Here are some quotes from Region One Board Chair Jonathan Moore in an article in Sunday’s Republican-American: Why the principal quit Kent school board member blames budget battles by Lynn Mellis Worthington of The Republican-American

Quotes like these, from the Board Chair only inflame an already hostile situation between board members, the board and the public, and the public and the administration. It is more written proof that the Kent Board Of Education must take immediate steps to replace Mr. Moore ad Region One Representative from Kent.

Quote 1:

“He was fully intending to be here for five to seven years,” Moore said of a conversation from a year previously in June 2012. Harnett served as principal for two years.Moore blamed the district’s current climate and ongoing budget debates, during which critics have targeted the superintendent and assistant superintendent. The district is set for its sixth budget vote on Sept. 17. After watching the public discourse about the superintendent and the assistant superintendent, Moore said, Harnett felt he was next in line and he didn’t want his reputation “trashed.”

Our response:

Mr. Harnett was NEVER trashed by any board member, all people have to do is to view the Board Of Education Meetings on the robinhoodradiotv CATV6 YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/MMilesWHDD?feature=mhee
for the past two years to see Mr. Moore is again, not telling the truth. The video is unedited, and tells the truth, something Mr. Moore is incapable of doing. Mr. Harnett “trashed” his own reputation by making inaccurate comparisons of Housatonic Valley Regional High School and the local Prep Schools, and never apologizing for the comment. Mr. Harnett “trashed” his own reputation by telling local residents time after time that students would not have to carry home heavy textbooks from school when he knew that the iPads would NOT have textbooks on them.  Mr. Harnett “trashed” his own reputation by,a t the last possible minute, proposing massive teacher cuts in the 23rd hour of the budget process after a month earlier telling the board that such cuts would not be advisable. Again, just review the board meetings on YouTube for the past year, THEY DON’T LIE.

Quote 2:

Moore said Harnett also found it disturbing that a member of the Region 1 board was saying that his contract was not going to be renewed, Moore said, stressing that this was not true in any way.

Our response:
Again, review all the Region One Videos, NEVER, NEVER was anything like that mentioned in a meeting, not even mentioned, and never even implied. More lies from Mr. Moore.

Quote 3:

One of the last straws was the budget removal of the iPad program, which was a plan to give each HVRHS student an iPad mini. Moore made the motion to cut the $94,000 from the budget, because there was not enough time for implementation this school year. It was ironic because Moore said he’s been working the past three years to encourage technology development at the high school.
“With the iPads, he felt like he was undermined by people on the board,” Moore said.

Our response:

The iPad program NEVER was properly introduced to the full education staff at Region One (just ask teachers at H.V.R.H.S). It would have fallen flat on its face, like the implementation of “paperless meetings” Mr. Moore started at the Region One Board meetings this year. That fell flat on its face due to no preparation, or plan to transition to it. Teachers and other personnel at the high school were never brought into the iPad program to help plan and implement. It was, once again, just rammed thru.  Again poor or no planning by the administration and Mr. Harnett. No one was against the technology, just the poor planning of the implementation  .

Quote 4:

Moore and Chamberlain had conversations during the summer with Ian Strever, who was later appointed interim principal after Harnett’s resignation. This allowed Strever to have a transition plan in place and be prepared for a smooth opening at HVRHS Aug. 26, Moore said.

Our response:

Once again, for Mr. Moore and the Superintendent to have conversations, and not to include board members either in the process, or in keeping board members updated on the situation is not only poor judgement, but unethical, and improper. The Region One School District is not the personal property of the superintendent or Mr. Moore. Again, the go-it-alone, exclusionary practices of the Board Chair and superintendent have put the Region One budget, board, and high school in the position it is now. And that position is disarray, dysfunction, and division.

If the Kent Board of Education does not act quickly to end Mr. Moore’s pathetic, incendiary, and divisive actions, it will be responsible for the further downward spiral of the educational success, efficiency, reputation, and lack of focus of Region One.

Mr. Moore must be relieved of his duties now, it is obvious his main concern is not the education of Region One students, the passage of the budget, and interaction with the taxpayers who fund our educational system. Being a board chair and running Region One is not a sole partnership of the board chair and the superintendent without input from other board members, the public, students, and staff of the high school. Unfortunately, that, as evidenced by Mr. Moore’s words, is what we now have and explains why the region is in the unstable situation it is in now.  A two-person dictatorship of a publicly financed education system is not only bad management, it quite possibly is illegal, but it definitely is unethical.  It’s time to stop this now.