinto that someone was looking at explicit material on a computer at my school. I was unable to confirm visually at the time who was on the computer due to it being the end of the day and the user logging off. On Friday the 7th, at 7:43 am I received a call that it was happening again and attempted to contact an administrator, who was off campus at the time, and I didn’t want to risk the person logging off, so I walked into the back of the 200 building and saw Steven Knob sitting at the computer. I immediately went to Chris Pryor about the issue and explained everything that had happened. After we confirmed that it was Steven Knob, by taking pictures with the webcam on the computer we were monitoring for explicit material, I informed Chris that it was definitely him. Afterwards Chris Pryor, Bob Sawyer, and myself contacted GSB”—the Government Services Building, location of the school district offices—“to make sure he was in fact looking at the material when we went to confront him about it. When we walked in he never denied it and I took the
appropriate screenshots to confirm the computer was the one we had been monitoring. I then, immediately, took the laptop back to the government services building, to our technology office for further inspection.”
Gavin said the district has no information that would lead it to believe that anyone else was involved, but she said that IT, “the beginning of that week, they started seeing the pattern where he took the pictures and downloaded them to a folder.” She said school officials had to be absolutely certain about who was using the computer, since computers may easily be used by people other than those assigned to them, which is why it took several days to lead to Knob in the act.
Knob’s Distinguished History
Knob, 52, was making $61,400 last year. He had taught in Hamilton County schools for two years in the mid-1980s, then at Lake Worth High School until 1992, when—after taking 92 students to London’s New Year’s Day parade and leading them in a performance at Royal Albert Hall—he went to graduate school at the University of Arkansas, earning a master’s of music education in 1994 and resuming his teaching career—three years in Lee County schools, one in Russell County, Ky., four in Hopkinsville, Ky., then back in the Palm Beach County school district in 2003 and the St. Johns school district in 2005, before landing in Flagler the following year. Knob’s wife is a counselor at Flagler Palm Coast High School.
Knob’s record appears spotless, and his musical proficiency quite vast, having performed in innumerable bands and choirs and played a dozen instruments. He was awarded the Kentucky legislature Award for Excellence in 1998, and made the Who’s Who in America in 2003. He was set to take the Matanzas band to London to march in a holiday parade there in 2010, but that invitation, offered in 2008 for 2010, fell through with budget cuts.
“The most important thing in teaching students is to teach them to become good people first,” he’d written in answer to a question about his mission and beliefs in his application for work in Flagler six years ago. “I use music to teach ideas that will carry them through the rest of their lives. Discipline, hard work, dedication, responsibility, teamwork, taking direction and criticism, and giving praise are all ideas they need to get through life, not just school or band. When we make them better people, a better band and school student will also result.”
Tom Harris says
Wow, I did not know that they were able to watch you through a laptop webcam. In this case, it was used for a good purpose but you have to wonder if this kind of technology is a good thing. Can they also watch you at home if you take your laptop with you?
The Truth says
Tom Harris: I assume if you are using a school issued laptop, they can watch you where ever. You are using something that belongs to the school and I’m sure that is part of their computer usage policy.
Tom Harris says
I was just surprised that this technology existed. You hear about ‘big brother’ and all that but the idea that they can monitor you on a camera even while you are at home, that is really scary. Maybe I am just paranoid.
Anonymous says
…”Knob didn’t break the law. But he broke school policy and breached school ethics, both of which, depending on the severity of the offense, are potential ground for firing. Pryor said he was not forthright about the reason for Knob’s resignation because he went by what Knob had written in his resignation document, though he was clearly aware of the real reason. Pryor said he would leave it to Superintendent Janet Valentine to explain the district’s position. “I’m still only going to put down what he put in his resignation,” Pryor said, declining to go further.”…
He did not break the law? You mean to say watching porn at school and on taxpayer owned property is perfectly legal?
…“My main concern is for the kids,” Pryor said, citing the disruption in the students’ semester, and rumors that had been swirling. “It’s an awful thing for our kids.”
Really??? This administrator’s priorities are totally misguided. Obviously, finding a replacement was not difficult at all. So the real concern here should be protecting not only these kids, but other kids in other schools from this. Yet he willingly went along with the person lying about his reason for resigning. Not to mention the extremes the person went to in order to engage in this activity. Securing an administrator’s password, and who the hell wakes up, showers , gets dressed, leaves the house and go off and watches porn that early? And in a school setting at that? What the heck does he do afterwards – stares at the young ladies with their boobs hanging out and butt cheeks showing, or the yong boys with their pants hanging below their butts. This is totally sick!!!
And someone seriously needs to question this administrator’s judgement here.
Liana G says
@ Tom – This technology has been around for a while now, including the ones that allow employers to track how much time their employees spend surfing the internet at work and the sites they log on to. My brother is an IT project manager and lives in another state yet he is has remote access to my computers and logs in and clean them up whenever I need him to. It’s fascinating to be able to sit in front of my computer and see all that he is doing from so far away.
This is embarrassing. I’m not impressed with the school administrator’s handling of it – a person working among kids doing that kind of stuff should not be allowed to resign for family reasons. I guess it’s okay for him to go work in another school among other kids under false reasons. Seriously? Concern for kids means concern for ALL kids for the RIGHT reasons – their safety and protection – not trump up hogwash about finding a replacement.
Chris Hickey says
I am the Drum Major at Matanzas High School, In authority, I am only second to the band director. If Mr Knob, a teacher of mine that I’ve have for over 6 years ever did anything wrong in front of a student I would know. As long as he ilegedly did was done in private, there should be no backlash as “anonymous” wrote. I felt as though Mr Knob was a father to me, my father hasn’t always been there to teach me, or around as much to answer my questions, but Mr Knob was always there to guide and defend us from whatever need be. He taught all of us how to survive highschool and that it was only a stepping stone and that I’d we had a chance in the world that we were going to need to be ready. So what if he’s a man. You people are so quick to judge a person by one actions. But it’s always the people with 10 flaws that want to point out the people with one. Because of this stupid clause in the code of conduct, the administration put a 17 year old kid(myself) in charge of a band program for two weeks. I’m sure that no adult has ever been responsible for 90 kids at one time. Then came the overwhelming task of easing Mr Morden’s arrivle to the school. Making his major changes feel minor to the students is something that no one on this website could ever know. The pain you feel because you have no idea how to do this, because no one you know has done it. I am forever thankful to Mr Knob, no matter what he did, and I will forever be in his gratitude for changing my life for the better. So quick to pluck the twig from ones eye then to pluck the stump from thine own.
Chris Hickey
Drum Major of the Band of Pirates
Thinkaboutit says
looking at adult material does not mean the man’s a child molester or child predator, for goodness sake! He was goofing off at work basically. hopefully his career, life and marriage doesn’t end over this.
anonymousresponse says
The school administrator went along with it because knob has a son that goes to the school and a wife that works there… he did not want to create embarassment and non stop questioning for both of them. He also didn’t want his students to be affected by what had really happened. His mistakes should not affect the message he was sending out to the kids. Yes, it is wrong what he did, but they don’t need to focus on what wrongdoings he did, but on the discipline and succession he wanted to instill in them. It makes him seem hypocritical for trying to teach them willpower and everything, but they don’t need to live with knowing someone they looked up to is a hypocrite. So yes, it was for protection of the kids. As for protecting the other children, like thinkaboutit said, hes not a molester and if they have the technology to detect such usage as this, then they are doing their job.
I. M. Agoste says
@Tom Harris: Granted, the unfortunately named Mr Knob shouldn’t have been using school property to view pron but you’d be surprised to find what’s out there surveillance-wise. I’m paranoid so I’ve picked up a few C-Slides (C-Slide.com) to cover the lens on the laptops. I also take the battery out of my cellphone when not in use, and do everything short of wrapping tinfoil around my head. ;) Let’s face it, technology has made it very easy to spy on others.
The Geode says
@Thinkaboutit – I agree. It’s not like it was “child porn” which would be an entirely different matter but an adult watching adults. Who cares? BTW …who “downloads” porn anyway? You’re supposed to “stream” it.
Begonia says
Is no one reading the papers, watching the news re Penn State?
You CANNOT HAVE THIS at a school or any other place of employment. Most with larger companies know they are being spied on by their employers. When you business is ONLINE, you’d better believe they are spying.
As for Chris Hickey, why isn’t somebody outside the school investigating this. This boy is carrying too much responsibility and needs some help, some counseling. He should not be involved in ANY of this. No wonder our schools are failing.
BiggerProblem says
I hope they do an investigation in to all teachers at these schools. There have been lots of rumors about other teachers doing the same.
Thinkaboutit says
To I.M. Agoste: I will look up C-Slide.com (b/c I have no idea!) , but what’s up with taking the battery out of cell phones when not in use? Obviously you are NOT being paranoid, if businesses have this ability, probably the government has even greater capability!
ThosePoorKids says
To me, at this moment, the most disturbing part of this article is it’s timing. Why wait over a month later, when the kids had pulled together to make it through the end of their Marching Season, and were just starting to settle into their new normal? Now they have their lives completely disrupted all over again.
Thank goodness they have a strong leader in Chris Hickey!
Laura says
There is no nit-picking your way through the pornography debate.
Child porn is violence against children.
Adult porn is violence against women.
It is putrescence against mankind.
Viewing pornography in any location supports the industry of violence & corruption.
Veiling is a pretty word for lying, proving corruption is contagious.
This is no longer “completely a private matter” when it steps into the arena of taxpayer-funded employment.
Mr. Knob states, “no one else was involved or anything.”
Maybe he will think again when he realizes that his “extremely poor personal choice” may have caused a real life “family medical emergency.”
Tell the truth and let the consequences fall where they must.
Mr. Knob’s own words must now ring true for his own life~
“Discipline, hard work, dedication, responsibility, teamwork, taking direction and criticism, and giving praise are all ideas they need to get through life, not just school or band. When we make them better people, a better band and school student will also result.”
There is no wiggle room out of this for Mr. Knob.
His glowing accomplishments stand for what they are.
I hope he will allow this poor personal choice to resolve a good work in his life.
And the band played on.
{{* *}}
Jojo says
I beg your pardon but we live in a sex crazed society. It seems that not a week goes by that I read something of a sexual nature or watch a news story of some type of sexual incident. I often wonder if it’s the hot weather in Florida that attracts such pervasive criminal acts.
We are a society that relishes sex and all it’s taboos. I mean, after all, while watching the evening news we are inundated by commercials of Viagra. I pity the family watching these commercials while teenage children are in the room. The commercials alone seem to tempt teenagers to commit to sexual acts.
However, in an about face, I do believe that Mr Knob is entitled to respect and privacy issues. Further, I don’t believe that this incident should have went beyond the realm of plastering and made known Mr Knob’s
deviance by the above comments so far. So far, this case has not risen to that of a criminal nature.
I don’t know Mr Knob nor have I ever met him. Who am I to say that he needs help. Perhaps, this was a way for Mr Knob to release stress and tension in his daily life. Was it wrong? Of course, but Mr Knob is entitled to privacy and help despite the circus atmosphere created by the school administration.
The IT Department had a big caper on their hand and caught a big fish. But, the big fish got away because someone in IT gave Mr Knob an Administrator’s Pass. There’s a bigger culprit walking the corridors of Matanza’s High School or, THE IT DEPARTMENT.
JL says
Yes, they can watch you at home. A school in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania was caught doing just that. They were taking pictures of students in their bedrooms. The students hadn’t noticed the light blinking, which is a clue the webcam was activated. The school loaned out laptops with the webcams built in.
anonymousresponse says
begonia,
Yes, let us bring some random stranger who knows abosolutely nothing about music or the way the band itself runs to operate for 2 weeks over the head of a perfectly capable drum major with enough passion to run the band. That makes so much sense. Schools are failing because parents think everything has to be so hunky dory for students with “no worries”. Mr.Knob luckily helped shape Chris enough that he handled it perfectly in Knobs absence and for that, we thank him.
Jesse says
to Begonia,
Are you really going to blame the failing of our schools on a students ability to lead a program?
One persons Falters shouldn’t induce the failing of a system, Yes he messed up, but then again what have you done lately to help our program? I have been in the Band program for 7 Years, and i have also been in a world class Drum Corp, There is no way that you can state a Absurd opinion that 1 students effort is causing the downfall of our school system. Get your story right before you go pointing fingers at who is the bad guy.
Begonia says
anonymousresponse: Yes, he is most definitely to be thanked. But Chris is a child, a student. You must never forget that.
He is not ready to handle all that goes with this baggage.
anonymousresponse says
Yes but no matter if they would have brought in someone to help or not, no one knows a band better than someone who has been a part of it long enough that it can take leadership to handle the situation accordingly.
johndoe says
@begonia
i guarantee there was a ‘substitute’ teacher in the classroom, but Chris the DRUM MAJOR (if you dont know what a drum major is google it) was conducting the band LIKE HE IS SUPPOSED TO AND TAUGHT TO.
Liana G says
…”On Friday the 7th, at 7:43 am I received a call that it was happening again and attempted to contact an administrator, who was off campus at the time, and I didn’t want to risk the person logging off, so I walked into the back of the 200 building and saw Steven Knob sitting at the computer.”…
High school starts at 8:00am so technically at 7:43am this teacher was ‘on the clock’ . In addition, at 7:43am most students are already on campus. Some could have seen – maybe some did see. This has nothing to do about speck and log in a person’s eye and everything to do with a grown person in a responsible position going to extremes to acess highly inappropriate content in a school environment when kids are around.
Maybe the school district may want to reconsider their policy of having spouses work at the same school to avoid future disgrace and embarrassment to the other spouse. This would also allow administrators to do their job rather than having to ‘cover up’ for the sake of the other spouse.
Public education dollars is for educating our kids and not for job security and protection for those engaging in inappropriate behavior on school grounds. Another incident of this district joining ranks to protect its people at the expense of kids and the taxpayers who pay their salaries.
Begonia says
Jesse, I didn’t blame ANYONE, LEAST of all Chris Hickey. Our students are too young to be held responsible for our school programs. That is why they hire bandleaders.
Any school who is placing this responsibility entirely on the shoulders of any student without an adult, is wrong. We have many in the community who would voluntarily come forward to assist had they known there was a need.
I am concerned for the weight and responsibility Chris apparently is carrying. You totally misunderstood what I was saying.
And for the record, Mr. Knob did a lot more than “mess up.”
Layla says
Chris proudly points out that Mr. Knob helped them to survive school and acted as a mentor in the absence of his own father. Mr. Knob apparently failed to teach Chris and the students about taking responsibility for bad decisions.
Good luck you to the band and their new bandleader.
johndoe says
Begonia: watch this video, if anything, the unfortunate lack of a ‘band director’ helped chris, but the band still had a staff people who ‘guided and lead’ the band besides just chris,
IsTheBandReady says
Please let it be known to all that no matter what Mr.Knob has done, all of his former students still love and admire him. To me, he was a father figure. To others, he is a friend, mentor, and teacher. He treated us all as if we were his own children, and he cared for and respected every musician that stepped foot in his band room. So to anyone out there who believes that Steve Knob is a bad person, you need to step out of your bubble of ignorance and see him for who he really is; A great teacher, and a good person.
As for Chris, I’m extremely grateful that he is our Drum Major. For two weeks, he was our rock. Sure, there were adults helping, supervising and guiding us, but Chris was really our anchor. He helped us get through the initial shock of Knob’s resignation, and the gratitude I have towards him is immense.
To anyone reading this, I ask not only as a former student, but as a girl who is crushed by peoples’ rude comments, to please restrain from judging Mr.Knob by this one action.
MHS Band Student says
There’s a point in this matter that nobody really brought up yet. Has the departure of Mr. Knob, albeit for good reasons, negatively affected the music program and students more so than the pornography? Anybody who has ever been apart of any school related band function will easily tell you that this is probably going to cause the band to largely deteriorate in terms of skill within the coming years. There will never be another like Mr. Knob. Another things is, this was something nobody expected at all! That itself goes to show that his skill as a mentor and teacher was never once affected by the material he was viewing inside his office. I’m not trying to make an excuse for him or anything. He obviously did something that warranted him resigning or being fired. That happened. I really wish some people could just leave it at that. There’s no use in beating a dead horse. These are just some things to think about.
Heartbroken Band Student says
I can speak for myself and many other band students when I say that Mr. Knob has done nothing but lead us in the right direction for the entire duration of us knowing him, and for myself that was the entire time he was employed in this county. For five (plus some) years, Mr. Knob had been a bigger influence on my life than my own father, even than my own pastor at church. He always gave us skills that would, not only help us in band, but also in life.
Yes, what he did was wrong. However, us as humans judging him as this horrible wrongdoer is even worse of us. As Chris said, taken from the Bible, ” So quick to pluck the twig from ones eye then to pluck the stump from thine own.” No single person reading this cannot attest to doing something of similar nature, he just happened to be the one who got caught. Can we deny that Barack Obama has watched porn? Absolutely not. So should we revoke his presidency because of this humanly thing? It may not have been the time nor the place, but there wasn’t a soul harmed in his wrongdoing. There were NO students anywhere near the area, and there has never been any harassment or crude behavior displayed towards students.
What’s done is done, but before we’re so quick to judge someone else, and speak of someone of such great influence so badly, we need to take a look at ourselves. Would all of his band students STILL be sticking up for him if he hadn’t been a great man, teacher, and role-model?
Palm-Coast-A-Joke says
First of all, for the people defending this, when you actually grow up and become an adult you’ll realize how foolish you are to defend it. If someone is blatantly stupid enough to do this at school they are a moron. Tell me this all you wizards of knowledge out there, if a grown married father does this at school what else could he be capable of? Before you fly off your emotional handle take a second to think about it.
Matanzas is a joke. Terrible leadership infiltrated with the insider good ole boy network. A yes man school (do what you are told or get black balled). The principal covered it up because he is a total band living fine arts nerd. He cares about things most in the community care less about. Sports is a low priority with him as evidence by the departure of several of the better coaches they ever had there. Yet a football coach can stink and win against 22 man roster 1A schools, tell the crowd to “Shut the F— Up” on the sidelines of a district game and keep his job. Why? He is a wimpy yes man. Those are the people liked by the administration. Now the band debacle. It’s not surprising he had an admin log on, he was the principal’s boy. Another lack of leadership because you know it will get out plain and simple so you look like a fool now. Enjoy licking the egg off your face.
Melissa Diamond says
As a student of Mr. Knob of six years it’s hard to read these comments and really not get upset. To those of you who don’t know him and judge him for one solely based on this one action is astonishing. Many people have come on here and stated their thoughts about how this was so bad for the students and kids in this environment; however, we knew nothing, and he was always professional. Many people who are bashing him on this site do not know him as a person as the ninety five of us, and past alumni, have. To many of us he was a mentor, father figure, a incredible teacher, and more importantly someone we knew we could go to. I am speaking for the band when I say that the thing that makes us most upset is not why or how he resigned but the way people have talked about him without knowing him. We all have great memories that we would like to keep of our former band director and these rude comments, speculations, and hate towards him does not help us move forward by any means. In band we have been and are a family and have been so even more since this has happened; please do not break that. As for the comments directed towards Chris; he helped us to keep the family from falling apart when we felt we had nothing left. The amount of tears that were shed that day and after have been immense and it was because of him that we were able to pull through it. He showed us that we could move past this and still be able to keep doing what we have been since the beginning of the year.My question to all those who have judged on this article would be- If ninety five kids who were closer to Mr.Knob than you ever were, were able to move past this as a family, why can’t you? More importantly, why can you not move past this, if not for the sake of Mr.Knob, but for the kids that would like to retain the happier memories of him?
PCGirl says
The man made a mistake. He’s paid for it. Does his son, that goes to Matanzas, have to be humiliated as well?
Former Band Mom says
As a mother of two former band members I got to watch Mr. Knob work with the kids in the marching band. He was an exceptional teacher to those kids and the kids looked up to him and showed a lot of respect for him. It says a lot about a teacher when you have former students returning year after year after they graduate to visit and help out with shows, competitions and fundraisers.
Here is a little quote “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” It is surprising to see so many people quick to judge Mr. Knob for his actions when I am sure some of some of these people are guilty of doing things that are not exactly “ethical” themselves. He made a mistake people. Yes, he did show poor judgment and should not have done it but I don’t think it is a mistake that should be broadcasted all over the news!
bandmom says
First and foremost, the band carried on remarkably well under the circumstances they were forced to endure. As a parent of one of these same students, i feel that we were owed the truth of the situation. And given the evidence that has now come to light, Mr Knob did not make one mistake, he made several. He also knew that he was doing something wrong which is why he made another mistake in obtaining an admin login. His final and perhaps biggest mistake was lying to his students! These kids felt abandoned! They were told that he willingly abandoned them in the middle of marching season with no notice, no explanation, and that the kids needed to keep it quiet for his childrens sake because they had several big tests that week and he and his wife didn’t want to disrupt their lives with these big tests coming up! Dr Pryor owes us parents an explanation as well. We expect full disclosure when an educator breaks the rules at the school that our children attend. Especially one that spends as time with our students as a band director during marching season does. Mr Knob has the right to view whatever he wants on his own time in the privacy of his own home. He is not a bad person for viewing porn, he does deserve to lose his job for viewing it at school on school equipment. The band will carry on. But instead of everything coming to light when it happened our kids lives will be disrupted twice, once because they were heartbroken that their director left because “his father was very ill and Mr Knob needed to take care of him”, and now again because the truth has come out. If everything had been shared up front our kids would have already moved on with the situation. Now, the truth comes out and disrupts our childrens lives TWICE!!!
I. M. Agoste says
@Thinkaboutit: The reason why I pull the battery is that any cell phone can be monitored (EVEN IF IT’S TURNED OFF) by outside sources without the owner’s consent or knowledge. I have read of instances where some of our government’s alphabet agencies have tracked “criminals” and listened in on conversations through the target’s cell. The only way to counteract that is to remove the battery. Yes, it’s a pain but better safe than sorry. Just for the record I am not into nefarious activities, just am wary of the way technology can be used against one. Here’s an ABC report about it: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2006/12/can_you_hear_me/
some guy says
What the man did was wrong as far as using the schools (our) laptop. The use of it for that purpous weather on the clock off the clock at school or at home was in my opinion reason to let him go.
Jojo says
How quickly we forget President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky in a sexual tryst. The man himself has never been so popular. He walks on water.
Mr Knob should have received a medical sabbatical for personal and family reasons.
Sex, in all it’s form(s) can be a powerful addiction – much like alcohol, drugs and pills. Mr. Knob is well worth the investment of rehabilitating as evidence from his students comments.
Quit 8itchin says
Everyone watches porn so stop crying about it, if you don’t like it move to Africa where theres no Internet.
Lyrical says
Never have truer words been spoken. If there is one person who’s value far out ways the injury of these actions (speaking as a band parent who has worked closely with Mr Knob) Steve Knob is it. He has been a mentor and a role model of exceptional standard to my son. My heart breaks for what had happened because the lack of discretion is so uncharacteristic of the way Mr Knob conducts himself I can only think this change in personal judgement is more a result of something beyond his control than a choice made. If you have ever known anyone with an addiction you will understand.
To the people concerned about what a student could have seen, his office is enclosed an d any student entering has to come through a door in full sight and would not be able to view the monitor.
I'm just saying... says
If this was a teacher that the kids did not like than would it be ok for him to look at porn on the job?
some guy says
I’m just saying… says:
November 15, 2011 at 2:53 pm
If this was a teacher that the kids did not like than would it be ok for him to look at porn on the job?
No it would still in my opinion be reason to let him go under a missuse of our property. BUT im sure he would not have the support of so many. To me its our stuff we can say how its used. I could care less that he looks at porn.
marina says
“no a lot of people wont gain any maturity
Their opinions dont matter
It takes a mature person to not make rude comments
It takes a mature person to see what they’re doing is wrong
It takes an even more mature person to ignore them, and look the other way
Because you know whats right”
dont judge him for what he did.he was like a father for me.he helped me through alot .if you dont know him then dont say anything..
MHSbandgirl says
I am a band student at Matanzas high school I have worked with Mr.knob and he is an amazing person. To see all of these comment by people who don’t even know him and are jugging him is just wrong. All of you are saying things about him as if none of you have ever made a mistake. When we found out that Mr.Knob resigned we didn’t know why we had a competition the very next day, but we all showed up that day ready to give one hundred and ten precent because that is what Mr. knob showed us to do. I speak not only for myself, but all of the Matanzas High school band when I say we still have the same respect and love for Mr. Knob that we’ve always had.
Cassie says
As I student of mr.steve knob I am absolutely insulted that he would even consider doing this. I thought he was a great guy and that he was a fantastic band director but after this I hope that he will never be able to teach students again and that he will have to start a new profession.
Liana G says
From the FL Dept of Education website: Upholding Integrity
“Licensed professions frequently have standards of conduct to which its members are expected to adhere. In Florida, certified educators are held to standards of conduct as outlined in the Florida Statutes and State Board of Education Rules. The Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Conduct represent the guideposts of what professional educators and members of the community can and should expect from educators. They also serve as a reminder to the educator that there are obligations and expectations associated with the profession. In addition to the standards, the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices include professional responsibility and ethics as a foundational principle of the state’s teacher preparation programs, educator certification requirements and school district instructional personnel appraisal systems. These statutes and rules establish the groundwork for education professionals in Florida.[…]
Unfortunately, educator misconduct occurs and is a serious concern for communities, schools, school districts and states across the country. The safety of Florida’s students is of the utmost importance, and adherence to the professional code of conduct is only one of several essential components through which we ensure the care of students, the integrity of the profession and the respect of the community. In addition to the harm it may cause to our students, educator misconduct disgraces the community and denigrates the profession. Our goal is to reduce educator misconduct through enhancing educators’ knowledge and understanding of their professional obligations and the potential consequences of misconduct. This webpage provides many resources to help educators better understand the process of investigation and prosecution of educator misconduct.”…
http://www.fldoe.org/edstandards/
youexaggerateall says
ok…the guy was teaching at a HIGH SCHOOL you guys talk about him like an animal that did stuff in front of 5th graders in the middle of class. should we ask how many of your “kids” in high school look at porn? haha no, didnt think so… yes he should’nt have been using a school computer for that. and no he should’nt be looking at porn in school. so no im by no means agreeing with what he did but seriously the guys not a monster for it.
Heartbroken Band Student says
Also, to those who may call hypocrisy on Mr. Knob should know one of the lessons I remember the most:
“If you make a mistake, don’t hide it, because you’ll never learn from it. Make it loud.”
Whether it’s a wrong note, or a dumb misjudgment, this applies to everyone, including himself.
He OWNED UP to what he did, and handled it in a mature way. That alone, regardless of all of the other things we’ve all testified to, proves him a good man, and more than a decent person.
Also a band mom says
Mr. Knob did not break any laws but he did violate school and district policy. He made a very poor choice in judgement when he chose to view forbidden material not only at school but also on a school computer. He has never been accused of being inappropriate with any student but instead he was always there for his students. He would answer emails concerning my child promptly. He devoted many hours to the band program and I sometimes wish that other teachers were as involved as he was. I will not judge him but instead, Mr. Knob, I thank you for your dedication to the students. As another mom also stated, I wish that they were truthful from the beginning though with the students. I know that many agonized with the thought that their beloved teacher was in ill-health. These are young adults and they could have handle the truth but now I have to wonder if they will be so trustworthy of any other announcements that the administration gives them.
Lyrical says
Why don’t you ask them? They are on here and they are showing their maturity, intelligence, and thoughtfulness far more articulately than most of the adults. Hopefully your child will blossom under the new band director the same way these wonderful young adults did with Mr. Knob.
I know if I felt so strongly negative about the atmosphere my child was in, i couldn’t responsibly let him/her continue to be exposed to a program I find so questionable.
ForThePeople says
Look how long it took for the penn state coverup to come out. After the coach was fired. Maybe there should be an investigation into the whole school.
JL says
I hope no one is trying to compare what Mr. Knob did to what Sandusky did. What Sandusky did, he physically did to children. And there was an obvious cover up by the school. What Mr. Knob did, was not illegal, he did not download child porn, but was against school rules. The man should have known better, should have used his own computer. And if he is that addicted to porn, he probably does need psychological help. He should have been reprimanded. Lost pay. There are teachers who are still in the classroom who do far more harm to the kids than what Mr. Knob did. Let the first person without sin cast the first stone.
Mr. Knob should have to write a letter of apology, and then have his job back. But with no computer rights.
Anonymous says
Of course this is not a big deal to these kids, he probably would have been super awesome cool if he had allowed them to watch too. Google the age group that makes these movies, they are teenagers / young adults. The ages of students in a high school ranges from 13-22. And some of those teenagers in high school can literally pass as young adults. The issue is not about him watching porn, heck the AARP encourages mature people to indulge a little to spice up their life. The issue is THE ENVIRONMENT – major NO NO NO!!!
Liana G says
Interesting article since it falls along similar lines.
Penn State’s Patriarchal Pastimes
…”Or maybe it isn’t beyond understanding. Maybe most people would do their best to rationalize evil behavior, to pass the buck and forget about it, if making a stink about it would harm their career”…[their prospects, moment to shine, the status quo, who knows]
http://www.thenation.com/article/164655/penn-states-patriarchal-pastimes
Also Former Band Student At MHS says
I was a student in the MHS band along with Mr. Knobs music theory classes as well and let me please open with a statement contradicting what some of the few “students” have stated here. The man never, not once gave me or a large part of my band-mates a decent piece of advise for how to act as a “good person” . After putting in hours a day practicing our instruments, many students went completely unnoticed and were ignored or put down all together by a seemingly extremely sidetracked Steve Knob. I believe that we finally have the reason for that and only wish this information had come about sooner.
What matters not is what type of pornography was being viewed during school hours, which is a point a couple of these younger students/former students have attempted to make. With adult judgement and first hand experience, alongside a wealth of knowledge about the impact an urge to look at pornography so powerful that it could not be avoided during school hours (at work), can have on students, I can tell the many speculating on this issue that the thoughts on this mans mind at the time he was teaching us were “confused” at best. Some might go so far as to say they were “impure”, but I do not feel it made it to that point. My only worry as I think back at this point in my life is that he kept a clear head (and a CLEAN HAND) while interacting with myself and others in the band before this was discovered.
Max says
The teachers are at Matanzas High are getting smarter about veiwing this on school grounds. They use their cellphones in the middle of class.