D-Day at ARPS

 

This afternoon at 4:30 PM Superintendent Maria Geryk and her inside circle of high level (highly paid) administrators will retire to the superintendent's conference room for an important pow-wow with the Amherst Regional School Committee to secretly discuss in executive session the sudden resignation of Special Education Legal Counsel Fred Dupere and, presumably, decide on a replacement, presumably, Gini Tate.

Since the current 9 member Regional School Committee is now different by two easy going Amherst members, the previous (9/22/2010) 5-4 vote to fire Gini Tate as Special Education Counsel can easily be overturned.  And probably will be.  In spite of her recent failure.

Remember that special education case she was grandfathered on to continue litigating (at $220/hour) because according to Regional School Committee Chair Rick Hood, " Tate had already worked extensively on it during the FY11 school year prior to Dupere being appointed the new SE attorney. Probably this is the case you are referring to. 

Where Murphy Hesse Toomey Lehane (Tate's lawfirm) was already deeply involved in a case it was thought best (and less expensive) to keep MHTL on it."

Hmmm...since issuing that statement Gini Tate ran up over $40,000 in Special Education legal services on the case; and guess what? She lost! If Tate was such a great attorney how is it she gets beat by a pro se parent without a law degree? Goes to show how egregious the case was against the schools--and any good altruistic attorney would have counseled their client to that affect.

It's a simple rule really, one that should especially resonate in Amherst:  War is seldom the right answer.

Special Ed Parent Advisory Council recommendation:  Anybody BUT Gini Tate!

It's a bird, it's a plane...

A Chinook model CH47 military helicopter  made an emergency landing safely in a big old field in Hadley last night. The copter is based at Bradley Air National Guard Base in Connecticut and operated by the Connecticut Army National Guard.
 

The big bird was on a routine training flight and fortunately managed a safe landing near the busy commercial malls nearby.  Today by the way, marks the 68th anniversary of D-Day.

After landing the helicopter was safely secured

Helicopter view from the bike path

Bye bye Birdie 1:10 PM

Another Major School Shake Up

Fred Dupere, Special Education Counsel for the Amherst Regional Public School system since December, 2010 resigned suddenly, effective June 30.  According to a statement sent out by Interim Director of Student Services Jo Ann Smith, "He indicated that his decision is based upon his current work commitments with other clients in his practice." 
  
In other words he was doing w-a-y more work than expected for a lousy $3,000 month retainer.



The Regional School Committee has scheduled an emergency meeting executive session this Thursday at 4:30 PM at the Regional Middle School with Superintendent Maria Geryk in her private conference room.  How cozy.

Dupere replaced Gini Tate (terminated by a 5-4 Regional School Committee vote on 9/22/10) who stayed on as attorney for all other legal matters at $220/hour.  Well, except for a case or two that she started concerning special education. Those she continues to litigate even though Dupere could have handled them for no additional costs.

In fact, over the first three quarters of this fiscal year--even though fired as Special Education Counsel--Ms. Tate has been paid twice as much as Dupere for her Special Ed services billed to the Regional School District:  $42,472 vs. Dupere's $18,684.  In addition Ms. Tate raked in another $15, 000 for school committee consulting and an addition $32,000 for Human Resources.

Since Ms. Tate is a long-time friend of Superintendent Geryk, and since she already occupied the position of Special Education Counsel--and in fact never really ceased doing it--safe bet she will be the top name on a (very) short list of potential candidates.


Let the coronation commence.

An Inconvenient Truth

When the $6 million Atkins Corner double roundabout construction project finally finishes late this summer the current resulting traffic snafus will quickly fade into a distant memory.  Over the next few weeks, however, they will be as fresh and raw as the fruits and vegetables sold at everyone's favorite local destination spot, Atkins Farm Country Market.

Friday marked the first day of 'The Big Detour' and things went about as well as could be expected considering the magnitude and location of the disruption.  Atkins manager John Thibbitts confirms "a few customer complaints" but the iconic store is doing additional in-store promotions, Facebook updates, and old fashioned print advertising to offset the current less-than-ideal conditions and to keep loyal fans coming back for more. 

Neighbors near the main Hampshire College main entry on RT116 called Amherst police Friday afternoon as a "distraught, very angry and disoriented blonde lady" seemed to be having a nervous breakdown over the blockade.

Still, no accidents or major incidents.  Or...no news is good news.

 

One of the two roundabouts is up and running

 

Work continues on the second roundabout at Bay Road intersection

 

Meanwhile, some bright news for Atkins: the solar array is now fully operational

 

From tiny acorns grow...

Four mighty oaks line west end of Kellogg Avenue (far left one cannot be saved)

Tree Warden Alan Snow will use a borrowed resistometer later this month to test the structural integrity of all the old trees along Kellogg Avenue.  But safe to say he has already decided the one closest to Rao's Coffee Shop--subject of a tree hugging Letter to the Editor in last week's Amherst Bulletin--will become kindling before summer turns to fall. 


Nobody seems to know exactly when they were planted, but guestimates are almost 100 years ago--so these statuesque specimens are barely middle aged.  During the freak October Halloween snowstorm one just down the road came crashing down almost hitting Ann Whalen Apartments, housing elderly, disabled and low income families.

33 Kellogg Ave

Last month Town Meeting approved borrowing $612,000 for 2,000 trees to be planted over the next three years. The cycle of life continues.

 Out of 16 pin oaks lining Kellogg Ave, at least three are slated for removal

Bad Day for Public Safety

Springfield Police badge in mourning

The city of Springfield is in mourning for veteran police officer Kevin Ambrose, gunned down in the line of duty.  Not since 1985, when partners Alain Beauregard and Michael Schiavina met a similar fate, has such sorrow gripped the City of Homes. 

And like that long ago but long remembered incident, today's tragedy was also a cold blooded ambush, where the perp avoided justice by killing himself. So very senseless.  So very cold. 

Once again we are all starkly reminded how precious is life.   And that those who wear the blue uniform risk everything to preserve it.  Including their own.

AG Rebukes Regional School Committee

Maria Geryk (far left) Amherst Regional School Committee to her left

A six-month investigation by the Massachusetts Division of Open Government found the Amherst Regional School Committee did indeed violate the Open Meeting Law at its November 22, 2011 public meeting--but not for the technicalities I cited in my complaint.

At the very end of a three hour Regional School Committee meeting Amherst School Committee (who make up the lions share of the Region) Chair Irv Rhodes moved to go into executive session, "never to return." The motion is never properly seconded and no mention is made of why they are going into executive session other than the brief announcement three hours earlier at the start of the meeting by Regional Chair Rick Hood.

The Attorney General found, "While the Committee announced a valid reason for entering into executive session, the Committee violated the Open Meeting Law by discussing matters in executive session that were not appropriate given the stated purpose."  And the AG points out sternly, "This is not a mere technical violation."

Interestingly the casual indifference to protocol displayed by this nonchalant executive session is consistent with the infraction that got them in trouble with the Attorney General.  In fact, even after I filed my official complaint the arrogant attitude continued as they failed to properly respond to the Attorney General, which is duly noted in this official four page finding.

The Amherst School Committee now has two new members--Amilcar Shabazz and Lawrence O'Brien--and Rick Hood will be stepping down as committee chair later this month, so perhaps things will change.

Adhering to the principles of honest open government helps to build trust.  And trust in your local government is like money, education or good health--you can never have too much of it.

AG Amherst Region Violation
Already having an impact. Most recent agenda posted to town website:

Thursday, June 7

RECEIVED: 6/5/12 at 12:27 pm. MEETING TIME: 4:30 pm. LOCATION: Amherst Regional Middle School, Superintendent's Conference Room. LIST OF TOPICS: Enter Executive Session to discuss strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel as authorized by MGL Chapter 30A, Section 21(2), with no intention to return to open session.