Monthly Archives: September 2013

There is no joy in reporting that I’ll vote no again – for the sixth time — on the Region 1 Board of Education’s proposed spending plan for fiscal year 2013-2014( take a look at these Connecticut Academic Performance Test results from the past five years) 1

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Why I’m voting “no” again

There is no joy in reporting that I’ll vote no again – for the sixth time — on the Region 1 Board of Education’s proposed spending plan for fiscal year 2013-2014.

Sadly, I’m hoping that the budget plan is defeated on September 17 and one more time in October while the school district awaits the infusion of new energy in the form of four new board members with the November elections.

There are so many reasons to vote against the budget plan until the new board comes in, but overall my reasons for doing so are the abysmal lack of educational leadership on the part of the top education administrators and the current board majority’s blind, unconditional rubber-stamping support of them. The board majority’s servitude to the two administrators is so complete – and so completely embarrassing – that they even refused to act on a board vote to ask the administrators to re-open the three-year contract extensions with 2 percent raises each year – the sweet deal they supported  that will cost taxpayers around $1,000,000 ($1 million) over the next three years.

We have excellent teachers at our high school and we have an excellent interim principal in Ian Strever, who jumped in with both feet to fill the gap left by the sudden departure of the former principal. I wish Ian and the teachers all the best in this new school year and send them prayers (of various kinds!) for success, for the use of the good mind, and for the strength to stand tall and be resilient enough to face the existing pressures and still do the right thing.

We also have excellent students at our high school, but take a look at these Connecticut Academic Performance Test results from the past five years (ignore the “proficiency” scores; it’s a feel-good category that includes the percentage of students who met state goals and those who came close to – but didn’t – meet state goals). Our students are smart, but they are underachieving and it’s not because of our teachers. Because of the way our schools are structured, educational leadership – and what should be accountability — flows from the top down. Our students and our teachers deserve better. They deserve educational leaders who are inspired and can inspire others with enthusiasm and a desire to reject the easy path of mediocrity and instead strive for excellence. Leaders who can actually lead teachers and students to the high levels of academic achievement that we all know they are capable of reaching.

And what about the people in the Region 1 communities who so generously support the school year after year, decade after decade?  We didn’t vote the budget down five times because of its bottom line. We voted no to the status quo of the administrators and the board majority – because we deserve better too. I have every hope that the new improved Region 1 Board of Ed will be able to resolve the problems and refocus on its mission – to provide the best educational opportunities for our students at the most fiscally responsible cost to taxpayers.

–Gale Courey Toensing

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Letter from Ed Epstein Reply

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To the Editor:
Sadly, I will be voting NO for the sixth time on the Region One budget. I thought progress was being made on getting the Central Office Administrators to give up the final year of their contract.  The Superintendent agreed.  The Assistant Superintendent has not been at recent meetings, so we cannot  get a response.
Attending the recent board meeting on September 9, it was good to hear from HVRHS students that their year has gotten off to a smooth start.  Interim Principal Ian Strever appears to be doing well.  That is all good news.
So why not support the budget if things are going well?  There are many reasons.
—After the fifth budget defeat, the Region One board did NOTHING to adjust the budget.  The Business Manager made technical charges, increasing the budget by $3000, but the Board never even discussed the budget.  This “public be damned” attitude is disgraceful.
—The Central Office Administration is not doing a good job leading the region.  There is turmoil in most of the elementary schools, and that will continue until there is new leadership.  Many of the teacher departures last June, both retirement and other resignations, were the result of that local turmoil.
—The Chairman of the Region One Board is not providing effective leadership.  He stifles discussion at board meetings and he makes statements that are not correct.  And, he does not make those statements in a place where there can be discussion.  He doesn’t share necessary information with the entire Region One Board.  He shares much board information with a local Kent blogger, and he limits public statements to three minutes.  Neither he, nor anyone else, responds to public comment.
—The local board chairpersons (the All Boards Committe) need to see that their effort to rush to renegotiate administrator contracts last spring, despite strong public protest, was an egregious error.  Hopefully after the November elections, there will be some new chairpersons.
—Finally, the effort by five First Selectmen, pushed for before the fifth vote, seems to have fizzled.  None of them were at the last board meeting, and it appears they have lost interest in the process.
School will continue, bills will be paid, and students will learn.  But it is important, in order to ensure that a change in leadership will come soon, to keep voting NO on September 17, from 12-8 pm.
Ed Epstein,
Kent

Where are the transcripts for last years Seniors at Housatonic? Powerschool failure or administration failure? 3

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Where are the transcripts for last years Seniors at Housatonic?

Once again yesterday, three emails to regiononereport.com telling us that they are awaiting transcripts from the high school. Can this really be possible? These documents are one of the most important for graduates, not to have them three months after graduation is shameful. Who is responsible? What is the problem? Is it Powerschool or is the the lack of leadership in the administration?

Can anyone enlightendownload (1) us?

How inclusive is the A.B.C.committee? The answer..they don’t want your opinions or thoughts that how inclusive they are. 1

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best-way-to-be-useful-stay-out-of-the-wayThe A.B.C. Committee Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 17 at 7:30 at Sharon Center School.  Yes, that is referendum day, yes it is hard for the public to attend after working and voting,  yes it is hard for the media to attend as they have to cover the referendum, and if you notice on the “Agenda”…there is no public comment ANYWHERE! Now, they do conveniently hae a “roundtable” discussion for themselves! But why let the taxpayers speak? Why let the taxpayers comment? Lets just keep our little “advisory committee separate and aloof from the taxpayers who might want to comment. They should be ashamed of themselves for first, holding the meeting on referendum day ,and second, not allowing public comment.

please click link below for agenda

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Region 1 meeting rehashes old issues School budget has failed 5 times BY RUTH EPSTEIN REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN Reply

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Although it was not on Monday’s Region 1 agenda, the school budget for 2013-14 was still a topic of discussion.The proposal has failed to pass in the region’s six towns five times, and with the latest plan still less than last year’s total, many people have said the rejections are not about money.
Speakers at hearings on the budget have complained about cutting four teaching positions at the high school, increasing salaries for tech­nology personnel and creat­ing three-year contracts granting 2 percent raises per year for the superintendent and assistant superintendent. Speakers also were con­cerned about how prepared teachers were for a plan that would have given all high school students iPads, which have now been removed from the budget.Added was Housatonic Valley Re­gional High School Principal Matthew Harnett’s resigna­tion a week before the start of school and two ongoing law­suits involving the district’s top administrators. Hartnett left to take a job as principal at a middle school in Bristol. Assistant Superintendent Diane Goncalves is suing board member Gale C. Toensing of Falls Village for defamation, intentional and negligent infliction of emo­tional distress, interference with a contractual relation­ship and invasion of privacy.
Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain is being sued by her executive secretary, Lu­cille Paige, who is on paid ad­ministrative leave until next month. Paige claims that she was denied her right to free speech, disciplined for par­ticipating in an investigation into the school administra­tion, and assaulted during a confrontation over her pri­vate email.

Salisbury resident Marshall Miles, who is a petitioning candidate for the Region 1 board, said board Chairman Jonathan Moore of Kent made inappropriate remarks about Hartnett at a Kent Board of Education meeting that were quoted in a recent news article, in which Moore said Harnett had said one of the reasons he left was so his reputation wouldn’t be “trashed.” Miles said no one trashed Harnett. Miles also said Moore claimed he and Chamberlain had spoken about a transition plan for dealing with Harnett’s leaving. “They should have informed the whole board,” Miles said. “We’re looking at perception. You have to build a bond of trust.”

For full story (paywall) click on link below

http://republicanamerican.ct.newsmemory.com/?token=1284023516

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 beween baord members, the board and the public, adn 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. Reply

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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 si20130529_175353tuation 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.