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I am listening to 1020am right now and you should be too.
In 1999 then Director of Employee Relations Jody Spolar could have stepped up and said, "Enough, not in my school district."
How many more children suffered because you did the wrong thing Mrs. Spolar? You had the written recommendation from Chief Fadzen to terminate this employee and escalate the investigation.
Attorney Weiss fails to point out that he both tried to convince Pittsburgh Police that the statute of limitations was expired and then hired a private investigator to talk to the witnesses.
The administration at the time...there has always been conflict between the decision makers and the other departments over the last decade or so. They like to hide or cover up. They being HR, PR dept.and those making decisions. THEY get bad advice and always make the wrong decisions. It's never been about the kids, just the image. Hide the truth, it will go away.
The Andrews Report was commissioned by Superintendent Mark Roosevelt in July 2010. Andrews is a firm that specializes in security and their study team consisted of three former big city police chiefs.
The Board itself never approved the contract, rather it was paid for with "Ira money," meaning that it was passed through the Solicitor's contract as a cost, rather than receiving approval consistent with section 5-508 of the school code (majority vote at a properly advertised meeting).
The Board itself never even authorized the request for proposals either. Rather, that process was conducted by attorneys from Buchanan & Ingersol, the bonus solicitor you didn't know the district had, because they too are paid with "Ira money" and their engagement in this capacity has no Board approval either.
The Andrews team finished their work in August/September, but their work was rejected by the Roosevelt/Fischetti/Weiss/Lane team as "too police-y," whatever that means. The report was scrubbed, but even at that Weiss guards it like the Dead Sea Scrolls. If and when the cleansed version is released it bears little resemblance to the original.
Reading between the lines, it was obvious the study was intended to take out Chief Fadzen. If the findings supported anything close to that PPS would have made a public spectacle of its release two years ago.
Just reading the 12:36 post above makes me feel slimey. You gotta wonder what else is accomplished via Ira-money and how lucky the board is to be able to hide behind the confidentiality of personnel matters.
The slime and scum is just oozing out of the District.
Hey, so much for the student/teacher input component of RISE. Window display is simply that "window display." It is there to distract.
I heard that there is a very damning video out there that caught the top central office administrators in a shameless, indiscreet display at a public place.
I hope it surfaces because it would illuminate why these critical incidents are swept under the carpet.
The HR department is a joke. They never handle the same problem the same way twice. There is no concistancy with how they deal with employees. One teacher put on an improvement plan and who disappears from the face of the earth might show back up to work after a year and it's ok and another who does the same thing could be fired. They want the principals to "weed out" the bad teachers but then when they take the time to follow "the process" that the district has established they don't get backed up by the district and these teachers are simply reassigned to another school so the problem just gets moved around to mess up other kids. I think pretty much everyone is "grasping at straws" in central office all just hoping that something that they do or some idea that they have will stick and be of benefit. With all of the consultants that they hire they can pretty much get one of them to agree with the path that they have already predetermined that the district will follow anyhow.
Anyone who was around during Roosevelt's tenure is well aware of the very "special" relationship between Officer Lellock and the Superintendent Roosevelt. Lellock called Roosevelt "Rosie" and Roosevelt called Lellock "LeeLee." Fadzen in 2008 was ordered to post a commander's position or create an assistant chief position. Fadzen smelled a rat and posted the commander position and 3 or 4 officers applied, including Lellock. Lellock begins telling the other employees that he will be made commander and Rosie was going to fire Fadzen and make Lellock chief. Lellock was already making safety decisions through Roosevelt. Roosevelt hated Fadzen and never spoke to him. Fadzen told Roosevelt about he closet incident and he called Fadzen a liar, that it was Lellock or no one. Fadzen told Roosevelt to put it in writing. Roosevelt closed the position. Think it's not true, pull the posting, pull the candidate list, why wasn't it filled?
Well if the video is from the New Orleans trip of 2010, one of the PELA's spilled the beans about the group failing to attend professional development sessions. Instead they partied hearty at the expense of the grant. Just imagine the consequences for any other professional who would have acted in such an unprofessional and irresponsible manner! I’d be willing to bet they would be terminated and not rewarded with a promotion as principal.
Rings true, Roosevelt left "others" to do his dirty work. He refused to put risky litigeous in writing. He just got rid of them when they dared asked him to so so.
When he first came, Mr. Roosevelt laid out some goals at a parent meeting and one was to eliminate costly, time-consuming and distracting lawsuits. We bought this because he was so vehement in making the statement and he was a lawyer. Looking at board minutes from just '08 it seems as though several dismissals result in legal challenges. Maybe that is the norm.
32 comments:
I am listening to 1020am right now and you should be too.
In 1999 then Director of Employee Relations Jody Spolar could have stepped up and said, "Enough, not in my school district."
How many more children suffered because you did the wrong thing Mrs. Spolar? You had the written recommendation from Chief Fadzen to terminate this employee and escalate the investigation.
Shame on you.
Spolar should be placed on leave immediately.
Attorney Weiss fails to point out that he both tried to convince Pittsburgh Police that the statute of limitations was expired and then hired a private investigator to talk to the witnesses.
Who was superintendent during the period in question?
Wow. The skeletons are coming out of the closet now.
I think John Thompson was superintendent then.
No, that was Dale Frederick.
In another similar case where they went after the School Police, John Thompson stepped up to the plate and stopped it!!!
Who is "they"? It might not be either Thompson or Frederick, in the end when the dates are verified and the number of incidents determined.
The administration at the time...there has always been conflict between the decision makers and the other departments over the last decade or so. They like to hide or cover up. They being HR, PR dept.and those making decisions. THEY get bad advice and always make the wrong decisions. It's never been about the kids, just the image. Hide the truth, it will go away.
This really makes me wonder now why for two years Roosevelt/Weiss/Fischetti/Lane have refused to release the Andrews Report.
What is the Andrews report?
The Andrews Report was commissioned by Superintendent Mark Roosevelt in July 2010. Andrews is a firm that specializes in security and their study team consisted of three former big city police chiefs.
The Board itself never approved the contract, rather it was paid for with "Ira money," meaning that it was passed through the Solicitor's contract as a cost, rather than receiving approval consistent with section 5-508 of the school code (majority vote at a properly advertised meeting).
The Board itself never even authorized the request for proposals either. Rather, that process was conducted by attorneys from Buchanan & Ingersol, the bonus solicitor you didn't know the district had, because they too are paid with "Ira money" and their engagement in this capacity has no Board approval either.
The Andrews team finished their work in August/September, but their work was rejected by the Roosevelt/Fischetti/Weiss/Lane team as "too police-y," whatever that means. The report was scrubbed, but even at that Weiss guards it like the Dead Sea Scrolls. If and when the cleansed version is released it bears little resemblance to the original.
Reading between the lines, it was obvious the study was intended to take out Chief Fadzen. If the findings supported anything close to that PPS would have made a public spectacle of its release two years ago.
Just reading the 12:36 post above makes me feel slimey. You gotta wonder what else is accomplished via Ira-money and how lucky the board is to be able to hide behind the confidentiality of personnel matters.
Board members Mark Brentley and Regina Holley have requested the report, only to be denied by the administration.
Other news of another matter in another media outlet.
http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/academic-warnings-pps-parents-upset-about-notification-process-involving-teacher-accused-of-child-porn/Content?oid=1559397&cb=05feb1dfe2a4b36433138f44c18f639f&sort=desc#readerComments
Pgh City Paper
Links often break at that site after a week.
Thanks Mark for sharing the City Paper link.
The slime and scum is just oozing out of the District.
Hey, so much for the student/teacher input component of RISE. Window display is simply that "window display." It is there to distract.
I heard that there is a very damning video out there that caught the top central office administrators in a shameless, indiscreet display at a public place.
I hope it surfaces because it would illuminate why these critical incidents are swept under the carpet.
The HR department is a joke. They never handle the same problem the same way twice. There is no concistancy with how they deal with employees. One teacher put on an improvement plan and who disappears from the face of the earth might show back up to work after a year and it's ok and another who does the same thing could be fired. They want the principals to "weed out" the bad teachers but then when they take the time to follow "the process" that the district has established they don't get backed up by the district and these teachers are simply reassigned to another school so the problem just gets moved around to mess up other kids. I think pretty much everyone is "grasping at straws" in central office all just hoping that something that they do or some idea that they have will stick and be of benefit. With all of the consultants that they hire they can pretty much get one of them to agree with the path that they have already predetermined that the district will follow anyhow.
Aug 29 11:09 am
Can you expound on who, where and what these Central top administrators were supposedly doing? Who has the damning video?
Wow, that City Paper article shows the lengths PPS will go to to look good instead of protecting kids.
Anon 9/1,
I can't. Apparently, it is leverage in a lawsuit.
I wonder if that video is from New Orleans.
Let's call it "Bellefieldgate." Our own reality show. Sooner or later, the video will surface online. They always do.
Who went to New Orleans anyway?
Once the da office is made aware of this site they will have a lot to go on including the andrews report. Has anyone made them aware of this site?
I think the DA's office needs to take a look at the "how we got" series.
Anyone who was around during Roosevelt's tenure is well aware of the very "special" relationship between Officer Lellock and the Superintendent Roosevelt. Lellock called Roosevelt "Rosie" and Roosevelt called Lellock "LeeLee."
Fadzen in 2008 was ordered to post a commander's position or create an assistant chief position. Fadzen smelled a rat and posted the commander position and 3 or 4 officers applied, including Lellock.
Lellock begins telling the other employees that he will be made commander and Rosie was going to fire Fadzen and make Lellock chief.
Lellock was already making safety decisions through Roosevelt.
Roosevelt hated Fadzen and never spoke to him. Fadzen told Roosevelt about he closet incident and he called Fadzen a liar, that it was Lellock or no one. Fadzen told Roosevelt to put it in writing. Roosevelt closed the position. Think it's not true, pull the posting, pull the candidate list, why wasn't it filled?
OMG!
Well if the video is from the New Orleans trip of 2010, one of the PELA's spilled the beans about the group failing to attend professional development sessions. Instead they partied hearty at the expense of the grant. Just imagine the consequences for any other professional who would have acted in such an unprofessional and irresponsible manner! I’d be willing to bet they would be terminated and not rewarded with a promotion as principal.
Anon 8:07
Rings true, Roosevelt left "others" to do his dirty work. He refused to put risky litigeous in writing. He just got rid of them when they dared asked him to so so.
When he first came, Mr. Roosevelt laid out some goals at a parent meeting and one was to eliminate costly, time-consuming and distracting lawsuits. We bought this because he was so vehement in making the statement and he was a lawyer. Looking at board minutes from just '08 it seems as though several dismissals result in legal challenges. Maybe that is the norm.
If he is guilty he needs to go to jail!
Let's just hope that good overcomes all of the evil in this district and we can get back to what is important, the children and their education!!!
I hope the victims get Millions $$$$$$$$!
I wonder how many more victims will come forward since he resigned now?
Sounds like the district wants to distance themselves from him to protect MR.
I am still stuck at a middle school with no overtime. I have a ton of security under me.
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