Public Schools Disarray Continues

Wildwood started out a single school renovation but turned into "reconfiguration" with a 2-schools-in-one $65 million new building

UPDATE Sunday night:  As Fox News would say "breaking news".  The Regional School Committee meeting for Monday night has been cancelled.  Things are getting curiouser and curiouser.

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ORIGINAL post:

On Monday night a potentially earth shaking Regional School Committee meets for their "retreat" at ornate Valentine Hall while a couple hundred yards away the Amherst Select Board will also take up discussion of another somewhat historic school related issue, whether to place a $30+ million Debt Exclusion Override on the November 8th ballot for the construction of the $65 million Mega School.

This would be only the second time in history an Override question has gone to the voters prior to a Town Meeting vote, which requires two-thirds super-majority to pass.

Yes, I'm going to have to figure out how to clone myself in the next 24 hours.

But the simple fact these two important meetings are happening at the same time underscores the hasty, not-overly-well-thought-out situation our elected public officials find themselves in at this defining hour.

 Maria Geryk at June 14th RSC meeting, her last public appearance

According to Maria Geryk's $150K annual contract she should have received her School Committee evaluations -- which are supposed to be a "public" process -- by June 30th.    And she has to be present in the public meeting for the evaluation discussion to take place.

Thus the most recent July 13th meeting where her evaluation was on the agenda that discussion could by law not have taken place since Maria Geryk was Missing In Action that night.

 June 14th RSC meeting where Laura Kend ousted Trevor Baptiste as Chair

In fact under questioning from former Chair Trevor Baptiste rookie Regional School Committee Chair Laura Kent admitted the individual evaluations were not even available that night so even if Ms. Geryk was at the head table the Committee was ill prepared for that discussion to take place.

I asked Ms. Kent on Friday morning if Superintendent Geryk would be present Monday night and as of yet have not received a reply.

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The Amherst Select Board has the ultimate authority to place an Override question on the ballot, so it's not highly unusual for them to have that on their agenda, although it has not happened in the last half-dozen years.

However, the Select Board is doing it as a favor to the Amherst School Committee who never officially asked them to do it via a Committee vote.

And up until now even though they have had a couple updates from the Schools regarding the Mega School, the Select Board has had zero discussion about this important expensive matter.

Monday night could be a very l-o-n-g meeting.

School Stay Away Order Lifted

Aisha Hiza (and daughter)

After ten weeks of generating bitter debate the controversial stay away order issued by ARPS School Superintendent Maria Geryk to single mom Aisha Hiza, who was advocating for her bullied child, has been lifted in its entirety effective June 1st.

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Stay away order lifted

3/15 Stay Away Order

Temporary Town Manager Pete Hechenbleikner leaked the information published on the front page of today's Daily Hampshire Gazette although the draft letter he penned for the Amherst Select Board on this sad affair stated it was not a town issue but a Pelham police and school issue.

 Draft of response to Vira Douangmany Cage's email last week

Select Board Chair Alisa Brewer had asked the Temporary Town Manager last week to respond to an incendiary email from Amherst School Committee member and State Legislature candidate Vira Douangmany Cage suggesting their silence constituted endorsement of social injustice.

Interestingly one of the only criticisms of deceased Town Manager John Musante at his last performance review was the Select Board did not like to be surprised by what they see in the local paper and wanted to be kept publicly informed about potentially controversial matters before it hit the news.

The brokered deal also involves Paul Wiley, former Crocker Farm Elementary School Principal and now ARPS ombudsperson.

Paul Wiley

On his Facebook page former School Committee member and nationally known diversity spokesman Amilcar Shabazz stated:

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Oddly, only days after Maria Geryk issued a statement to the press defending her actions in this affair, she rescinds the stay away order without informing the media, and sent a copy of the order to the Pelham School Committee but requested they keep it confidential.

Two Sides To Every Story

Peter Hechenbleikner and Alisa Brewer at last night's SB meeting

At last night's Select Board meeting, after confirming a new Town Manager, Chair Alisa Brewer brought up the school issue that has caused consternation over the past ten weeks and has now grown into a full fledged public relations nightmare.

School Committee member Vira Douangmany Cage issued Amherst and Pelham officials a vitriolic statement urging them to address the Aisha Hiza school stay away order as a social justice issue.  And to remain silent is to endorse the injustice.

After a brief discussion the board asked Temporary Town Manager Pete Hechenbleikner to write up a response for their June 6th meeting although Ms. Brewer seemed to suggest a resolution of the matter may happen before then.

In response Mr. Hechenbleikner said, "Select Board is not privy to a lot of the details.  If social injustice is being done then silence is not appropriate.  I know more than the Select Board, and there’s no social injustice being done."

Aisha Hiza begs to differ:

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School Committee Coup D'etat?

Trevor Baptiste (right), Superintendent Maria Geryk (left)

The first half hour of last week's Regional School Committee meeting was taken up by an attempt to "reorganize" the Committee i.e. vote in a new chair, coincidentally enough to replace one who is on Maria Geryk's enemies list.

During Public Comment at the RSC April 12 meeting Mr. Baptiste allowed friends, supporters and fellow ARHS grads to read a letter decrying Aisha Hiza's ban from all Regional school grounds for advocating on behalf of her bullied child.

Some members and school officials thought it was out of order since the incident originated at Pelham Elementary School which is not part of the Region and therefor beyond the purview of the Regional Committee.

Geryk started the meeting as Chair and immediately wished for them to "reorganize."   Chair Trevor Baptiste was having none of it and the bickering began.

Geryk was relying on a previous tradition where the Region would reorganize after local town elections as well as state law that says committees must do so within ten days of said elections, which happened more than a month ago.

But Baptiste pointed out that law does not apply because the Regional Committee is not elected they are appointed by the local school committees and his town, Pelham, has yet to appoint one of their members to the Region.

Amherst School Committee Chair (and automatic member of the Region) Katherine Appy pressed for the reorganization although she told Mr. Baptiste it was nothing personal.  

Interestingly at yesterday's Joint Capital Planning Committee meeting, composed of two members each from the Finance Committee, Select Board, Library and School Committee, one School Committee member was MIA.

 Joint Capital Planning Committee yesterday (minus one School Committee member)

Ms. Appy told the JCPC that Rick Hood had not run for reelection in the March 29 election and the School Committee (which has met twice since then) has not yet appointed one of their own to replace him on the JCPC.

With neither side seeming to budge a compromise motion was made and approved to have the Regional School Committee reorganization take place at their June 14th meeting, and by then Pelham would have appointed a member to the Region.

I'll be bringing popcorn to that meeting (and a fire extinguisher).

The Shunning Continues

Black Scholars Rising Celebration

Last night's Black Scholars Rising celebration in the Amherst Regional Middle School auditorium was better attended than the most recent Town Meeting sessions held there as hundreds of friends, families, students, civic leaders and school officials came together to celebrate the miracle of education.

Notably absent, however, was a proud black single mother trying to do her best for a young daughter.

The stay away order issued against Aisha Hiza on March 15 is still in effect, although apparently some school officials were not overly concerned that she would turn into a ninja/zombie with an AK47.

Either way, Superintendent Maria Geryk didn't go out of her way to make Aisha comfortable ... and an opportunity for healing was lost.

"It's just one more thing," said Aisha.

Aisha Hiza Emails to ARPS

Support For Aisha Grows

Aisha Hiza (left), Vira Douangmany Cage (right)

Amherst School Committee member and candidate for Ellen Story's 3rd Hampshire District state legislature seat Vira Douangmany Cage has come out in full public support for Aisha Hiza, the single mom summarily banned from ALL Amherst Regional PUBLIC School property by Superintendent Maria Geryk for actively advocating on behalf of her bullied child.

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Ironically, and even more tellingly, Vira Douangmany Cage is Chair of the School Equity Task Force subcommittee.

And one thing for sure lacking in this deleterious debacle is "equity."

Pelham School Battle Escalates

Aisha Hiza and her darling daughter

Call it intuition developed over 40 years of martial arts training, or maybe just my Irish gut, but I find it hard to believe Aisha Hiza, a once proud graduate of the venerable Amherst Regional Public School system, represents a physical threat to anyone in that system.

   Pelham School Battle Escalates

But this issue of a rashly implemented stay away order IS a threat to the system, because it flies in the face of one of the highly valued goals of ARPS:  Social justice.

 Maria Geryk was appointed Amherst Regional Public Schools  Superintendent in 2011

Where's Calvin Terrell when we need him?

Pelham School Committee just before going into executive session May 5th.  Attorney Tom Colomb 3rd from right

Fallout Continues

Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee last night

The Amherst Pelham Regional School Committee went into executive session at the start of their regularly scheduled 6:00 PM meeting last night, presumably to discuss the situation surrounding embattled School Superintendent Maria Geryk who was present, as was an attorney from Gini Tate's law firm, Tom Colomb.

 Former Select Board member and retired teacher Judy Brooks asks about bullying programs

The agenda called for only one hour but the committee stayed in seclusion for twice that, coming back into open session at 8:14 PM.

The agenda also called for a discussion of "stay away orders" but that was put off to a later date.

 Patient audience who waited out the 2 hour executive session

The current controversy started when Maria Geryk issued a stay away order to single mom Aisha Hiza, banning her from all Regional school property for advocating on behalf of her bullied child who attends Pelham Elementary School.

The Pelham School Committee also went into executive session last week to discuss the matter.

Digital Time

APD on scene Fort River School 11:45 ish

I was on my way to Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown to pick up documents relating to a very scary story from last weekend when I first heard the call and knew simply because Dispatch was addressing it to multiple patrol units and the shift supervisor (X1) that it was not going to be a routine event.

Fort River Elementary School went into "shelter in place" mode due to reports of an intruder.  Although the original call did mention a possible weapon involved I chose not to report that.  And I used the slightly less scary term "lockdown" in my original Tweet/Facebook post.

When I arrived on the scene about 5 minutes later three APD cruisers were scattered about the area but two school employees were out front doing routine lawn maintenance.  So far so good.

Since the school was locked down officers were having trouble getting in, as apparently a key fob was not working properly.  At one point an officer told Dispatch that if school officials did not come to open the door they would have to "breach it."  That too I chose not to report.

Fortunately a moment later someone opened the door for them.

Within minutes APD had answered my original Tweet saying no intruder found.

@amherstac no intruder at this time found at fort river school

— AmherstMApolice (@AmherstMApolice) October 9, 2015

Follow @AmherstMApolice on Twitter to stay informed

I had gone from Twitter over to Facebook to file a quick report and then got distracted by questions and comments, so I did not see the original APD response tweet to me for a few minutes.

But by then I had already figured out things were under control and stated that fairly quickly in a follow up post.

As I was leaving the scene I saw Chief Livingstone coming out the main entry and he confirmed "Everything is fine."  And that was one statement I was happy to post on Facebook and Twitter.

By that time some of the responding units had already left Fort River School and headed to all the other schools in town just to be extra safe.

School Superintendent Maria Geryk, within 45 minutes of the original start of the incident, issued a robocall reassuring parents there was "no threat to the school."

Amherst officials are getting better at combining transparency with modern means of communication.

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School Superintendent Individual Evaluations

ARPS Superintendent Maria Gery answers to Amherst & Pelham School Committees, Regional School Committee (4 towns), and Union 26

They say a doctor who treats oneself has a fool for a patient.  But apparently in the operations and management world it's not uncommon to do a self-evaluation for your supervisor -- especially when those overseers are elected unpaid volunteers.

In her personal self evaluation School Superintendent Maria Geryk answered "needs improvement" to only one of 24 statements/traits, "Shared Vision".  She checked off "proficient" for another 18 and the highest rating,  "exemplary,"  5 times.

   Maria Geryk Self Evaluation 2015 (click link to better read)

Interestingly, School officials who evaluated her think "Managing Conflict" was her weakest performance.  Five of 13 checked off "needs improvement" and one (Vira Douangmany Cage) gave her the sole "unsatisfactory" of her entire evaluation.

   Maria Geryk Eval by 13 school officials

Of the 15 current and recent past School Committee members invited to evaluate the Superintendent, 13 responded and two -- Amilcar Shabazz and Sarah Dolven -- did not.

Maria Geryk's self evaluation last year

3-out-of-4 Ain't Bad

Superintendent Maria Geryk listens to three School Committees evaluation of her

Last night the Regional School Committee, Pelham and Amherst School Committees and Union 26 sat in final judgement of Superintendent Maria Geryk's performance over the past school year. The final verdict was a good one. Mostly.

Overall they gave her a 3.08 out of 4 which is described as "proficient". But the document was quick to point out, "This is the rigorous expected level of performance."

Interestingly the Superintendent's lowest score, 2.8, came under "Management and Operations" which was probably negatively impacted by all the racial turmoil created in the wake of the Carolyn Gardner affair.

   Amherst School Superintendent Evaluation

The joint committees voted 10-1 in favor of the condensed summary of 13 individual evaluations with only Amherst School Committee member Vira Douangmany Cage voting "No".

Ms. Cage had earlier asked why Pelham School Committee Chair Tara Luce -- an Amherst Regional School employee -- was allowed to evaluate her boss?

The Mass State Conflict of Interest law holds public officials to a very high standard and strongly suggests avoiding even the "appearance of a conflict."

Superintendent Geryk stated the School's attorney had looked at the situation when Luce was first elected and opined that as long as she did not vote on (her own) salary contract, it was not a conflict.

Currently Maria Geryk is the highest paid public employee in town with an annual salary of $158,000 plus $840 cell phone allowance and $10,000 for annuity/life insurance policy.  She does not get a monthly car allowance.

The Jawbone Of An Ass

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The ironic thing is Mr. Geryk proves my point about why school survey respondents who may dare to criticize his Superintendent wife would wish to remain anonymous.

This bullying, borderline threatening comment he left on a woman's Facebook page late last night -- a person he has never met -- really has to make you wonder.

And it's certainly not the first time he's gone this obnoxious route.  Maybe we should start annual evaluations of the Superintendent's spouse.

This year:  #FAIL. 

Soothe The Savage Beast

Maria Geryk keeping a moose in line

The long awaited -- at least by some -- annual review of School Superintendent Maria Geryk, the town's highest paid employee, is now underway.

And one tool being used is an internet survey that allows the general public to weigh in on how well she and our venerable public schools are doing from the comfortable confines of their keyboard.

Except, from my all too encompassing experience with internet commenters, me thinks the survey will get dramatically skewed results because it cannot be submitted anonymously.

Folks are far more likely to give negative feedback from under the comfortable cloak of anonymity.

Unless of course it's positive feedback you're fishing for.

Over the past seven years I've published 47,635 comments of which I would guess 45,000 of them were Anonymous.  And yes I can tell from I.P. addresses that it's not just a few people making many, many comments (other than the one who leaves his name).

Belchertown, on the other hand, is also doing a public school survey but notice they do NOT require a name.  Hmm ...

Hey UMass!

UMass Amherst:  Massachusetts flagship of higher education

As I pointed out on Friday students enrolled in the Amherst public schools emanating from UMass tax-exempt family housing costs Amherst taxpayers "over $1 million" annually to educate.  

Well now I have a more exact figure for number of students and their cost to the town:  56 students at a cost of $1,267,200.

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Notice too that one student (at a cost of $18,200) does not even attend Amherst Public Schools, but that money still comes out of their budget for Charter reimbursement. 

Safe to assume that facts from this memo will be used by the Finance Committee in their report to Amherst Town Meeting concerning the school budget, so perhaps a long overdue discussion will take place about fair reimbursement from UMass for these serious costs.

The Amherst and Regional School Committees should also take a strong stand, and the Amherst Select Board should direct Town Manager Musante to use these figures to get a (much) better deal out of UMass in the next "Strategic Partnership Agreement" -- already almost three years overdue. 

High Cost Of Education (In A College Town)

UMass, with 27,569 total students, is Amherst's largest employer

"If in the future the town builds a new elementary school and vacates Mark's Meadow facility, the town Amherst Elementary Schools, ARPS and the University will negotiate a new agreement in which the University may reimburse the Town for a portion of the net cost of educating students living in University tax-exempt housing."

So declared the 2007 "Five Year Strategic Partnership Agreement" signed by Amherst Town Manager Larry Shaffer, UMass Chancellor John Lombardi and School Superintendent Jere Hochman.

That Strategic Agreement expired June 30, 2012 and a new multi-year contract has yet to be inked, even though Town Manager John Musante told the Select Board well over a year ago it was "very, very close."

The UMass campus generates 20% of Amherst Fire Department total call volume.  This year UMass will continue paying the annual $370,000 for AFD  (total budget $4.5 million) via the expired Strategic Agreement and another $80,000 for much needed extra EMS/fire staffing on weekends when school is in session (aka ambulance drunk runs).

By (embarrassing) comparison the University of Vermont with a total of only 12,000 students -- less than half the size of UMass -- paid Burlington, population 42,284,  $1.2 million in impact fees last year.  Or more than twice as much as UMass pays Amherst, population 38,819.

The town has not yet built a new elementary school -- although we're well on our way.   But we did, however, for budgetary reasons (saving $800,000) close Mark's Meadow Elementary School in 2009 and returned it to UMass. Yes, only two years after signing the 5 year Strategic Agreement that specifically talked about negotiating a new agreement should the town "vacate Mark's Meadow."

 It was even noted in the press release spun by the well funded UMass spinmeister PR department.

 Former Mark's Meadow Elementary School now undergoing major renovation

Currently the average cost of education per child in the Amherst Regional Public School District (grades 7-12) is $20,313 per student and for the towns three elementary schools an average of  $18,597.  State per student average is around $14,000.

 Town owned modular classrooms still sit on UMass property behind former Mark's Meadow school

Currently over 50 students attending Amherst public school system call tax-exempt UMass student housing their home ... or, just over $1 million dollars in educational service costs shouldered by Amherst taxpayers.

Let me repeat that:  JUST OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

The upcoming FY16 Regional School budget, just to maintain "level services," required a $1 million cut resulting in the elimination of the equivalent of 16 full-time positions.

Let me repeat that:  A ONE MILLION DOLLAR CUT!

Do the simple but discouraging math: Time for UMass, our "partner," to pay up.

Do it for the kids.  Your kids!

UMass North Village, described as "family housing," is owned by Commonwealth of Massachusetts with an assessed value of $10.7 million. Thus, it would  pay $220,000 in property taxes this year IF privately owned

Boston Mayor plays hardball

First Amendment Warrior

Calvin Terrell, Social Justice Warrior

Yes I did feel a bit like the school kid squealing to a higher authority about an altercation on the schoolyard that left you fuming, even a couple days later.

The Chair of the Regional School Committee, Trevor Baptiste, did not seem to initially understand my complaint with School Superintendent Maria Geryk.



Obviously she did not pay the woman to snatch my iPhone (last words, "no videotaping" is Maria Geryk) but she did give verbal commands -- before and after the incident -- declaring a ban on videotaping.

And the Superintendent did not seem overly concerned about the physical nature of the altercation brought on by her edict. 

To ban journalists from recording an event should always make you wonder:  what is it they don't want you to know?

Masslive reports (as usual Comments are the best) 

Flashback

Walk out? What Walk Out?

Thursday 12:20 PM Amherst Regional High School

Apparently Amherst School Superintendent Maria Geryk is too young to have learned the valuable lesson from that iconic Paul Newman movie concerning a, "failure to communicate."  

Her email blast update on Friday, the day after the BIG walkout, talks about all sorts of somewhat mundane -- but certainly interesting to parents -- in house school matters, but carefully avoids mentioning the walkout, err,  I mean, "Walk-out Dialogue". 

Hmm ... So an event occurs during the school day that impacts upwards of half the High School and according to Middle School principal Marisa Mendonsa 90% of those younger students participating via a "sit in" (APD also responded to to a 911 call from the MS and stayed on site until school ended) and it's gets no mention?

Certainly one dot in her email that could have been connected to the walkout was the HR report about "Staff of Color" and progress towards getting it to be "reflective of the community".   

The Regional School District definitely has a long way to go, with staff of color now standing at 18% while student enrollment of color is 43.5%.

But still, the Amherst Regional School District is in the top ten percent statewide for highest proportion of employees of color in a public school system. 

It would be interesting to see the percentage of employees of color in highly-paid administrative positions (both in the schools and the town).

The Amherst School Committee has a 20% minority make up.  And Amherst Town Meeting is probably in the 1% or 2% range.

Now that's worthy of a walkout.

Amherst Town Meeting last May

ARPS: The Drama Continues

Props from a recent Shakespeare play adorn the front lawn at ARHS

Perhaps someday the Amherst Regional Public Schools can can synthesize the past year long racial "event" -- for lack of a better term -- into a teachable moment school play.  Or better yet, a Hollywood movie.

Maybe we can get Meryl Streep to play Superintendent Maria Geryk and Oprah Winfrey as math teacher Carolyn Gardner.

Clearly we are in a full blown Us vs Them situation divided along racial lines.  And now we can throw Ferguson into the volatile mix.  

The Amherst-Pelham Education Association and heavyweight Massachusetts Teachers Association just issued a statement supporting Carolyn Gardner while trumpeting their "commitment to confronting racism."

But do we really have any proof that these unsettling acts perpetrated against Ms. Gardner were genuinely racist, as opposed to kids being kids, or an adult trying to stir up racial turmoil?

Or what on the all powerful Internet is simply known as a Troll. 

Either way, the case is now before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, who will spend the next 18 months deciding if indeed there is merit to the charge.

Until then candle light vigils, long winded comments at public meetings (with a side order of hissing) and press releases designed to win the hearts and minds of citizens are a waste of time and energy.  

Not to mention a monumental distraction to the sacred mission of educating all our children.

 Jean Sherlock reads NAACP letter of complaint to Regional School Committee

The NAACP issued a press release, err, I mean statement at the tense Regional School Committee meeting last week charging the schools with "illegal application of disciplinary measures" against the non-white student population.

Maybe they have not been paying attention but last year Maria Geryk presented to the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee statistics from the 2011-2012 school year showing 65% of the out-of-school suspensions were given to non-white students at the high school (who make up 35% of the student body) and in 2012-2013, 58%.

Back in July the Schools announced major changes to address these racial disparities, replacing two secondary school deans with "climate control coordinators".  Geryk also told the RSC last December that the plan was to pretty much eliminate suspensions as a form of discipline altogether (except in extreme cases of assault or weapons possession).  

So why now after the schools have been addressing this racial disparity for the past year is the NAACP suddenly bringing it up?  And where were they for the previous 20 years or so, if indeed the Schools have been out of compliance since 1993?

Regional School Committee Fireworks

RSC meeting 10/14: Rookie Chair Trevor Baptiste (rt) Maria Geryk (left)

UPDATE 3:20 pm

The School Committee meeting was not properly posted in Pelham (one of the four towns making up the Region) so it has to be postponed.  Stay tuned for new date. 

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Looks like tomorrow's Amherst Regional School Committee (with a "police presence") is going to be, um, interesting ...

   Amherst School Committee Friction

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Show Me The $

Carolyn Gardner

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Masslive reports