UPDATE: 2:27 PM
Still waiting, with finger poised over the publish button. Really l-o-n-g lunch they are having.
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UPDATE: Tuesday 12:45 PM
So yes, I'm still waiting for official word that the ink is dry on the new Super contract, because Regional Chair Rick Hood told the Springfield Republican last night that they had a verbal deal and the signing of the contract was only a formality that should be done by noon. Maybe they are having a long lunch.
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Original Post Last night 8:00 PM
So the Amherst Regional School Committee and Union 26 met just long enough in open session tonight to amend Irv Rhodes "compromise" motion passed on February 6, by striking the 6/30/12 end date on the contract offering the Superintendent position to Maria Geryk for one year, with an evaluation to take place six months into said contract.
Safe bet she came back with a counter offer requiring a minimum of three years.
The joint meeting retreated into Executive Session with the announcement that they would not return to open meeting. I actually questioned the committee's actions, inquiring as to whether they needed to come back to open session to adjourn? They said no.
Tonight's Gazette editorial (championing a two year contract) states: "Under the Open Meeting Law, the panel must return to open session to vote on awarding a contract." Hmm...
I feel like Geryk is acting like a whiny baby. If she is so qualified and committed to doing this job then take the one year offer and prove yourself.
ReplyDeleteHer rhetoric and the rhetoric of all her supporters has been about cooperation and collaboration. Yet in this process of just accepting the job, her behavior is anything but cooperative.
i'm nibbling... another nibble...
ReplyDeleteanon 9:47, i just took your worm!
Remember: we can't say anything negative about our dear Maria for at least another, oh.........20 years?
ReplyDeleteWell if they do have a photo op tomorrow at the signing of the contract, I will use the same matte effect in iPhoto that some nitwit charged me with purposely using the effect to place a "halo" around Catherine Sanderson.
ReplyDeleteI saw Farshid tonight walking through town with his good buddy Kip.
ReplyDeleteWhat was he doing? Jabbering away non-stop about our schools. The man simply cannot stop talking.
His quest for some form of vindication post-Alberto is his magnificent obsession. Did you hear that story about his confrontation in the parking lot? Only 50 times already?
She should demand in writing what the real term of the contract is: "as long as you want".
ReplyDeleteShe can now sit in her office and do crosswords and she'll still be providing us with "stability and continuity".
oh my god, are you guys gonna keep crying for the next 20 years??
ReplyDeletejeez, find something to take your mind off it, for goodness sake.
we have discovered another skill that geryk will bring to the job on behalf of our town and our schools: she's a bad-ass, hardcore, no-nonsense negotiator.
ReplyDeletethat's a good thing, get it?
on the other hand, look at the deal sanderson and company brokered with rodriguez (who had zero experience as a super compared to geryk's 14 months): the unprecedented sum of 170K+/3 years, plus a boatload of cash when he quit.
that was a BAD deal.
sanderson also spearheaded the effort to spend 50K to find out that our acting super was the top candidate to emerge from a national search.
another BAD deal.
perhaps it's the difference between a privileged upbringing and one where you actually had to fight and claw and actually WORK (like in the rewal world) to make your way to where you want to be.
safe bet sanderson has never had to pay for any of her education herself.
Oh, that pesky Open Meeting Law! Do we really have to pay attention to it?
ReplyDeleteIs there anything that you can't blame on Catherine Sanderson? Is she responsible for the lousy weather, too? Give it up, she's out. You'll have to find some other symbol of elitism to flog with your phony populism for the next 3 years.
ReplyDeleteMore yapping from Farshid in today's Gazette, blah, blah, blah, blah.
ReplyDeleteHey Anon 12:07, what's the name of your home planet?
ReplyDeleteElaine Brighty, Andy Churchill, and the nasty lady from Pelham with the kid in private school were the people who did the A-Rod contract.
Of course, I did hear that Sanderson is responsible for over 60% of the ice dams on Amherst roofs, so you may be onto something.
I do agree that Geryk is a master negotiator.
Do you honestly believe the near universal teacher, para, and administrator support for her was due to the likelihood she would be tough in negotiations with them?
Oh no. She'll give them everything they want and then negotiate with Rick Hood and the hill town folks to make sure that we move from a piddling $17,000 spent per student per year to the gold standard of $20,000. Then we'll truly be number one -- in spending at least.
None of us really need to worry about the schools much longer. They are about to become great. Don’t believe me go ask Maria. There is little doubt that she will use her political skills and reasonable intelligence to craft a group of arguments to keep us in meetings and committees until all of the concerned parents have gone home, moved, selected private school, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhen the concerned parents go away we will be back to the old rubber stamp school committee. Sure Rick Hood finds it “ignore it and it will go away” unacceptable but when there is no one left to complain then the problem is solved.
There will be no such thing as injustice, under the Geryk regime. Truth will be what they say it is, under the Geryk regime. Insider power will be unchecked and abused openly, under the Geryk regime. There will be a tight control of internal criticisms and an end to openness, under the Geryk regime. Insiders will consolidate power, without opposition, under the Geryk regime. Whistle blowers will be paid-off and/or disposed of, under the Geryk regime. Worker informing against co-worker will be common, under the Geryk regime. The street will be kept in the dark about failures, under the Geryk regime. A plan to help insiders escape unscathed when it hits the fan will be in place, under the Geryk regime. 100s of thousands of tax dollars will be wasted, under the Geryk regime. It will be as bad as it ever was, probably worse, under the Geryk regime.
ReplyDeleteAnd guess who is going to get Gus Sayer's job when he retires in the next couple years?
Anyone?
"Hajir praised Hood's leadership through the superintendent search. "He and Maria can work well together," he said. "They're both progress- and goal-oriented, and both like systemic change."
ReplyDeleteHajji and his truths and his insights and his powers deserve our respect:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_2009.jpg
Don't you, Hajji?
What is wrong with you, Larry, that you continue to allow these blatantly racist comments? And you purport to be a journalist???? What a joke!
ReplyDeleteAnd it becomes increasingly clear why you are not covering the Amherst Typewriter story...another indication of how racist you are.
If people can, under the First Amendment, compare politicians to Hitler...
ReplyDeleteFrom Sanderson's blog:
ReplyDelete"Anonymous 10:13 - as you probably know, I can't comment on events and discussions that occurred in executive session, and what anyone did or did not say at any point. Dr. Rodriguez decided to leave following a meeting with the three chairs: Andy, Farshid, and Tracy. I wasn't at that meeting, so I can't possibly even know what factors led him to decide to resign."
Andy, Farshid and Tracy: fuck you
Have I made myself clear, Amherst?
Deliver the notebooks, now.
I don't like THAT word either, but it is also protected First Amendment speech.
ReplyDelete"Oh, don't get mad big boy. Just give yourself another cookie!
ReplyDeleteYippeee!"
Yippee?
LOL
Amherst insiders need the schools:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-h-YIj4jRw
They have definite plans for your children.
What a bunch of sick people on this blog!! It's actually quite sad.
ReplyDelete"Anonymous 10:13 - as you probably know, I can't comment on events and discussions that occurred in executive session, and what anyone did or did not say at any point. Dr. Rodriguez decided to leave following a meeting with the three chairs: Andy, Farshid, and Tracy. I wasn't at that meeting, so I can't possibly even know what factors led him to decide to resign."
ReplyDeleteThis is total bullsh*t. She read the evaluation and knows full well what was in it. She's just availing herself of a convenient excuse to be able to continue to sing the unqualified praises of AROD. I'm sure there are things that he deserves to be praised for, and quite obviously things that he deserves to be denigrated for. Otherwise, why be afraid to make the evaluation public? I continue to be baffled by these entrenched, polarized positions of right and wrong, good and bad.
Come on, scoop dog, you're late. I found this news before you did:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.arps.org/node/2772
YES!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt's a victory.
ReplyDeleteOf sorts.
"feel like Geryk is acting like a whiny baby. If she is so qualified and committed to doing this job then take the one year offer and prove yourself."
ReplyDeleteWhat a stupid comment. What do you think she did? She already proved herself. That's why she was selected.
Do you think Sanderson is the first person in Amherst to ever try to criticize the schools?
ReplyDeleteI doubt it.
So to all who are saying that anyone who criticizes the schools will be taken down, think about it.
If that were the case, name more people who have tried and failed.
It's difficult to do because many, many people have and will continue to criticize the schools. Look at how many people on this blog do so everyday.
They aren't "taken down."
So what else is it about Sanderson that may have caused her to not seek re-election?
She's a smart woman so she probably saw the writing on the wall.
Sanderson would have been blown out of the water in this election. That would have been very embarrassing for her especially since she has been telling us for 3 years how many people are supportive of her thinking and approach.
It's obvious that not many people do support her. The few of you here who will call the opposition hateful, racist names may be the bulk of Sanderson's support.
I guess if I were her and realized that you were my foundation, I'd run and hide too.
You're a Cowardly Anon Nitwit and you're citing other Cowardly Anon Nitwits as evidence.
ReplyDeleteNot very reliable data, Nitwit. But by all means please feel free to "run and hide". After all, you are pretty good at hiding.
"It's obvious that not many people do support her. The few of you here who will call the opposition hateful, racist names may be the bulk of Sanderson's support."
ReplyDeleteThe more you wiggle little roach,
the more my shoe will press down on you.
Turn over the god damned notebooks.
Now.