So the interim Amherst Regional School Superintendent Maria Geryk--appointed by a less than unanimous vote of the Regional School Committee (overly dominated by minority hilltowns) after the sudden firing/leave of Alberto Rodriguez--only 8 months into his luxurious 3 year contract--announced on their web page this afternoon that Amherst insider Michael Hayes was appointed as the new school Principal for the Regional Middle School--what we townies called "Jr. High School" back in the day.
Hayes was passed over in 2008 by Golden Boy Superintendent Jere Hochman in favor of Glenda Cresto who was fired/bullied into leaving this past September by Hochman replacement Alberto Rodriguez who also inexplicably recently walked the plank.
Hayes has vastly far less experience than the other (outside) contender, Karsten Schlenter.
Interestingly the Amherst School Committee was supposed to meet last night but cancelled at the last minute because paid professional school officials failed to provide important budget documents 48 hours in advance of the meeting (sounds like Amherst Town Meeting.)
So this important position was filled without any advance notice/discussion with the elected School Committee--you know, the folks who are supposed to be in charge.
Thus, kind of like the Captain of the Titanic turning over command to a Cabin Boy an hour after bumping into that iceberg.
yes, lets hire the less experienced contender yet again instead of someone who has a proven track record....
ReplyDeleteand hired by someone that we have yet to see the resume of...
From Catherine's blog:
ReplyDelete"First, the superintendent chooses the principal. The SC has absolutely nothing to do with hiring."
Will be interesting to see what kind of raise he gets. Hey, what the Hell, the voters just passed a tax Override.
ReplyDeleteMs. Geryk just received a $30-K increase for this "Interim Superintendent"gig up from $106-K, and I'm told Mark Jackson also received $30-K increase on top of his $130-K salary as High School Principal to take on the Middle School Principal interim gig after A-Rod fired Glenda Cresto.
So Jackson may actually be bummed that his lucrative outside detail job is now gone (gotta make money somehow to pay that exclusive private school he sends his daughter to.)
Isn't German-American considered a desirable trait in Amherst's headlong embrace of racial and ethnic diversity?
ReplyDeleteIch hapt eine fragge Herr Karsten Schlenter!
Wo bist du?
"paid professional school officials failed to provide important budget documents 48 hours in advance of the meeting... "
ReplyDelete???
Did you go the open meetings with the candidates? Do you have any experience with Mike H. at the middle school? What do you base your opinion on that the other guy would have been better? Why this mantra if someone is from the outside they are always assumed to be better? While Mike may have less experience, he has certainly stepped up after Cresto left and has done a good job. Reasonable people looked at all the candidates and narrowed it down to two, one of them got the job, good on him. Mean spirited blog posts like this are useless. Stick to cracking jokes about the golf course.
ReplyDeleteOpen meetings with candidates are so scripted as to be useless.
ReplyDeleteI rely on reliable sources.
And I don't crack jokes about the golf course. I actually take that kind of elitist waste quite seriously.
Nick R-C, I went to the open meetings and I have "The other guy" was running a high performing middle school for 9 years with less staffing & resources than our MS has. Many of us who took the time to look into what he has done are quite shocked that Ms. Geryk passed him up. Mr. Hayes joked that he calls Mark Jackson all the time for help. THATS what we got?!
ReplyDeletefor some reason this was cut out of my post...
ReplyDeleteI have 6 years experience with Mike Hayes at the middle school, as a parent.
Just read Maria Geryk is recommending an addition of a quarter million dollars to the South Amherst Campus. Self-preservation of special education services. How much did the Mark Meadow additional trailer buildings cost? To then close the school. My out of town friends can't believe this sitcom.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of raises, if Jackson will go back to the high school soon, before it was scheduled, he should return part of his raise. Can we get that info or is it as secret as the super's resume?
I think it is time for an underride. Lets starve the Middle/High school enough to see them scream. Lets just end this BS.
ReplyDeleteI keep reading about all the "extra money" the schools now have, due to whatever. I certainly don't begrudge them the second Spanish teacher (Gazette 4/9), or whatever they want to spend this "extra money" on, but I cringe every time I see those two words. Deja vu all over again, as they say. I wish I could say I found some extra money too. Quite the opposite.
ReplyDeleteIt can cost 200k a year to educate special needs kids who can't be served in-district. A 250k addition would be a bargain.
ReplyDelete