Super’s Dirty Little Secret
by SCRGadmin on Oct.18, 2009, under Our School System
IN A SOMEWHAT SECRETIVE MANNNER, AT THE BOARD MEETING ON 2/23/09, THE BOARD OF EDUCATION VOTED ON A PROPOSAL TO RAISE THE SUPERINTENDENT’S SALARY AND RENEW HIS CONTRACT.
This proposal was not made public and was not added to the meeting agenda until late in the afternoon before the meeting was held. No opportunity for community input was permitted at the Board meeting. In fact, if you want to address the Board, you must get to the meeting early enough to sign a “comment” card. Comments were not permitted during or after the meeting, so here are ours now:
As a school board, we are pleased that Dr. Jones was happy to accept his new contract to lead the Stow-Munroe Falls school system for four more years. (Even though he wants to be considered the leader of the district, Dr. Jones didn’t have the common sense to suggest to his young board that he forgo a raise at this time, considering the state of the economy. He didn’t hesitate to cite the economy, however, when he withheld promised administrative raises or orchestrated the business manager’s “abolishment”. The board president has stated that Dr. Jones has not received a raise in over a year – did he ever stop to think that there might have been a reason for that outside of economics?)
Dr. Jones has proven he’s up to the challenge. (With 5 unsuccessful levy attempts?)
The person at the top of any institution sets the tone and the path. (No argument here. The superintendent has definitely set a tone of mistrust and a path of bread crumbs.)
Dr. Jones has shown respect and a willingness to listen to the community, staff, parents and students. (“until the community feels the pain they have no intention of voting yes.” – Dr. Jones in an update to the Board of Education)
He has stood firm when necessary and above all accepted responsibility for his decisions, both successes and failures. (You don’t have to accept responsibility when you’re so good at passing the buck. At any given time, the superintendent has blamed the treasurer, business manager, community and even the board when questioned during a public meeting or by email. A true leader finds answers instead of attempting to deflect criticism by faulting others.)
In less than three years our school system has been through five levy attempts. Those attempts included countless hours spent by Dr. Jones and staff communicating the need for more revenue to the community. (Again, with 5 unsuccessful levy attempts under his belt, the “countless hours” might have been better spent.)
Even through failure at the polls, Dr. Jones stayed focused on the most important part of his job…education of our children. (He has spent equally as much time and (district) money attempting to bring the business manager’s position under his umbrella of authority and hiring inexperienced cronies for key administrative positions. He has nothing on the board, though, who felt it ethically responsible to have the treasurer’s cousin (an appointed board member) participate in her evaluation.)
He was a key factor in leading our school system to attain “Excellence with Distinction” status. (That rating was set in motion by the teachers, students and parents long before the superintendent was hired. Just being at the helm at the time the previous year’s rating comes through, does not speak to any contribution on his part. If the credit for turning things around belongs to any one person, it is the former Special Education Director. That was the only area that had been holding the district back, largely due to inclusion laws. She worked diligently to refine practices, resulting in the district’s first Excellence rating. But enough of all this “history”. Regardless of how many others play a larger part in the district’s success, Dr. Jones will be receiving a $5,000 bonus every time that rating is achieved.)
Stability is a very important factor for continued educational success. Dr. Jones has three years experience and knows our history, both pluses and minuses. (Dr. Jones does not know the history of this district. There is no history left. He has taken advantage of an inexperienced board to make poor employment recommendations, take the community out of public meetings and avoid making the tough decisions necessary to ensure the financial stability of the district.)
He will continue to build upon these experiences to provide the best education possible for all of our students. (Maybe it’s time to consider bringing prayer back to school.)
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Spend it like you got it!
After hiring several new administrators, with little to no experience, but at higher salaries than their seasoned predecessors (HR Director, High School Principal, Transportation Supervisor), the board is at it again…
With little understanding of the economic plight their neighbors are experiencing, they voted recently to make the superintendent virtually recession-proof. Extending his contract another four years, they also increased his salary, added life insurance, increased his annuity and assumed 100% (employer’s and employee’s share) to the State Teachers Retirement System.
It gets better. According to Board President Denny Mariola, they “dangled a carrot” and will award the superintendent a $5,000 bonus every time the district achieves the highest level on the Ohio Department of Education’s School Report Card. It may be naïve to assume, but isn’t that what we are paying him to do? Isn’t that giving the superintendent full credit for an accomplishment that so many others are responsible for? Students come to mind, but parents and a supportive community seldom seem to figure in the equation. Teachers, aides, tutors, custodians, bus drivers, etc. – sorry, we are an excellent district solely due to the superintendent’s efforts.
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Meat Slicers
March 18th, 2011 on 10:31 pmYour Friend & Partner…
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January 21st, 2010 on 3:17 am
The contrast in the March 1, 2009 edition of the Stow Sentry couldn’t be more stunning — and instructive.
The top story was “Superintendent gets 4 more years on contract.” The story details the raises and other plush benefits given to Russell Jones, superintendent of Stow-Munroe Falls School District.
The story immediately beneath it was “Council cancels its automatic raises‘ by Mike Lesko. It begins with the simple but accurate sentence, “Difficult times require difficult decisions“ and tells how the Stow City Council canceled their own annual 3 percent pay raises.
What a difference. One group, the city council, tightens the belt in these difficult economic times while the other, our erstwhile BOE, continues on its squandering ways, oblivious to the situation in the community, the state, the nation and indeed the world. Talk about being out of touch, our BOE takes the cake.
And I note with some amusement here that even City Council member John Pribonic voted to cancel the slated raises for the Council. When this man was on the BOE, he seemed to march in lock-step with the rest of the squanderers. But now that he’s out of that inbred environment, he acts responsibly. Either Mr. Pribonic got “religion” between then and now, or back then he was just another of the sheep lead around by the nose by the education establishment. I’m not picking on Mr. Pribonic. Actually I think his case shows how the environment in the public schools is so dominated by self-interest groups like the administration, the teachers unions, etc., that it makes it darn near impossible for an individual board member to serve the common good of the community.
In the same issue of the Stow Sentry, a letter-to-the-editor by Don Bettio castrates the BOE for not only its reckless behavior in granting such a contract extension to Mr. Russell but also in the underhanded way the BOE voted on it. It seems Danny Mariola & Company went to great pains to insure that there was essentially no public debate on this travesty. And remember, this is the same BOE that is “reaching out to the community,” making a show of getting inputs from one in all. What hypocrites.
And say, wasn’t this Russell Jones the same guy who was caught shopping his resume around a few years ago? Yes it was. And didn’t he stay in Stow only because the other job fell through on him? What say you, Mr. Jones?
Sadly, this action of the BOE only confirms what has been obvious for the longest time. The BOE is far more a lap dog for the education establishment than it is any true representative of the community. Judging by its behavior the BOE’s prime directive is to take care of those employed in the schools first and foremost and later for everyone else. This means that the needs of the children and community, which the schools are hypothetically supposed to serve, come in a distant second to the needs (and dare I say, the greed) of those employed in the schools.
Remember this. When the next levy comes up — and it will come sooner rather than later — the bulk of the money the BOE will be crying for is not going to the kids but into the pockets of the already overly compensated hired help like Russell Jones and the rest of them who are riding high on the gravy train known as the SMFSD.
Mr. Bettio closed his letter by predicting another Boston Tea Party is on the horizon. I’m with him.