Monroe, LOUISIANA

It's like a Monty Python skit. Without the laughs.

October 29, 2008 - From the News Star (Monroe, Louisiana)

State Superintendent Paul Pastorek has asked 4th District Attorney Jerry Jones to investigate the possibility that members of the Monroe City School Board and Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo may have violated the state's bribery statues.

Pastorek questions whether members of the board violated the statutes in attempting to place board member Brenda Shelling's daughter Cassandra Shelling in several positions in the district.

In April, Mayo appeared before the board urging members to overturn their decision not to retain Superintendent James Dupree. Brenda Shelling initially voted against renewing Dupree's contract, but switched her vote, making her the final vote needed to renew the contract.

Cassandra Shelling was considered for a position as principal of Carroll High School, a teacher at Wossman High School and a teacher at an elementary school. Shelling could not hold the Carroll principal postion as long as her mother is a sitting member of the school board. She did not hold the proper certifications to hold the high school teaching position at Wossman.

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INFO:
You wanna see some scary pictures, these people fit the bill. link
And their October 11 board meeting sounds like a Monty Python skit.

The bottom line seems to be that there have been several attempts to hire boardmember Shelling's daughter who had been previously employed and fired six years ago from the district following a tenure hearing regarding her conduct on school grounds.

In August, Cassandra Shelling, was a finalist in the search for principal for Carroll High School until her mother said she learned that immediate family couldn't hold any position except teacher. Next, the daughter was considered for the elementary school.

The school board has dithered on renewing the school superintendent's contract. They eventually rehired Dupree in October, with Shelling the deciding vote. A few days later Dupree placed Cassandra Shelling at Wossman High School to fill a newly created position.

Dupree claimed that her placement came upon the recommendation of principal Sam Moore. Moore later stated that he had not interviewed her for the position. In an e-mail to the board, obtained by The News-Star through a Freedom of Information request, Moore informed Dupree that he had discovered that Cassandra Shelling's qualifications would not allow her to teach high school.

Meanwhile, the school board is stonewalling a newspaper's attempt to obtain additional documents.

CITY INFORMATION:
Monroe, LA Wikipedia entry
As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. The University of Louisiana at Monroe is located in the city, as well as Delta Community College. The racial makeup of the city was 36.78% White, 61.13% African American.

MONROE CITY SCHOOLS:
The school district rates a 6 (with 10 being highest) at GreatSchools.net
There are 9098 students in 21 schools.

Observation: Usually you see some sort of consistency in the school ratings. But Monroe schools are all over the map. For example, there are three high schools. One is a 9 while two are rated 3. High schools are good measures of what a child has learned as they pass through the school system. This isn't a mobile population composed of immigrants.

Graduate Exit Exams
test scores for Carroll High School here. 100% black student population
test scores for Neville High School here 57% black, 41% white
test scores for Wossman H.S. here 99% black student population

Carroll and Wossman are rated a 3. Neville is rated a 9.
Carroll is a magnet school with, clearly, nothing attractive about it.

Jonesboro, GEORGIA

STORY OF THE WEEK - First school district decertified since 1969.

New York Times: (August 28)

A county school system in metropolitan Atlanta on Thursday became the nation’s first in nearly 40 years to lose its accreditation, and the governor removed four of its school board members for ethics violations.

TT - But they only have half the story.

Don't all school school board members go to dinner with the teachers' union leader? And you wonder why this school district is about to lose their accreditation for ethical violations?

August 20, 2008 - The Clayton County School Board members are appearing before a state Administrative Hearing judge to address allegations that they violated state laws when they put the district’s accreditation at risk. If found to have violated any laws, Gov. Sonny Perdue can remove the board members.**

[TT -** In March, Perdue signed a bill that would let voters oust board members if a district loses accreditation. In effect, it meant he wouldn't have to take the heat for taking over the school district to impose accountability and respectability. The law is ludicrous because the same people who voted the present board into power will not look for better candidates. This new tactic of having an administrative hearing is a means of ejecting the board in a last-ditch effort to avoid losing accreditation.]

At the hearing, school board chairwoman Michelle Strong (pictured above) testified that she had dinner with John Trotter, the chairman of Metro Association (teachers' union) , about five times in the past two years. Also attending was Boardmember Norreese Haynes, (who is Executive Director of that same teachers' union, pictured left in his booking photo) and Boardmember Rod Johnson sometimes attended the dinners, Strong testified. She couldn’t remember if any other board members were present. She testified that she couldn’t remember if any board business was discussed.

The board removed Haynes in March after police found he didn’t even live in Clayton County. Johnson resigned last week.

TT - In February, Hayes was arrested for assaulting a man who described himself as Haynes' "live-in boyfriend of five years."

Johnson's bio that used to appear on the District web page along with his picture, makes no mention of his wife being a Georgia state representative.

Reverend W. Rod Johnson was elected to the Board of Education in November 2004. Rev. Johnson has served the Clayton County community in a number of capacities: as pastor of Ambassadors for Christ Church, as a first lieutenant in the Army Reserve at Fort Gillem, and as a congressional aide to Congressman David Scott.

He is an educator in the Atlanta Public School System. Rev. Johnson holds a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from the University of Buffalo, a Master's degree in Education from Florida International University, and a certificate in administrative leadership from Georgia State University. Rev. Johnson's wife, Celeste, is a choral instructor in Clayton County Public Schools. He has one daughter, Genesis

His wife, Celeste Johnson, a state representative from District 75, is on the Children and Youth Committee, Interstate Cooperation Committee, and Legislative and District Reapportionment Committee. Her sponsored legislation. (Of particular note is this proposal.)
Her Bio
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TT - The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) will decide by Sept. 1 if Clayton schools remain accredited. It is the second time in five years their accreditation has been threatened. In 20 years, only three school districts have lost their accreditation. ( Biloxi, Miss.; Hartford, Conn., and Duval County, Fla.)

If you want to know what will happen if a union completely controls a school district, this is it.

Rod Johnson's wife is state Rep. Celeste Johnson (D-Jonesboro) who collected a paycheck as a teacher from the district while she was at the Capitol, instead of taking leave. She later paid the district back $1,858.

BODYGUARD Boardmember Johnson hired a bodyguard who used to be a school resource officer. This was after the man was fired by the school and subsequently indicted for - allegations of touching two teenage female students while working at a Clayton school. The bodyguard was Kenneth Jerome Alexander, fired from the district in 2004 - on allegations that he had inappropriate contact with two teen-age girls.

Another former board member, Duncan, who was appointed to the interim post in July, spent more than $2,887 on personal security to escort her to high school football games and other night functions. More than half of that money went to -- Kenneth Jerome Alexander.

Board member Sandra Scott demanded a football coach highlight her son in tapes. When he refused, he was fired.

The SACs report on the district eerily referred to the union control of the district. (pg 20)

"During the course of the investigation, it became increasingly clear that an elusive negative outside external force has not only permeated a significant segment of the Board of Education but has also infiltrated key leadership positions within the school district.

Previous TT coverage. Here Here Here
Jan 2008 Ethics Resolution of the board.
The SACs report contains dozens of ethical violations.
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DISTRICT INFO: The Clayton County Public School System is the 113th largest school district in the United States and the fifth largest in Georgia. Just 12 miles south of Atlanta, Clayton County covers 142 square miles and is home to over 270,000 residents.
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At the board meeting where Haynes was removed from the board (the vote was 5-3) many parents spoke out.

"Five hundred million dollar budget -- and those kids can't take books home," said one parent. "That's criminal."
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HEARING RESULTS - Recommendation to remove board members
August 27 - Administrative Judge Michael Malihi of the Office of State Administrative Hearings said Wednesday that Michelle Strong, Sandra Scott, Lois Baines-Hunter and Yolanda Everett should be removed for violating Georgia’s Open Meetings act and the state ethics code.

The probative evidence shows that the respondents have violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act, have violated the board’s code of ethics for board members, and have engaged in conduct unbecoming of a board member and in breach of the public trust,” Malihi wrote Perdue Wednesday in his ruling.

He said he found repeated Open Meetings violations and egregious behavior by board members, including name-calling and verbal attacks. He was also critical of outside influence from leaders of two rival teachers unions.

Clayton Schools lose their accreditation.
August 28 - From the Atlanta Journal and Constitution:

The stunning loss of accreditation for Clayton County schools left students, parents and residents reeling Thursday at the realization of “worthless” diplomas, dashed college dreams, depressed home values and an exodus of families.

The troubled 50,000-student district will become the first in the nation to lose accreditation since 1969.

The loss of accreditation came hours before Purdue ordered the removal of four school board members. The decision by the national Accreditation Commission was unanimous.

As many as 2,000 students failed to return to the district this school year, and officials expected more would leave for other districts.

GOVERNOR REMOVES BOARD MEMBERS (belatedly)
August 27 - Governor Purdue issued an Executive Order removing four member sof the board. The Executive Order also formally removed Rod Johnson (TT - See above.)and Norreese Haynes who had previously resigned or been removed.

Bethlehem, PENNSYLVANIA

What nepotism???

August 20, 2008 - The Bethlehem Area School Board approved a new nepotism form that requires a job applicant to declare a relationship with an elected official or existing employee before their employment.

And then they voted -- to hire the school board president's daughter and a relative of another school director. The board president and school director abstained from the vote.
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TT - We wondered at the $60,670 legal bill for the district's internal investigation into the work habits of drug-dealing ex-principal John Acerra. The investigation "which also led to new district policies aimed at encouraging employees to report unusual behavior by superiors." made us curious enough to ask, "Why would you need a new policy aimed at encouraging employees to report "unusual behavior" unless they didn't report it in the past?" Entry

Easton, PENNSYLVANIA

Before the Internet and video, t.v. coverage would never, ever show the participants or the lack of audience. A pre-planned protest with five people and an audience of 10 isn't exactly major.

June 5, 2008 - After LaToya Monroe, 29, was fired as human resources director by a 7-1 vote by the Easton School Board, "local black leaders" assembled by the NAACP challenged the hiring practices of the school board, saying minorities are consistently overlooked while board members manage to find positions for relatives.

Waltar Bright, a deacon with Easton's Greater Shiloh Church said, ''I would just like to have some questions answered about the previous hiring and firing practices of the Easton School District. It appears if you have the same last name of a board member, you get hired.''

Monroe who was paid $95,000 a year says the ''straw that broke the camel's back'' occurred when she recommended early this year not to hire the daughter of school board President Pat Vulcano.

Vulcano said Monroe is misleading the public.''When everything comes out, you may, in my opinion, be listening to a major liar,'' he said. ''She was not in the office enough to know what was going on.''

UPDATE August 20 - In a story about another school district hiring relatives, it was reported that the Easton board earlier this month hired Michele Vulcano as a full-time teacher, pending completion of necessary paperwork for her teaching certification. Her father abstained from the vote.
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TT - LaToya's picture here. The expensively-dressed deacon is on the video. There looks to be a whole 10 bemused people in the audience.

School Board Watch

Think he's got the backing of the NEA?

June 5, 2008 - Christopher Renner is a Democrat candidate for the Kansas Board of Education.

Renner works as a property manager and talk show host but previously worked in education, including a stint from 1999-2002 as a program consultant with the Kansas State Department of Education.

Lately, he has been taking courses in journalism at Kansas State University and hosting a public affairs show on the campus radio station.

If elected, he said he would support comprehensive sexual education, improving teacher pay, encouraging young people to go into education, easing any bureaucratic red tape preventing people from being licensed to teach and promoting changes to the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.

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TT - Radio station blurb. The show is "the progressive alternative to the radio talk shows on Manhattan airwaves."

Houston, TEXAS

Fellow school board members went to court to bar Dansby's attendance at graduation after he had indicated he was planning to sit on stage despite his criminal conviction.

May 15, 2008 - The Harris County District Attorney's office is investigating the millions spent on the North Forest ISD special education program, including payments to consultants who may be relatives. Two video reports on the subject are online from ABC13. No criminal charges have been filed yet.

NO PLANS TO RESIGN May 15 - A trustee of the Ilief Independent School District isn't planning on resigning even after a conviction for abuse of office. Trustee Edgar Dansby III, 51, used to work for the North Forest school district as the director of human resources from 2002 to 2005. The abuse of office conviction is a misdemeanor, a result of asking the school board to pay to rent collars to represent his college alma mater, that he wore to high school graduation ceremonies as a district representative. Only he never had a degree.

Earlier this year, Dansby was cited in a district audit for not disclosing that he worked for a company that was a subcontractor for the district. He also has been convicted of theft and pleaded no contest to a prostitution charge in the 1980s.

He has been an elected member of the Ilief school board since 2000.

BARRED FROM ATTENDING COMMENCEMENT May 29 - A judge signed an injunction that would bar Dansby from attending commencement Friday. Dansby pleaded guilty to abuse of office earlier this month, admitting that he spent tax money to lie about his own education.

Trustees voted 4-1 to seek the restraining order. Dansby, who was not in court, said he would comply with the judge's final ruling. Prosecutors planned to ask a judge to remove him from his elected office at his sentencing hearing scheduled for June 4.

Queen Creek, ARIZONA

Parents are upset over the yearbook.

May 23, 2008 - They presented their concerns to the Queen Creek Unified School District school board, saying they want more control over the yearbook's contents next year. Pictures of student tattoos and piercings, a portrait of a lesbian couple and photos suggesting underage drinking were all considered appropriate by the Yearbook adviser Robert Boop.

Yearbooks are created for a reason," said Boop, who has taught the yearbook class for three years. "It's not meant to satisfy everyone. Yearbook is supposed to be history as (students) see it."

Besides the tattoos and piercings pages in the 224-page book, some parents were also concerned about a picture of two students holding red plastic drinking cups. The students were named "Best partiers."

Another photo of concern is a lesbian couple posing on a couples page. Only one parent spoke in favor of the yearbook. His two daughters were on the yearbook staff.

He said the district cannot set certain boundaries.

"I understand the concerns, but as a public school, you cannot draw the lines to what is acceptable," Florance said. "Tattoos and piercings is life. As much as we don't agree with it, it's their right," he told the board.

Oddly, the two girls don't have tattoos or body piercings.

TT - Few yearbooks can rival the Conifer, Colorado yearbook that celebrated drugs, sex and drug citations.

Webster, NEW YORK

May 5, 2008 - In Webster, NY, two candidates are running for the Webster School Board in an election scheduled for May 20. One is an incumbent and the other is Michael Suffoletto, 56, a school teacher who plans to retire this year.

The school district might face the loss of sales tax revenues.

The loss in sales tax revenue would be tough for the district, Suffoletto said, adding that some of the money goes to pay for state and federal mandates.“We’re hit with a lot of unfunded mandates,” he said, naming several, including the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is geared toward improving the performance of primary and secondary schools.

TT - No Child Left Behind is not an unfunded mandate. It's accountability, something bad teachers and teacher unions oppose. We have long opposed teachers being elected to school boards unless they agree to recuse themselves from voting on teacher contracts. It's a blatant conflict of interest.

New Bern, NORTH CAROLINA

March 20, 2008 - A group of parents expressed concern at the Craven County Board of Education meeting that it should do more to protect children and act more quickly when students make complaints about the actions of teachers.

A New Bern High School teacher was suspended with pay in late February, and two teachers at West Craven High resigned during winter break, all for investigations about misconduct with students.

No one would say what kind of conduct the system is investigating.

Feb 21 - The Craven County Board of Education voted 6-1 to change the way it selects members for personnel and student hearings to avoid conflicts. Three longtime board members said they have been selected for hearings in which they had conflicts. One said she was once selected for a hearing for a family member.

The new selection process will be random by computer.
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Board Minutes are online for 2005-2006, but nothing current.

Jonesboro, GEORGIA

March 2, 2008 - Four hundred protesters called for the resignation of Clayton County School Board members. (Ch 11 reports that there were 1500 protesters.)

Organizers hoped Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue would attend. He didn't. But they were encouraged, they said, that he stepped in 10 days ago to help the county keep its accreditation.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools recommended Clayton lose its accreditation because of ethics violations. The public furor, and investigations so far, have focused on four of the board's nine members: Norreese Haynes, Sandra Scott, Lois Baines-Hunter and Rod Johnson

TT - It's hard to tell if such theatrical activism is the result of the actions of citizens or an organized labor campaign to run their own candidates for the board. The Clayton County Education Association, a teachers union and affiliate of the Georgia Association of Educators, has called for four of nine members of Clayton's school board members to resign.

IN OTHER NEWS Governor Sonny Perdue filed a bill that would let voters oust their school boards in Georgia districts that lose accreditation.* The 52,800-student district is, for the second time in five years, being threatened with the loss of its accreditation because of allegations of micro-management, abuse of power, conflict of interest and other misbehavior by some members of its school board.

Under the measure, a referendum whether to remove a system's entire school board from office would be put on the ballot for the election immediately after a district's loss of accreditation. If voters decide to clean house, the state Board of Education would appoint an interim board to serve out the unexpired terms of the ousted members until new ones could be chosen in a regular election.

TT - Hard to tell if Perdue is serious or not. He appointed two members of the state Board of Education to advise Clayton's school board in areas where it needs to show improvement, oversight that the Board of Education failed miserably to provide in the past.

In addition, Perdue has asked the secretary of state's office to review school board elections, to make sure they comply with state law, and the state auditor's office is checking Clayton County's finances, something neither agency seems to have done in the past either.

The problem is that voters in the district elected the nine members of the school board into office so the feel-good solution is just that - feel-good. It's a way of avoiding taking over the school district to impose accountability and respectability as has (finally) been done in St. Louis Schools and has been done in several districts in New Jersey.

* Only three districts have ever lost their accreditation in the U.S.

Feb 29 - A black talk show host from Cleveland, Warren Ballentine, castigated parents and voters for their inaction. "To all the parents in here in Clayton County, I am very disappointed in you. I'm disappointed in you because five years ago, this same situation faced you," Ballantine said.

See previous coverage of the district. It was a TT story of the day. TT entry for Clayton County School District.

Jonesboro, GEORGIA

In 20 years, only three other school districts have lost their accreditation.

Feb 15, 2008 - The Southern Association of Colleges and School Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) has recommended that the Clayton County School District lose its accreditation, beginning with the 2008-2009 school year.

SACS CASI made the announcement at a Friday afternoon news conference in Decatur. It follows a three-month investigation. The focus of the probe has been complaints of unethical behavior by school board members. They wereinvestigating allegations of micromanagement, abuse of power, and misuse of funds.

This is the second time in five years Clayton County’s accreditation has come under question. In the past 20 years, only three school districts —Biloxi, Miss.; Hartford, Conn.; and Duval County, Fla.— have lost accreditation, according to SACS.

The SACS report.
p 10 "The Board abandoned a system wide curriculum program, two-thirds of the way through its contract with the curriculum provider because the program was not endorsed by the teacher's union in which one of the members is the Executive Director. This left the school district without a clear curriculum and further deprived the schools and its teachers with academic vision and purpose." It cost the school district $1 million.

p12 (d) "A board member sent through the CCPS email system information about the union in which he is Executive Director. The information demanded the removal of a number of administrative staff, principals, and most notably, Board members."

Then there is,
p 12 "The Board member who is a union Executive Director who votes on pay and benefit raises that affect his union members.
"The Board member who is employed as a union Executive Director who pushes to cancel the Kaplan Core Curriculum because it not endorsed by his union and expresses his desire to use the money used for Kaplan for additional money for teachers and custodians despite the Title I restrictions on such funds;"
"The Board member that despite a conflict of interest voted on employment conditions, including compensation, for his wife'"
"The Board member that despite a conflict of interest voted to approve the employment of her husband."

p 13 There appear to be members of the board who do not meet the residency requirement to be a member of the school board. p 14 During a training session to improve working relations between board members, an altercation erupted between board members and police had to be called due to an alleged battery on one member upon another.

The school board failed to provide and distribute textbooks at the beginning of the year.

p 14 They also allowed a paid lobbyist for a company seeking a contract for an alternate education program to sit on a Blue Ribbon Committee that was assigned to determine the necessity of such a program.

p 15 Board members routinely put their loyalties to individuals, voting districts, particular schools or a special interest group ahead of students or the district as a whole.

p 20 - "During the course of the investigation, it became increasingly clear that an elusive negative outside external force has not only permeated a significant segment of the Board of Education but has also infiltrated key leadership positions within the school district." [Bolding ours.]

p 24 Several members of the board are members of local education associations. In particular, the Metro Association of Classroom Educators (MACE) actively presents opposition to the decisions and policies of the Clayton County Public Schools. MACE promotes and encourages action against the school district and individuals employed by the district. For example, MACE publishes lists of of employees of the school district that, in the opinion of MACE, should be dismissed from employment. The executive director of MACE is a member of the Board of Education and endorses such actions.

p 24 Several members of the Clayton County Board of Education belong to a teacher union organization and one is Executive Director of the union. There is mounting evidence that the union exerts pressure on its members on the board to support its issues. A good question that needs an immediate answer is whether or not these board members are responding to the union pressure at the expense of children they were elected to serve. [Bolding ours.]
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TT - The Clayton County School District has 59 schools and 52,533 students.

You get some idea of the problems from this Feb 5th story on the new rules adopted by the board to try to stave off the investigation.

Beginning immediately, board members no longer can direct staff, attend administrative meetings or take any steps that interfere with day-to-day school operations. Board members also must make an appointment to meet with the superintendent.

The board also agreed to relocate its offices away from the schools central administration building and to give more power to the superintendent.

All staff, including the board secretary, will report to the superintendent once a permanent superintendent is selected. The only exception will be the board attorney.

The board also approved Monday a policy that prohibits board members from talking with vendors during bid processes.

SACS was also looking allegations that board members Norreese Haynes lobbied for a company to obtain a $10 million contract to run the district's alternative education program.

History
Previous TT entry on the school board. Including the bodyguard who was accused of touching two girls in a Clayton school who was hired by one board member and the coach who was fired because he wouldn't give in to a board member who wanted her son to play more.

A recall drive was started in January. And then there's a role model teacher.

BOARD MEMBERS and pictures The Executive Director of MACE is Norreese Haynes.

MACE web site tells you all you need to know.
OPEN IN NEW BROWSER. It is difficult to leave.

Gary, INDIANA

Feb 13, 2008 - Three weeks ago one of the board members of the Gary School Board of Trustees was arrested for interfering with a police investigation after shots were fired outside a school where a board meeeting and class were in session. The board suspended the police officer for arresting the belligerent board member, Jesse Morris, who interfered with the investigation of gunplay outside a school.

Prior to the board suspension, Gary police Sgt. Anthony Titus was put on paid suspension while, as the Post-Tribune put it, "various officials close to Morris attempted to pressure Titus to rescind his complaint."

The arrest report states Morris interfered while Titus questioned one of the teens who had been dodging bullets outside the school building minutes before. As Titus asked Morris to leave the office, Morris allegedly flashed his Lake County deputy sheriff's commission and threatened to arrest Titus.

Lake County police have the badge that Titus confiscated and are conducting an investigation to determine if Morris abused his authority.

Morris has the badge because he is a bailiff in Gary City Court, where he works in the drug court program.

The newspaper criticized their conduct.

Last night the board president apologized for any inappropriate conduct. Morris did not apolgize. He did, however, call for a contract settlement for the approximately 25 union members in the audience holding red signs with the statements such as "We'd love time to teach not test" "We'd love more support with student discipline" and "We'd love a contract settlement" printed inside hearts.

The union representative apologized that bad weather reduced the size of the teachers demonstration.
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ONLINE RESOURCES
Gary Community Schools Board of School Trustees site. You won't be surprised to learn there are no board minutes online, but there are links if you want to sell something to the district or find out what's currently up for bid.

FROM GREATSCHOOLS: There are nine high schools in the Gary Community School district. Of the five that could be rated by GreatSchools.net four of the schools rate 1 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being best.)

In Lew Wallace High School - Grade 9 testing
English/language arts percentage passing was 17%.
The state average is 66%.
In Math, 20% passed.
The state average is 70%.
There are 954 students.
Only 2% Hispanic

In Theodore Roosevelt High School - Grade 9
English/language arts percentage passing was 18%
In Math, 17% passed.
There are 937 students.
Less than 1% Hispanic

The other two high schools range between 23%-30% for English and about the same for math.
The school district pays $11,046 per student for this abysmal performance. (Statewide = $8,919 )

Make sure to visit the school district web site with the stock pictures of happy, smiling, beautiful children. And then ask yourself whether Oprah Winfrey will stop in Gary, Indiana on a her way to South Africa to tout her school in South Africa for underprivileged children - the girls only school.

When will it matter?

Westminster, MARYLAND

One local school board election demonstrates how parents and taxpayers lose control of their own children's education.

Feb 9, 2008 - There are two seats open on the Carroll County Board of Education and six candidates. Half are either educators or work for the teachers' union.

Of the two incumbents up for election, one is a school teacher. Of the four candidates, one is president of the teachers' union and another is a former teacher.
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TT - It's not illegal, but it is illustrative of how much incentive present and past teachers and their unions have to sit on school boards which will determine teacher salaries and benefits, classroom sizes and the number of new teachers to be hired to do the job previously done by fewer teachers, and, of course, the budget and construction.

It should be a conflict of interest for a teacher or teachers' union-sponsored candidates to vote on salary negotiations and health care benefits. That it isn't, is because few taxpayers or parents notice. Every candidate should be asked if they have received the endorsement of, money from, or election help from the local union(s). School boards should express the concerns of taxpayers, parents and students, not union interests and not teacher interests.

Prior Lake, MINNESOTA

Dec 20, 2007 - Chris Lind, a former school employee who was elected to the Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board was fired by the same school board in June. While little has been released about his firing, highlights of his personnel file have been released.

In August 2006, a parent complained to Westerhaus about a conversation Lind had with a child on school property relating to the child’s sexual orientation.

Lind received a written reprimand and “was directed to not have conversations with students regarding their sexuality or his sexuality, as this is not part of his duties as a campus supervisor,” [Board chairman] Murray said.

In January 2007, an employee complained to the high school and district about a conversation the employee overheard between Lind and students while he was working as campus supervisor.

“The topic of conversation was bi-sexual relationships,” Murray said. “An investigation was conducted and Chris was subsequently disciplined by being given a three-day suspension for violating the previous directive.”

Murray said Lind was informed that any future violations would result in termination.
In May 2007, a student complained to a teacher that he or she heard Lind tell another student that “today is National Pick-On Lesbians Day,” Murray said. “An investigation was conducted and, based on the previous disciplinary action and directives, the district administration concluded that Chris’s employment should be terminated.”

Lind has stated that he feels he was wrongfully terminated and he has not ruled out filing a lawsuit.

There is an online petition to demand that he release his entire personnel file or resign.

School board web site.
Minutes June 18 board meeting that voted to fire Lind.
The Superintendent resigned after Lind's election. He had recommended Lind be fired. Article notes: "Lind, a devout Christian, had a reputation of befriending and mentoring students in faith."

Charleston, WEST VIRGINIA

New drug-testing policy.



Dec 14, 2007 - The Kanawha County School Board unanimously passed a drug-testing policy, a week after a Hayes Middle School teacher was pulled over and charged with a DUI, speeding and obstructing.

Under the policy the board members passed, all employees of the school board system would still be given and subject to a pre-employment drug test, a for cause test, a missing substance test, a fitness for duty test and return to duty testing.

The teacher who was arrested was Suzette C. Harich. TT - Link

Un-Pleasantville

Speaking of corruption....

Nov 29 - The latest from the Pleasantville (NJ) Board of Education includes a resolution by the Pleasantville Board of Education to the state commissioner of education to complain about the state-appointed monitor and asking for his removal.

They were following up on a letter to the commissioner from teachers' union President Mark Delcher who complained that state-appointed monitor John Deserable blew a kiss to teacher and yelled her name across a room.

Yes, things in the inaptly named Pleasantville are that silly. And not just Pleasantville. Pleasantville is the fifth school district in New Jersey to have a state-appointed fiscal monitor. State monitors have been appointed for Willingboro, Camden, Paterson and Irvington.

The Board president is 22-year-old James Pressley who refuses to resign in spite of his personal problems. video This is the school board web site.

Other TT Pleasantville coverage here here here <--- has list of those arrested SERIES on NJ Corruption by NJ.com (Don't miss the Corruption cases in 2004 and be prepared for small print and a long scroll. "an average of one corrupt act playing out on the public stage every three days.")

Board Watch

Nov 21, 2007 - The Hillsborough County School School Board voted to suspend John Sinibaldi, 46, band director at Plant High School. The decision was made, apparently, after Sinibaldi text messaged a student more than 525 times. The board intends to dismiss him.

School officials say... he engaged in unprofessional behavior. In a letter, they told Sinibaldi: "Your contact with the student was not desired by the parents, which caused them to question your motives, and perceived your communication with their child as inappropriate, unprofessional and overstepping your boundaries as a classroom teacher and band director."

They fired Stanley Telfare, a Blake High School custodian arrested on murder charges in the death of a school secretary who had asked for court protection against him, but was denied. [He was also involved in the death of another woman. All of which makes you wonder how he passed a background check to be a school custodian.]

Also terminated was Christy Ayala, a Dickenson Elementary secretary accused of three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a 15-year-old boy. [No online reports of arrest.]

Nov 07 - From the St. Petersburg Times education blog The Gradebook. Hillsborough school board suspends three

They voted to suspend Christina Butler, the Middleton High School special education teacher, arrested and charged with having sex with a ninth grade boy. TT - Link for Butler

East Haddam, CONNECTICUT

Nov 16, 2007 - The East Haddam School Board voted this week to allow the use of dogs to detect drugs, alcohol and tobacco on school grounds. They voted unanimously for the new policies.

This is how a reporter for the Hartford Courant reported it,

With little fanfare, the board of education voted this week to allow the use of police-trained dogs to detect drugs, alcohol and tobacco on school grounds, and adopted a new attendance policy that will crack down on excused absences.

The new policies will be added to the student handbook and go into effect in January. There was no discussion before the board unanimously approved both policies, which were lumped in with such mundane items as the dates of next year's board meetings.

TT - If the reporter had read previous school board minutes she would have been alerted. The policy has been in development since September. Sept 11 Board Meeting Minutes pg 7-8

The term is "drug-sniffing dogs"

Aston, PENNSYLVANIA

Oct 18, 2007 - A grand jury investigation resulted in the arrest of former school-board president, Keith Crego, 37, and the former superintendent, Leslye Abrutyn, 58, on a combined 22 felony charges and 21 misdemeanors.

Crego, who resigned last year amid a sex scandal involving another board member, was hauled into district court yesterday in handcuffs, wearing flip-flops and shorts.

He is charged with secretly establishing Quick Start Preschools, a child-care program affiliated with the district, taking $39,000 in kickbacks from the company and forcing Abrutyn to buy into the company with a $10,000 payment in the parking lot of Pennell Elementary School.

Authorities say Crego set up the company in 2005 as a silent partner by delivering a shoebox full of $20,000 in cash to a woman seeking a teaching position in the district. The preschool program quickly became popular among parents - and profitable.

Corruption isn't the only charge.

Crego, 37, faces a long list of other charges. They include forgery, failing to disclose his financial stake in Quick Start, soliciting a $1,000 bribe from the district's former director of auxiliary services, bilking Penn-Delco's fundraising operation of $9,500, and possessing anabolic steroids and Ecstasy with intent to distribute.

As for the former school superintendent.

Abrutyn, 58, of Bala Cynwyd, who abandoned her post in July without notice, appeared in court wearing dark sunglasses, black capris and pink Top-Siders. She was released on her own recognizance and declined to comment outside the courtroom.

She is charged with having a "hidden ownership" in Quick Start and tampering with evidence, including falsifying her statements of financial interests.

The Penn-Delco School District is in southeastern Pennsylvania.

TT - This blogger, wearing blue pajamas and fuzzy red slippers that have faded to pink and her TT earrings, refers you to this article: See "Rise and Fall of Keith Crego", dated July 28, 2007.

Jan 18, 2008 - Crego was re-arrested for witness intimidation, retaliation, stalking and harassment of Christina Fink, described as "a Marple Newtown School District teacher who had provided detectives with information used to file criminal charges against Crego." Superintendent Abrutyn pleaded no contest last month and agreed to testify against Crego. See TT link on the arrest.

Fink and Crego were "romatically involved" before they filed filed protection-from-abuse orders against each other. As the Philadelphia Daily News reports, "the bad publicity brought on by the breakup cost Crego his posts as school-board president and vice chairman of the Aston Republican Party."

The judge revoked his bail and ordered Crego returned to Delaware County prison.

Cincinnati, OHIO

Sept 5, 2007 - An Assistant princial at Glen Este Middle School left her 2-year-old daughter to die in a hot, searing car for eight hours outside the school. Since the District Attorney declined to charge her, locals are hoping the school board will fire her.

The West Clermont School Board will meet Monday to discuss the issue. It won't be easy to find a reason to fire her. (TT - Although a decent person would have resigned, recognizing that she had no credibility or moral authority.)

Among the reasons, [Hollie Reedy, director of legal services for the Ohio School Boards Association] said, are gross inefficiency, immorality, willful and persistent violation of school board rules, and good and just cause, “which doesn’t mean any reason that you want. When teachers get fired, there’s a lot of litigation on what constitutes a good and just cause. It has to be a serious matter.”

The story has been a sensation throughout greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. The newspaper reports that on Enquirer.com’s message board, some writers who identified themselves as living in West Clermont, and some who live elsewhere, said the district should not allow a woman who can’t keep track of her own kids to watch over other people’s kids and dole out parenting advice.

It’s a tough time for West Clermont. With two members up for re-election and six challengers, this issue is hot enough that it could cost incumbents their seats, and the district its fourth attempt at a bond issue.

TT - Link to West Clermont School Board site.

WCPO - August 24 - "The Slaby death was the 23rd such child fatality in the United States this year, according to Jan Null with the Department of Geosciences at San Francisco State University."

TT - A Kentucky teacher left two of her children, ages 2 and 4 months old, in a locked car at school for six hours. They didn't die, but you won't believe what the school principal said. Link