Category Archives: POSTS, COMMENTS, VIDEO AND AUDIO

Simple Question, Simple Answer…No, It’s Not That Simple… 1

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Simple question asked at last night Region One Board budget hearing…

Question to Mr. Moore(Region One Chair):

Why is it that the Region has a weighted vote on the board and not during a region wide budget vote…

Answer: I don’t know….

Answer: Region One has a weighted vote for representatives that is based on the number of students in that particular town in a given school year, the region was set up by an act of the Connecticut Legislature….

In an election in America…the rule…one person, one vote.

’nuff saidmoore

Another Letter To The Editor on Misinformation on Region One Reply

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LETTER ON REGION 1 CONFLICT WAS FULL OF MISINFORMATION

The magnitude of the misinformation, or even disinformation, of John Mauer’s May 31 letter regarding the request of the Region 1 Board of Education to the superintendent, assistant superintendent and business manager to consider reopening contract negotiations, requires immediate correction.

Mr. Mauer claimed the Region 1 board didn’t have the authority to take such action because the All Boards Committee had that authority.

The All Boards Committee is a committee of the chairmen of the local boards of education established by the Region 1 Board of Education. To state that a committee of the Region 1 board has such authority is utter nonsense.

While the committee might have been given certain tasks to carry out through a series of policies, it has absolutely no legal authority or power to act, only to recommend. The statutes reserve action for the Board of Education.

In fact, there is no provision for the Board of Education delegating its statutory requirements to a committee. No one should be under the mistaken impression that what Mr. Mauer has stated regarding the authority of the All Boards Committee vs. the authority of the Region 1 Board of Education is accurate. It’s not.

Mr. Mauer also mentions the lawsuit filed against Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain and insists any “responsible board should stand behind her (the superintendent) while the legal process plays out;” and that because the board “did not do so demonstrates a complete lack of integrity.” He then proceeded to claim the “board failed its test of moral character.”

I am no fan of most of the actions of the majority of this Board of Education, but Mr. Mauer’s assessment is not only unreasonable, but also dangerous.

I can’t imagine the board’s attorney wouldn’t recommend complete neutrality and non-involvement from the board as this suit works it way through the judicial system. To do what Mr. Mauer suggests, it seems to me, would cause the plaintiff to consider including the board as a defendant in the action, putting it in an untenable and likely costly position.

Further, it is the actions of all members of the Board of Education that determine its reputation, so it would only seem reasonable that Mr. Mauer should call for the resignations of all members rather than targeting just one.

Lastly, Mr. Mauer seems to delight in slamming board member Gale C. Toensing at every turn, but he really should check the minutes of the meeting because it wasn’t Mrs. Toensing who made the motion to ask the administrators to consider reopening their contracts; it was Marilyn Yerks. That is not to say it should make a bit of difference who made this very reasonable motion.

Patricia Allyn Mechare

Falls Village

Choo K. Singer’s Letter To The Editor Republican-American Response to John Mauer Reply

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Dear Editor of the Republican American, Tuesday, June 4, 2013

This is in response to John Mauer’s recent letter to you regarding” Region One.” Mr. Mauer in his screed clearly demonstrates his ignorance of the facts surrounding Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain’s incompetence and abuse of power. Many citizens in the community including myself with solid credentials have made it clear that they can no longer allow the education of our students being jeopardized by an administration fraught with controversy.

In this questionable environment, why is Superintendent Chamberlain being rewarded with the three-year contract plus 2% pay increase each year? What does John Mauer know about how Superintendent Chamberlain runs the Region One? What does All Board Chair (ABC) committee know about how the Superintendent manages the personnel of schools/offices other than the one-sided report they receive directly from the Superintendent?

As former Region One Assistant Business Manager, who handled the funds accounting, investments, employee payroll and benefits for over nineteen years, I found this Superintendent completely lacking the skills and knowledge in business administration that her predecessors had. Furthermore, I often found her manipulating or bypassing proper procedures that did not serve her personal interest. Try to imagine this Superintendent negotiating eleven different union contracts. She didn’t have a clue. That’s why the school attorney had to spend so many hours during the contracts negotiating seasons when I was employed.

Also, I would like to point out to Mr. Mauer that the governing body of ”Region One” is the Region One Board of Education not ABC committee. As he himself mentioned, ABC is a committee not a Board of Education and therefore, a committee cannot be the governing body of a public school system. “Region One”, consists of three components, Housatonic Valley Regional High School; the Special Education Division of the six member town elementary schools plus the High School; and the Administration. The cost of the Administration is included in the Region One budget and therefore, Region One Board of Education is the employer who pays the Administrators and has the authority to negotiate their contracts, not ABC Committee.

Regarding Lucille Paige’s lawsuit against Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain, I believe that the Board should remain impartial and let the legal justice system play out its course. Remember in this case both the defendant and plaintiff are the employees of Region One. It is premature for anyone to take the side at this point and say that the Region One Board of Education should” firmly defend the Superintendent,” as if Lucille Paige’s allegations are groundless. Nobody knows the truth yet! Meantime, Mr. Mauer’s concerns should be our tax paying community who are footing excessive legal bills defending this misled Administration.

Sincerely,

Signed by Choo K. Singer

Sharon Resident/Region One Assistant Business Manager, Sept. 1991-Nov. 2010

From This Mornings Republican-American….. Reply

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Region 1 parents worried

School budget has yet to be passed

BY LYNN MELLIS WORTHINGTON

Two Kent parents told the lo­cal Board of Education last week that they were concerned about the Region 1 district budget, which has been rejected in two referendums, and about the quali­ty of the six-town district’s regional high school.

A hearing on the proposed $14.7 mil­lion Region 1 budget for 2013-2014 will be held at 7:30 p.m. today at Room 133 of Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village.

Kent voters have sent mixed signals on the Region 1 budget. In the May 7 ref­erendum, Kent voted 59-43 in favor; on May 30 it voted 67-45 against. The third budget vote will be June 25.

Parent Athenaid Dallet told the Kent school board Thursday that parents are “voting with their feet” and making choices not to send their children to the regional high school. Without naming names, she said she knew families of graduating eighth-graders who plan to move to other towns, attempt home schooling or send their children to private school.

Of the 22 graduating eighth-graders this year, only 12 plan to attend Housatonic in the fall, Principal Matthew Harnett said. The high school has 413 students this year.

Dallet said two of the 22 could attend one of the town’s three private schools — Kent, Marvelwood and South Kent — tuition-free because their parents work there. She said two students were accepted at private schools, but the families can’t afford it and are “sending them to Housy with heavy hearts.”

She asked the Kent board to look into the declining enrollment. In the past, board members have concluded that the low enrollment rate at the regional high school has to do with the number of students whose parents work at private schools. The high school has tried to counter this decline by inviting seventh- graders and their parents to the annual open house. The principal has also made several visits to the local elementary school to meet with parents.

Dallet voted against the regional budget both times. She would like to see both the superintendent and assistant superintendent dismissed. She also objected to cutting summer work for the librarian and the plan to cut 4.4 teachers, saying that it adds to the poor perception of the high school.

Board Chairman Paul Cortese said 45 board of education members from the various towns in the region evaluated Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain, who received favorable comments this year.

Parent Fran Besmer told the local board Thursday that six of her children have graduated from Housatonic Valley, where she said there is “considerable discontent.”

“The deficiencies are glaring,” said Besmer, who is a former representative to the Region 1 Board of Education. “There is a huge disconnect in the central office between the student experience and the product that is being delivered.”

A.B.C. votes NOT to open administrative contracts at their meeting June 10 Reply

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The purely advisory A.B.C. voted this evening NOT to re-open the administrative contracts

From The Republican-American

Re­gion 1’s All Board Chairman Committee voted Monday against asking the superin­tendent, assistant superinten­dent and business manager to reconsider the three-year contracts that give them 2 percent raises in each of those three years.
After the Region 1 Board of Education’s budget proposal for 2013-14 was rejected in two referendums, board members voted to ask the three top administrators to reopen their contracts in re­sponse to taxpayers’ con­cerns.
The board referred the is­sue to the committee, an advi­sory group made up of the chairmen of the region’s sev­en school boards.
That group makes recom­mendations to the board on contract issues.
During the meeting, which followed an executive ses­sion, Kent Chairman Paul Cortese said that because the committee negotiates the contract with the administra­tors, it should be the body to ask to have them reopened. The motion to do so was de­feated unanimously.
The vote came on the eve of today’s budget hearing at 7:30 p.m. in Room 133 of Housatonic Valley Regional High School, during which the board will seek comments from taxpayers on their rea­sons for turning down the budget.

So Now The Board Chair and Former Chair Know They Acted Illegaly, So, It’s Once Again Time For The Region One Board of Education To Hold A Special Board Meeting 6:30 PM Tuesday Central Office Conference Room To Make It Legal Reply

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philhartMr. Moore and Mr. Hart should both resign from the board immediately and be replaced by their towns Board Of Education.This last act at the last board is just the tip of the iceberg. We need to start holding this board accountable for their improper actions. You can right a wrong, but that does not take away the facts that this board has incompetent leadership.20130529_175353

PLEASE POST
Region One Board of Education
Special Board Meeting
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
6:30 p.m. Central Office Conference Room
Agenda

Call to Order
Discussion and Possible Action on Board Chairmanship
Adjourn

No Chairman? Very Interesting…. Reply

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It seems maybe Region One DOES NOT have a chairman…this is a developing story…..see the emails below (all public records) in this latest saga of The Region One Board.

FIRST EMAIL TO JONATHAN MOORE

From: Gale Toensing
To: Sam Herrick ; Jonathan MOORE ; Laura Freund ; Phil Hart ; Marilyn Yerks ; Scooter Tedder ; pchamberlainXXXXXXXXX
Cc: Pat Mechare ; Lou Timolat
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 8:52 PM
Subject: Election of a chairman

All,

The board needs to vote to elect a chair at our next meeting because Jonathan was not properly installed as chairman.

Patricia, I assume you will prepare the meeting agendas until this issue is resolved. Please either amend the agenda of the Special Meeting on June 11 tomorrow to add “election of chair” or include “election of chair” on the agenda for our Special Meeting on June 17. If the election of chair is not included on next Tuesday’s meeting, the board will have to vote to appoint a chair for that meeting alone. Here’s why:

At our meeting Monday, June 3, Phil resigned as chairman and said, “In fairness to our vice chairman, I would prefer to follow our bylaws which state that if a chairman resigns the vice chairman becomes an active chair.”

There is no board bylaw that says if a chairman resigns the vice chairman becomes an active chair.

The bylaws say at 9121, “In the absence of the chairman, the vice-chairman shall perform the duties and have the obligations of the chairman.” That means when a seated chairman is absent from a meeting or for a period of time, the vice chairman will take on the chair’s duties and obligations. When a chairman resigns, as Phil confirmed he did last Monday, he’s not “absent” – his seat is vacated and therefore there is no chairman.

There is no parliamentary procedure or common law that empowers a former chairman to appoint his successor. So since the position of chair is vacant it needs to be filled by a nomination and a majority vote.

This is important and crucial especially since the region is dealing with a lawsuit. Jonathan sent us an email on May 25, about the litigation, telling us he had the litigation, telling us he had met with the superintendent and the attorney from Howd & Ludorf, the firm assigned by CIRMA to the case. Jonathan had no authority to meet with the attorney even if he had been properly elected as chairman because there was no action of the board by a motion, second, and majority vote to authorize him as the board’s representative to ,eet with the attorney. These unauthorized actions put the entire board at risk of liability. As a duly elected member of this board, I and every other member have a legal right and responsibility to be briefed regularly and in writing about the progress of the litigation and not have to rely on filtered information from anyone.

I’m hoping for the courtesy of a written response to this email.

Thank you.

~~ Gale Courey Toensing

RESPONSE FROM JONATHAN MOORE
From: Jonathan Moore
To: Gale Toensing
Cc: Sam Herrick ; Laura Freund ; Phil Hart ; Marilyn Yerks ; Scooter Tedder ; pchamberlainXXXXXXX ; Pat Mechare ; Lou Timolat
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2013 6:57 AM
Subject: Re: Election of a chairman

Dear Ms. Toensing,
Once again you violate FOI with this email. What even remotely gives you the authority to “order” the superintendent and the board to take action, from behind closed doors.

I am glad that you have stated your opinion but that does not make it fact. Your comment about my email is blatantly false, especially considering your definition of “absent”, because Phil WAS absent due to health reasons. And where did you find the clause that states the board must take action to allow the chair to perform his/her duties. This board passed a motion into policy to have the chair and the superintendent interact with the attorney. Cirma is the board attorney in the matter of this particular lawsuit.

The board has been briefed on the legal action. You received the email. Nothing else has happened. If you continue to publicly claim that I am in some way lying to the board, I may be forced to seek legal action against you.

As for impropriety, the special acts for this region and our bylaws clearly state that we have yearly elections. The bylaws clearly state that if the chair is absent then the vice chair assumes those duties. No where do either define absent as vacate or any other specific condition. I know that you and others prefer to manipulate the law or our bylaws whenever they do not produce a result to you liking, but I believe following the law or rules is important.

Jonathan
—
Jonathan Moore
jonathanmooreXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXX
From Hesiod: Before the gates of excellence the high gods have placed sweat.

GALE TOENSINGS RESPONSE TO JONATHAN MOORE

From: Gale Toensing
To: Jonathan Moore
Cc: Sam Herrick ; Laura Freund ; Phil Hart ; Marilyn Yerks ; Scooter Tedder ; pchamberlainXXXXXXXX ; Pat Mechare ; Lou Timolat
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2013 4:01 PM
Subject: Re: Election of a chairman

Jonathan

For your own sake as well as the board’s, I suggest you dial it down a notch or two. Your hair-trigger responses to recent queries make you sound angry, unreasoning and out of control.

First off, I didn’t violate the Freedom of Information Act in any way and if you think I did, please provide a citation for the violation and/or file a complaint against me with the commission.

Second, what gives me the authority to request — not “order” as you claim — that the superintendent add “election of chairman” to the agenda is the board’s bylaw 9323, Agenda Construction, which says, “Any member of the Board of Education may request an item to be placed on the agenda no later than 72 hours prior to agenda formation.”

I can’t quite untangle your second paragraph, but my comment that you were unauthorized to meet with Patricia and the attorney for Howd & Ludorf is accurate. The resolution allows the board chairman “to communicate” with the board attorney. The attorney from Howd & Ludorf is not the board attorney by any stretch of the imagination, any action of the board or any document. Our board attorney Gary Brochu advised us that we need to be neutral and not do anything that might be perceived as taking one side or the other in the lawsuit. By meeting with the Howd & Ludorf attorney with the superintendent you have given the perception that the board is siding with the superintendent just as it would have given the impression that the board sided with Lucille Paige if you had met with her and her attorney – that puts the board at risk of liability. I would say the same thing if Phil had met with the Howd & Ludorf attorney with Patricia.

Regarding your third paragraph, I have not called you a liar yet and I hope I never have to, but as a public official who is subject to all sorts of name-calling slings and arrows with little recourse in the law, you may need to reflect on Harry Truman’s timeless advice: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

In reference to your fourth paragraph, you are correct in saying that the bylaws clearly state that if the chair is absent then the vice chair assumes those duties. Your statement that “No where do either (special acts or bylaws) define absent as vacate” is also true – and that is exactly the argument I made in my first email — because to define “absent” as “vacate” or conflate the two as you seem to be doing would be incorrect: Absent is not the same as vacate. When a chair resigns, as Phil confirmed he did last Monday, he’s not absent; he has vacated the chairman’s seat. Meaning that there is no incumbent in the position because the office is vacant. There is no chairman. You can’t fill in for someone who is not there.

The amendment to the Special Act does indeed mandate that we have elections annually but it is not restrictive, meaning it doesn’t restrict the board from holding additional elections if needed. Your implied claim that we can only have elections once a year is absurd. For example, if both the chairman and the vice chairman resigned, by your reasoning the board couldn’t vote to fill their vacant seats until the November elections.

The law is for everyone; it’s a good thing and should be followed. Proper elections and lawful procedures are what allow the public to trust their elected officials, a trust that is now lacking regarding this board. I’m certain that every member of the Region 1 board intends to proceed lawfully, so let’s do the right thing and elect a chair to finish Phil’s term until November when a full election for officers will take place.

Thank you.
~~ Gale

The Vote Is Coming, The Vote Is Coming!!!! Monday Board Of Education Meetings in Salisbury, Sharon, and the A.B.C in Falls Village!!!! Reply

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Decisions…decisions…decisions!!!!!

Well, after a long period of silence (hoping the budget will pass), the A.B.C. Committee will grace us with a meeting at 6 PM MONDAY (that’s right June 10), with an executive session planned on administrative contracts. Please, show up and pack the room to let them know we are serious. They have no item for public comment on their agenda (why would they want that!!??)..
Now…

On the same day at 7:30 in the evening, the Salisbury Board of Education is holding a special public meeting in the Salisbury Central School Cafeteria with a Region One Budget presentation by Sam Herrick, and that big private school supporter Matt Harnett.

Now, couple that with a Sharon Center School Board of Education meeting Monday at 6:30 in the Sharon Center School Library, and you might, just might, think the A.B.C. does not want people from Sharon or Salisbury at their meeting!

Of all the meetings to got to, please…lets pack the All Board Chairman’s Meeting to let them know we are serious about the administrations contracts.