June 24, 2010
Ms. Verjeana Jacobs,
Chair
Upper
Dear Ms. Jacobs:
This commentary of this letter
barely scratches the surface of my total
discontent for the current and past practices
of the Members of the Board of Education.
Over these past several years and
culminating with this current fiscal year, you
and your colleagues have summarily discounted
the basic tenets of our Negotiated Agreement.
“Bargaining in good faith” is as foreign
to the Members of this Board as is sushi to an
elephant. To say that you have
demonstrated a total disregard for ethical
practices is too kind a statement.
The Association of Supervisory
and Administrative School Personnel (ASASP) has
been given “last” consideration in every
legitimate employee issue and/or concern during
the entire tenure of this Board. To say
that morale among our membership is low would
be an insult to concerns expressed by
downtrodden employees of this school
district. Perhaps a better
statement would be to say that morale is
non-existent. Issues raised by this
While you and your colleagues
seem to take pleasure in waving the carcasses
of our demoted and/or RIFed Unit members as a
sign of fiscal responsibility, you are
considered inept non-visible “phantom” policy
makers.
As it pertains to issues raised by this
ASASP has asked our surrounding
jurisdictions to indicate the status of their
negotiations with their Boards. It
appears that you and the other Members of the
Board are out of alignment with current
neighborly practices. Then again, perhaps you will
find it possible to place some modicum of
support for your employees…find some way of
giving monetary relief to your workforce. While I
have your attention, perhaps you will also
share the Board’s willingness to self-sacrifice
and indicate the number of furlough days you
have assigned to
yourselves.
ASASP is declaring that the
Members of this Board of Education are
accepting at “face-value”, everything presented
by this, and by previous superintendents, often
at the peril of its students and its
employees. That there has been no
challenge to the excessive number of “academic
improvement initiatives”, accompanied by little
or no evidence of student improvement, although
enormous amounts of dollars have accompanied
such initiatives speaks clearly to my
point. Blind allegiance to
persons cloaked as “knights to the rescue” has
set this school district on a treacherous road
to embarrassment and failure. Five
saviors in the last ten years is hardly a
recipe for success. There seems to be a
double standard for incompetence especially as
it plays out to our
members.
ASASP is also concerned that
discussions and decisions which should be made
in “open” meetings seem to have been made in
secret and with the full knowledge that such
decisions and discussions were unethical and
not in compliance with the law governing boards
of education. While this is
conjecture on our part, it is the impression to
be had as a result of how quickly this Board
addresses issues which are not part of your
“closed sessions” rights. We
contend that you have abandoned your authority
as elected officials representing the best
interests of the citizens and that you are
placating
management.
ASASP is asserting that you have
shown no integrity and would like to go on
record as expressing a lack of confidence in
your ability to sustain a creative and
visionary direction for this school district,
in concert with the Superintendent. Some
Members of this Board of Education seem to
biding time until their term of office
expires. We ask that you step
from the shadows of your self-imposed aloofness
and engage us in meaningful dialog about the
future of this school district and its
employees.
We await your response.
Respectfully,
Doris A.
Reed
Executive
Director
c:
Board of Education
Members
William Hite