Surprise! Ray E. Feick of Gilbertsville was appointed OJR Acting Superintendent on 8-24-09 on the usual 5-4 vote. Surprise? Not really.
Board members voting for: Kerner, Endress, Zelley, Bissland, Dutton
Board members voting against: McMeekin, LaCoff, Scheib, Bilinski
Next step for this clearly vindictive school board majority: To hire a new permanent Superintendent prior to the newly elected school board being seated in December '09.
And the next battle begins...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
OK - It is very clear we are on a run-away train, heading for the Grand Canyon and the bridge is out.
ReplyDeleteHere is my suggestion. Let's plan for the BIGGEST 'GOING AWAY PARTY' anybody has ever seen, when Kerner leaves the board on December 7th!
We can rent the cafeteria (why not? the Tax Alliance gets to use our facilities). A $10 cover for food and drinks. Maybe a band to sing "NaNaNaNa, NaNaNaNa, hey, hey, hey, Good-Bye (Kerner)!"
We can invite all the media to show that the reign has ended and we are a unified community again!
Could be a heck of a party!
When they hire a new super in 90 days (which they have to do so Feick doesn't jeopardize his PSERS) can there be conditions on it? ie: revote by newly seated school board or short term?
ReplyDeleteIs there really nothing we can do about this? It is clearly unethical, even though it may technically be legal.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that any contract offered must be for a 3 to 5 year term, which will last longer than the terms of two of the newly elected SB members.
Twilight Zone doesn't even begin to describe this mess!
Sorry - I don't know what to do with my frustration at this point and I hate this helpless feeling...
I am beyond sad watching what is happening to a district I truly love. I am both a graduate and an employee of OJR. Dr. Feick's responses this evening to questions asked would not be acceptable for a teacher candidate let alone a superintendent candidate. I sincerely hope the community continues to be involved in large numbers.
ReplyDeleteEveryone show up at the meeting when the new proposed supervisor is in attendance and start informing him/her what a mess he/she is getting into and that they could be fired without cause on Dec.8th 2009 !!!!See if he or she will take the job.
ReplyDeleteThe other districts are watching OJR like it is a soap opera !!
A great way to pay Feick with out using the tax dollars would be to let NBC pickup the school board as a new show for there fall line-up...
ReplyDeleteWhen I talk to members of the community that do not attend the meetings about this issue, they seem to not care. WHY you may ask??? Its not that they really dont care, its that they havent attended the meetings.. Yeah sure anyone can try and depict the happenings inside that L.G.I/auditourium, but it doesnt do justice.
This summer I have been with someone different at every meeting.. All the people I was with, was there first SB meeting. Before they "didnt care", but after it was a whole new story! The people were furious that somthing so illegal was happening in there community.
I believe if we all attempt to drag someone new to each meeting we can create a chain effect of people attending..
Missed the meeting last night...How much are they paying this guy?? And was it really announced that our 190 dollar and hour Lawyer is helping the hiring of the next super??
ReplyDeleteI look forward to my nuch higher tax bills next year! Just so we can laugh at Endress, and his cronies
well just read the Mercury...And found out they are paying 600 a day for this out of touch senior. I beleive a search firm would have been lots cheaper and gotten the job done properly. I still can not believe that this SB can do whatever they wish!
ReplyDeleteSuprise "Bissland" said she hasn't decided how to conduct a new search for a super...
ReplyDeleteIts because Bissland & Kerner already have one in place... Maybe its going to be Kerner himself... won't that be a hoot... These "5" have ruined our community and made us a laughing stock in the education community.
Disgusted with this school board
Well, based on the amazing job Ms. Biss did in the search for a name for our new elementary school, I do not hold out any hope. Clueless - and worse - completely oblivious to how clueless she is. She will use the process to Grandstand her perceived importance.
ReplyDeleteFrom the PSBA
ReplyDeleteWhat are the chief responsibilities of the school board?
Through the staff, to develop and constantly improve the educational program.
To provide adequate and effective personnel for school programs.
To provide and maintain educationally efficient school facilities.
To secure adequate financial resources.
To maintain two-way communication between the board and students, employees, parents, taxpayers and the community.
To select the chief executive officer, and to work harmoniously and honestly with that person.
I am extremely disappointed in the drop-off in attendence at board meetings. I suspect that the majority of the 1,200 that attended on June 29 were there because of their regard for Dr. Forrest - not because of their dissatisfaction with the process employed by the board. We should be focusing on the processes that this board uses and attendence at meetings should be substantially higher. I cannot believe that the community is bored and uninterested in what is going on with this board, already. Talk about short attention spans! A lot of people read the entries on this website - the 58,000+ visits can't be comprised of 100 people that have visited the site 580 times each (although I must admit, I personally am responsible for at least 100 visits). Family vacations should be pretty much over by next week - it seems to me that there is little reason why we cannot again fill the auditorium!
ReplyDeleteWe need eloquent speakers that will take on Bissland and the rest of the board and eductate Dr. Feick as to what our requirements are for a new superintendent. Last night (8/24) I only got through part of my comments before time ran out - I got through the idiocy of hiring an interim superintendent - as I suspected the comments fell on "deaf ears." But that experience will not keep me from attending the 8/31 meeting which could be focused on two main issues - hiring teachers to bring the student / teacher ratio to an acceptable level in 6 classrooms and discussion as to how the search for the new superintendent should be conducted. I will come equipped with actual class size data from a high quality school district - it won't change OJRSD overnight but it should help justify the potential hirings that were discussed last night. Additionally, I will read Comments, part 2 - they deal with how a search SHOULD be conducted and who the Superintendent of Schools ultimately works for - and it isn't the board!
I am just an average taxpayer like most of you reading this and I am really frustrated. I simply cannot believe that a community can be held hostage by 5 spiteful individuals and their attorney. Please, I beg of you, show up next Monday night -it seems to me that our only hope is to show Dr. Feick, in spades, just how out of step and dysfunctioal this board is and that the community as a whole is united in that view. It is way too early to return to the days where board meetings drew puny crowds and the citizenry of the district took their children's education for granted just because their kid got a "good teacher' this year.
Again, I beseech you - show up next Monday, bring a friend and those of you who are decent public speakers, prepare some comments to present to the board that demonstrate how united this community is. And leave the emotions at home - be thoughtful and logical. We have a better chance of swaying Dr. Feick's thinking than we do the board's.
I too was dissapointed in the attendance however understand why people feel helpless.
ReplyDeleteThe FAB Five are spiteful and hurtfully stubborn. I approached two of them on how the board has planned to handle the student confusion on their leadership style. I was told that it is Dr Forrest fault they can't address student issues. She sued them and therefore they can not work for students. What kinda crap is that! Talk about loss of focus.
I, for one, am on vacation (reading this from the shore, I hate to admit!) and will be there on Monday. I also will encourage everyone I know who is still outraged by both the decision and the process to attent both the meeting Monday (and all future meetings) along with the Personnel meetings. If and when they post the Personnel meeting schedule....I guess we'll just need to keep checking every day.
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose it was in the agenda for Monday's meeting?
Make sure you are signed up for email alerts from thefactsaboutojrsd.com because THERE ARE NO PERSONNEL MEETINGS SCHEDULED! We may not have much notice!
ReplyDeleteTheir 90 days are ticking away and they haven't even written a job description!
I think that you need to deliver these comments to Dr. Feick by hand. He doesn't know how to use a computer or get on the internet. I would guess that he can barely check email. Perhaps a carrier pigeon...
ReplyDelete