Monthly Archives: May 2013

REBECCA HURLBURT just plain misstates the truth in this second email 3

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From: REBECCA HURLBURT
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 8:18 PM
Subject: One last word . . .

The polls will be open tomorrow, Thursday, from 12:00 noon to 8:00 pm, at the Cornwall Town Hall.

I received over 20 emails in response to my Tuesday email and I appreciate that communication. That has provoked me to give you one more thing to consider . . .

I realize that this is the Region One budget which naturally refers to HVRHS, but if the contention continues to be over the assessment of the Central Office then more of you MUST consider the fact that Patricia Chamberlain, Diane Goncalves & Sam Herrick are employed by SEVEN schools and Boards of Education!!! SIX of those seven schools make no complaints in regard to the Central Office’s job performances. The HVRHS Region One Board and budget are the ONLY newsworthy and negative situation. I do not think this is a coincidence. I think that there are persistent contributors to the issues that are troubling our high school!

SIX out of SEVEN of our public schools in Region One are totally satisfied with the accomplishments and support of the Central Office. Six out of seven — please think about this!

Thanks, Becky Hurlburt

Now on this statement…SIX of those seven schools make no complaints in regard to the Central Office’s job performances. The HVRHS Region One Board and budget are the ONLY newsworthy and negative situation….

Becky! What about all the failing grades, what about the smack down of Matt Harnett for his outright FALSE statements about Housatonic as compared to Hotchkiss and Kent, what about the law suit against the superintendent????? Just to name a few items, all these not created by the media, but by the people themselves.

And on this statement….
SIX out of SEVEN of our public schools in Region One are totally satisfied with the accomplishments and support of the Central Office. Six out of seven — please think about this!

This is a total lie, the schools Becky include more than BOE members, and administrators…if you would take the time to talk to students, TEACHERS, non-certified staff, and the public, you would find out how far out-of-step with reality you are. Six out of seven schools are not totally satisfied, that statement is a total fabrication.

This email was a “scare tactic” sent out the day before a vote in an attempt to sway the vote with mis-information. In politics, its called dis-information…and it worked in Cornwall, but, thank God, not the rest of the region

And Here is Gordon Ridgways mass email for Cornwall Reply

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Here is the email Gordon Ridgway sent out….Gordon based most of his support on the hiring of a “CORNWALL” principal and the assessment of the local board of education. I have been going to board meetings for four years now, and have not seen Gordon there once to witness what goes on at the board. If Gordon ran a meeting like Phil Hart..he would be voted out of office. And its interesting that Gordon talks about “elected” board members…although its good enough to elect local board members, Cornwall “appoints” it’s Region One Board member….support opening it up for election Mr. Ridgway.

Gordon Ridgway
Sent: Thu, May 30, 2013 8:56:46 AM
Subject: Yes

I hope the Region One education budget passes today. I believe the High School Board has amended its budget to meet the concerns expressed at its 5/20 meeting. Principal Harnett gave a convincing explanation of the class size/staffing issue. I have enjoyed working with Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain recently on the successful CCS Principal search and school security issues following the Newtown shootings. Furthermore I value the assessments of Cornwall’s elected school board members who have consistently given her high marks in their complicated work. I did not agree with her about the Obama speech issue five years ago, but I do not expect to agree with everyone at all times. A positive vote today will help HVRHS to return its focus to education, not division. Gordon Ridgway

REBECCA HURLBURT of Cornwall sends out mass emails with some half-truths and some scare tactics 3

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REBECCA HURLBURT of Cornwall sends out mass emails taking liberty with the truth….see if you can spot the “mis-truths, and scare tactics in the email below

From: REBECCA HURLBURT
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 9:51 AM
Subject: VOTE on 5/30!

On Thursday, May 30th, there will be a vote on the Region One school budget. I
strongly encourage you to vote YES to help pass this budget.

The Region One public schools, which encompass the six towns of Northwest
Connecticut, need your support. Your YES vote will allow the Principals, the
Teachers, the Central Office administration, and the volunteer School Board members to
do their important jobs and continue to work in a positive way to provide the
best education possible for the students of Region One.
Two of my three children attend Housatonic Valley Regional High School, and my third will be there in a year. My children are receiving a very strong education, with
experienced and dedicated teachers and administrators. I have a vested
interested in HVRHS. Please join me in supporting our high school by voting yes
for the Region One budget on Thursday, May 30th.
I have been a member of the Cornwall Board of Education for more than ten years,
serving as Board Chair for the past three years. During this period I
(and the other five members of our board) have worked very closely with Region One
Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain, and members of her team. Our work together
has been nothing but positive and constructive. I have seen first-hand
just how professional Patricia and her team are, and appreciate every day what
they do and how hard they work on behalf of the students in Region One.

Patricia Chamberlain and her administration have long received overwhelming support by
the majority of the members of the individual School Boards in the Region One district, as well as by the Region One Board, which acknowledge her leadership and dedication.

I am asking you to put your trust in the dedicated Board members whom you have
elected to represent you. At a recent Region One Board of Education Special meeting held
at the High School on May 20th, HVRHS Principal Matt Harnett and Business
Manager Sam Herrick, along with the Region One Board, listened carefully to
comments made at the meeting and reevaluated the budget. The budget you are
voting on this week is the budget that all of these hard-working leaders would
like to see passed.

Thank you, Becky Hurlburt

Cuts? What Cuts? $30,000.00 from The Unemployment Line?!!! Whats the old saying? Figures Lie and…….. 1

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Region 1 voters will head to the polls Thursday to vote on a revised 2013-14 school budg­et after defeating the first one in a referendum May 7.

The latest proposal is $17,668 more than the last, with 1.4 of the 5.4 teaching positions restored at a recent board meeting, but additional cuts were made.

The plan was rejected by a margin of 236 votes, with Kent the only one of the re­gion’s six towns to approve it.

During a hearing before the referendum, more than 100 residents turned out, the majority expressing their op­position to the cutting of the 5.4 positions; four full-time teachers of art, science, Eng­lish and math, along with a part-time social studies teacher.

There are also no plans to replace an applied education teacher who is retiring.

Housatonic Valley Region­al High School Principal Matthew Harnett said the re­ductions were being made because of the declining en­rollment and there were not enough students to place be­fore teachers. At a subse­quent board meeting, the art teacher’s job was reinstated, as was the 0.4 social studies position.

The board also was ques­tioned about the implementa­tion of a part-time dean of students’ position. That per­son was being hired to aid the assistant principal in dealing with discipline so that the ad­ministrator’s time could be freed to conduct teacher eval­uations. During the board meeting following the vote, the dean’s position was elimi­nated.

There also were objections raised to the central office ad­ministrators getting three­year contracts with 2 percent raises for each of those three years. At the board meeting, members voted to ask the su­perintendent, assistant su­perintendent and business manager to reopen negotia­tions. A meeting is being scheduled with the All Board Chairmen Committee next week to discuss reopening the contracts. That advisory group makes recommenda­tions to the Region 1 Board of Education on administrative contract matters.

After the vote, the board took $30,000 from the unem­ployment line and $4,265 from the line for the librari­an’s summer work. Library media specialist Vance Can­non said he uses the first 15 or 20 hours of his 80 hours of summer work to prepare the videotape of commencement, which uses three cameras. He said he’d love not to do it and be able to walk in the graduation ceremony with his colleagues, but it would cost thousands of dollars to have a professional perform that task.

“The other big thing is weeding the collection, which is critical in an academic li­brary and I am not where I would like to be in that regard as it is,” Cannon said. “If they really do cut the hours — and I trust they will not — we would have to keep the li­brary closed to students and classes for the first two to three weeks. At least that is what I would ask the princi­pal for permission to do.”

Board Vice Chairman Jonathan Moore of Kent said, “The budget is financially and educationally responsi­ble because it addresses de­clining enrollment and the need for enhanced technolo­gy.”

Thursday’s vote will be held in the region’s six town halls from noon to 8 p.m.

Can you name at least TWO things Region One Co-Chair Jonathan Moore is doing that are inappropriate to do during a meeting?! 2

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Can you name at least TWO things Region One Co-Chair Jonathan Moore is doing that are inappropriate to do during a meeting?!

1) Emily Post says….
Men – Take hats off, including baseball caps …
In someone’s home
At mealtimes, at the table
While being introduced, indoors or out (unless it’s frigid!)
In a house of worship, unless a hat or head covering is required
Indoors at work, especially in an office (unless required for the job)
In public buildings such as a school, library, courthouse, or town hall
In restaurants and coffee shops
At a movie or any indoor performance
When the national anthem is played
When the flag of the United States passes by, as in a parade

2) Texting during meetings
Texting has been blamed for a lot of things–harassment among teenagers, driver distraction on the highway, bad grades among students. Now, it is being blamed for bad manners at work.

Based on research on 9,000 U.S. workers and managers, Christine Pearson, a management professor at Thunderbird School of Global Management, says all the texting and emailing interrupting meetings and face-to-face conversations at the office are slowly but surely eroding human civility and making us–well, rude, she writes. All the e-conversations steal our attention away from the people nearby, amounting to what once would have been labeled a snub, writes Ms. Pearson, the author of “The Cost of Bad Behavior.”

A Letter From Lawrence N Van Valkenburgh West Cornwall…. Reply

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Dear Citizens of Region One,

The reason I am voting “NO” is because as we are seeing again with the allegations that Lucille Paige has made – that there is an obvious pattern of falsification of evaluations. Our teachers have lost confidence that their hard work and strong reputation protects them. Retribution comes in many forms – perhaps the most destructive is when a teacher, or guidance counselor, athletic coach, and now a beloved and trusted secretary’s personnel file is without fault until Superintendent Chamberlain and or Assistant Superintendent Diane Goncalves might decide it suits them better to create a false and damaging context. Our region will no longer be able to attract the best teachers or keep the best we have now since trust cannot be created here.

Voting “NO” is the best thing I can do to support the students, teachers and all other personnel of Region One until Superintendent Chamberlain and or Assistant Superintendent Diane Goncalves’ contract extensions and raises have been rescinded.

Lawrence N Van Valkenburgh
West Cornwall